Should long shanked curved hooks be banned ?

[Gaffer]

OP-JB:

Gibbo tollerates 1% hook pulls.  I have to live with 5% (1in 20), which for the fish I fish for is heart breaking (1 fish a year).  What is your %?  I want what youv'e got!! I need to see your rigs mate.    :confused:   In 25 years of carping I have had hundreds!

Now I've opened my big mouth I'll probably pull one on my long awaited 30lber! ...not in your big league yet!

[OP-JB]

[Newt]

Steve - as you ban bent hooks at your place, can you say how you define a bent hook?

 

Best I have ever gotten with this question is "a hook where the point angles so that it points either at the eye or further down the hook shaft".

 

If that is the same criteria you use, then I haven't a hook in my kit I could use over there All mine (except a few soft plastic specialty hooks) are circle or kahle. All would class as "bent hooks".

 

But I don't see any problems with them because, as you know from past discussions, I get good lip hooks with both patterns. Solid hook-up with the microbarb and haven't noticed mouth damage from the things. Not caught that many soft-mouth fish though like carp. Hopefully I can this year and get some ideas.

 

When Ziptrev visited and we fished, he looked at the kahle I had for him and allowed as how it was a really strange looking thing that shouldn't work. After the first dozen or so lip hooked sunfish (bluegills mostly), he decided that maybe it did after all. A few dozen more and a couple of catfish (worse than sunfish for deep hooking) and he was a believer. All it took was for him to unlearn striking the bite and just give a steady pull.

 

He would have done better but the smallest hooks I had with me were #6 and lots of these fish would have done better with a #10 or #12 I think. At that time I couldn't locate anyone who made them. Have since learned that Mustad makes em down to a #14 so I have ordered a bunch of #10 & #12.

 

[ 28 June 2002, 01:22 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Steve Burke]

The bent hooks that were popular in the UK some years ago and caused damage were ones that had a pronounced (about 45 degree) angle along the shank.

 

I wasn't carp fishing then so have no experience of them. However, several of my members have and recommended banning them, which is what I've done to play safe. I doubt that all that many anglers use them now anyway.

 

I agree that the hooks you kindly sent me caused no damage with perch. If you recall though I found that I needed a bigger size, and I was worried that this would lead to deeper penetration and so went back to my Ashimas.

 

However, I might give them a try for carp if I go after them this summer - but the mullet are calling!

[Newt]

Thanks Steve. I think I missed the post where you spoke of the hooks being too small.

 

BTW - I have good luck with them in larger sizes as well. They just don't seem to deep hook no matter how large.

 

But if the Ashima's do it for you, why switch?

 

Still and all, I may do up another package of larger goodies and send them your way. Probably kahle style this time though.

 

What do you need? 5/0 or 8/0 or something? I knew you had some monster perch but wow!!!

[Steve Burke]

Hi Newt

 

I think we're talking at cross purposes! It's not that I want the hooks to be big, quite the opposite. I'm worried that the big hooks will penetrate more deeply and thus reach the perch's vital organs. I found that with the circle hooks I had to use a couple of sizes larger compared with the Ashimas, probably because of the smaller gape.

 

This probably wouldn't be a problem with carp, although they may need to be counterbalanced to make up for the extra weight.