Fishing hooks

[s_mac]

Speak for yourself mate. I never haved had have problems getting hooks out, but then again I have never done the type of very light fishing that some do on here ( you know the hair rigged fillet of maggot with a size 66 hook). I really cannot remeber the last time I had a fish swallow the lot. The next time it happens I will cut the line and let it go and hope for the best if it is a big fish or knock it on the head and put it out of its misery if it is a tiddler. Either way no sleep will be lost.

So changing your hook every cast protect fish? A brand new hook won't go all ther way down. What a load of bollix.

 

Well i care about the welfare of fish, and i will continue to loose sleep over it, think what could i have done better.

I guess some people are so good, maybe you should teach the rest of us, your methods, your hook sizes and what fish your targeting.

 

it seems as though you have the answer, that im looking for, and guess thousands of anglers are looking for.

 

smac

[pikergonecarpin]

I've got to admit, i change my hook after every fish i catch when carp or pike fishing. Once i've caught a fish they never seem quite as sharp as a new one out of the packet. Hooks are one of the cheapest items of tackle we buy, yet they are the most important. I don't grudge a few pence on hooks every session.

 

When i'm fishing for roach etc, i would change the hook at the start of each session.

[iamlucky18]

Okay, okay. Let's all calm down now. The end of the line is this: people have different preferences when it comes to things like this. You can't force people to change their preferences. I think smac and pikergonecarpin have very valid points - a blunt hook has the potential to cause very serious damage to fish than a new one out of the packet.

[s_mac]

Okay, okay. Let's all calm down now. The end of the line is this: people have different preferences when it comes to things like this. You can't force people to change their preferences. I think smac and pikergonecarpin have very valid points - a blunt hook has the potential to cause very serious damage to fish than a new one out of the packet.

 

The idea of this thread was to find out, would people change a hook every session, and if so, then was there something the manufactures could make that would degrade fairly quickly, for those who are happy to use new hooks each session, while i understand cost to some people, or prefference, the normal hooks we all buy at the moment would still be presant and available.

 

Its just to give us anglers a choice, especially when we fish a lot of places with small perch and roach, and these fish can be prone to taking the hook deep down there throat. so rather than prod about sometimes, we could cut the line as a last resort, knowing that the hook would degrade fairly soon and give the fish a better chance of survival.

 

surely this cant be a bad idea in thought, whether its actually possible i dont know.

 

smac

[pikergonecarpin]

Okay, okay. Let's all calm down now. The end of the line is this: people have different preferences when it comes to things like this. You can't force people to change their preferences. I think smac and pikergonecarpin have very valid points - a blunt hook has the potential to cause very serious damage to fish than a new one out of the packet.

 

I don't change hooks for the welfare of the fish, i change them because a sharp hook penetrates better. Which hopefully means more fish on the bank...

[corydoras]

Well i care about the welfare of fish, and i will continue to loose sleep over it, think what could i have done better.

I guess some people are so good, maybe you should teach the rest of us, your methods, your hook sizes and what fish your targeting.

 

it seems as though you have the answer, that im looking for, and guess thousands of anglers are looking for.

 

smac

I mainly fish for thin-lipped grey mullet, occasionally I catch smallish bass, but they are not really what I target.

Sometimes I float fish with an Avon type float, sometimes a waggler, sometimes a controller, occasionally I leger. I have a 13 foot Shakespeare Mentor Match 390 rod and an ABU 704 reel filled with Mustad extra fine 2.9kg BS line (cost me about 3 euros in Super U for 150m)

 

I only use bread for bait, sometimes crust sometimes flake.

 

As already stated I use mainly size 8 hooks, although I have a pack of 10s in my box too.

 

I too care deeply about the welfare of the fish. I never take fish I catch and seldom eat fish of any kind, but angling is a form of hunting, now and again a fish will get hurt, occasionally one might even die becasue of my actions.

 

As I have posted many times before, if damaging a fish gives you restless nights, maybe you should seek out an alternative pastime.

 

I guess some of you spin with lures from time to time, do you change trebles ever session, every season, each cast? If you fly fish do you throw away your casts after every session?

Edited September 19, 2006 by corydoras

[Mat Hillman]

Tackle manufacturers must love peeps like you. How often do you ditch your rods and reels? Never using the same hook twice sounds more like superstition than anything else.

 

 

No, I just feel that moden chemically sharpened hooks loose thier "edge" after a few hours use, Especially in my hands as they will have been in just about every tree and bush within casting range by the end of the session, as well as a hopefully a few fish!

 

How often do I ditch my rods and reels? just about never! I have a 15 year old JW Avon that I still use regularly (or more often now my son does) in the last 5 years I think I've bought 4 or 5 rods, and am still using 2 of them, the others went on Ebay when I decided I didn't want them. Reels, I'm a bit of a snob there, and use my pair of Youngs "BJ" pins for just about everything, one I've had for 4 or 5 years, the other I aquired earlier this year!

 

I change the line on each of them after 3 or 4 sessions each too, I guess thats a waste too?

 

We are talking about a few pennies a trip here, to ensure that I have good strong fresh line, and nice sharp hooks at all times, which helps to minimise breakages and fish loses. compared to what I pay out for permits, licences, bait and petrol while fishing, a new hook each session is probably significantly less than 1% of the total cost of my trip!

 

Mat

[corydoras]

I change the line on each of them after 3 or 4 sessions each too, I guess thats a waste too?

I only joking about the rods and reels Mat. In my book changing your line every 3 or 4 sessions is probably overkill too. I change mine every season.

Edited September 19, 2006 by corydoras

[Guest tigger]

I always change my hook after a session. If I get snagged at anytime during a session I check my hook and if it looks slightly bent or I feel that it's lost it's sharpness or just don't have faith in it then I change it.

Edited September 19, 2006 by tigger

[Newt]

I use the chemically sharpened Gamakatsu or Owner hooks and I don't feel that I can do a decent job of sharpening them to anything like the new hooks.

 

On lures (I'm a bit lazy) I do sharpen but for any sort of bait fishing, I use the hook until the point seems to be not as sharp as new then change. Old hooks are discarded.

 

The hook can last only a fish or two or for a session or two depending on how things went.

 

Since I never use hooks smaller than #8 and normally will be using from #4 to 8/0 my practices may not work for folks using small hooks so I can't suggest what you need to do with the #16-24 ones.

 

In the days when I used mono, I normally changed line every 3 months or so but then I was fishing a lot and in sun brighter than the UK normally has so I didn't trust the line as it aged. These days, fluoro gets changed once a year and my powerpro braid stays on for a few years. More likely to respool due to line loss than line age.

 

Note to the newer members - I suspect that for some reason, corydoras decided to wind you up a bit. Either that or else the wine in France is strong enougher than I had heard.