Hooks

[Flagmanonice]

[] How many people sharpen your hooks before you use them for the first time ?
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[DH_tubinjoe]

well, I sharpen my hooks, but not everytime i use them. Especially on my iron jigs, i always sharpen those things.




joe
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[daymere]

[cool] i sharpen all my hooks they can never be sharp enough
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[tubeN2]

[cool] I usualy buy a quality hook and take them at face value when I first use them. I prefer not to by chemically sharpened hook. The quality of them can vary just as much as the size of frozen peas.

After a few trips with the same hooks used over and over, then I will sharpen as needed.

Thanks for bringing that up. I need to sharpen some flies up for this weeked.
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[fishfather]

[size 2]I concur with t2. I use Owner hooks and have never had to sharpen them. Like Joe said only metal jigs...get alittle wimpy after a few trips[][/size]
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[lonehunter]

i never sharpen a new hook , unless it proves to be dull . to test a new hook i see if it will scratch or dig into a fingernail = very carefully ![]

then again , to sharpen with a stone , a file , or a hone depends on the hooks metal chemestry . you can actually deminish the hooks point by choosing the wrong method .[crazy]

nice trick question , lol ![]
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[davetclown]

yep, I have had to sharpen nwe hooks, actualy jig more so than hooks. because the hooks had to be handled prior to becomming a jig. any thing could happen to them between the time the hook was formed and the time it was thrown in your jig box, mostly banging around and hitting the points against other jig bodies.

other than that I sharpen them every time I catch my limmit of fish, and that is on avarage about every other time I go out. (some times every time I go out)
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[Dryrod]

[cool][size 1]Hey Flagmanonice,[/size]

[size 1]I always test my hooks new or used. If the point will will dig into my thumb nail - then it is sharp enough.[/size]
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[patches]

i test em too, and most generally there fine, i like the eagle claws course my hooks probably ain,t as big as yours haha, cause i ain,t fishin fer whales. haha but those eagle claws with the double line i like alot. size 6. neverhad a bad one yet as fer as shrpness and strength.[]
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[Dryrod]

[cool][size 1]Hey patches,[/size]

[size 1]Not really. Most of the time I am using # 10 and smaller for trout.[/size]
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[patches]

hey there dyrod, that cause you usin that power bait and the salmon eggs?? cause i use 6,s fer my nightcrawler and minners. and if i got a big ninner i will use a 4. but also use em in different ways. as fer as hookin the minner on. river, thru the mouth, out the gill and then hook in just under the top fin. then with the bobber under the top fin so,s he can swim some but with a sinker so,s he,s stayin in one plavce too.then sometimes in the lakes i use a slidin sinker with a minner floatin, alive or dead don,t matter long as they aint squishy and won,t stay on. haha but mainly the nite crawlers. i,ve use the 8 fer my brookies with the red and blue worms i git out of patches horse sh it, and boy do they work good!! haha patches did somethin right ot give me them worms. haha and 8 with the salmon eggs. cause they got a higher barb on em and seems to keep the salmon eggs on better. i don,t care fer those salmon egg hooks. do you?? later []
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[JapanRon]

Hi there Flagmanonice,

A pleasure to address your post! Ever heard of the Hook Honer? Man.. that was the best device to sharpen cadinumn hooks to this day. Problem is that those hooks are '''not sooooo good'''. HookHoner is gone!!

Are you gonna try to sharpen teflon coated barbs on some hooks, the barbs on some styles that have a radical curvature of over 18 degrees to 10 millimeters, chemical sharpened hooks? The hook world has passed me by on the old sharpening techniques but lets me know that hooks are not worth jack anymore! This I don't believe!

But.... You can't sharpen barbs properly that have any kind of curvature in my not-so-humble opinion!

End Analysis: We're done........ Just like most!!!! Buy 'em and throw 'em away!

JapanRon
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[lonehunter]

yea , but who makes the absolute best hooks on the market ?
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[JapanRon]

Hey there lonehunter,

You're absolutely right! Back to the question at hand. With all my own yapping on this and that, the truth is I don't know because I haven't found one single hook that would work best for 90% of my fishing.

That's just the problem. There are at least five styles of hooks that I (would) use exclusively for a specific type of fishing and species.

I can't choose one best all-around hook! I'm totally useless in answering that one simple question.

Thanks for the wake-up!

JapanRon
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[tubeN2]

Hey JR, I do believe you are absolutely right. There is no "One single manufacturer" That is suitable for all occasions.

I use diffent sizes of different brands for different species. And because of the fact that certain species behave differently in different waters, I may not even use the same hook or brand in a different body of water.
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[lonehunter]

how about the "owner" brand ? they run about $4.00 for a pack of 8 here , i bought some to try out this spring .
mustads , gimatsus too .
i set up a tray with them in the sizes i use and will give them all an equal shot on the steelies .
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[hharada]

It's obvious most of you are far more ambitious than I. Being a "homeboy," I almost exclusively use my "hometown" Eagle Claws for bait fishing and never have sharpened one -- new or old. Of course because nearly all my fishing is for freshwater for trout, with a few perch, largemouths, and small Northerns, my bait hooks range from #14 to #4 and don't get into larger, plated ones which might have a few more dull points.

I occasionally -- every two years or so -- sharpen hooks on my lures unless I find a bent point from snagging on a rock while stream fishing which is about 99% of my fishing. I straighen out a bent point as soon as I notice and polish it with the best rock I can find at that moment. Most of my trout stream fishing strikes are hard enough to drive a hook, even one not real sharp, deep enough to hold the fish -- even on five to six pounders. Of course, those were probably 10 pounders which I wasn't able to hook, but everyone needs some type excuse.

On the other hand, maybe dull hooks are the reason my rare lake fishing tries are so lousy. I'll have to give that more consideration.
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[lonehunter]

it's back to the basics again , lol ![crazy]
now , what kind of rocks sharpen hooks the best , hhhmmmmmm ,[cool]
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[DH_tubinjoe]

granite![]
i dont know...i just use a very fine, small sharpening stone. works great!


joe
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[Bassmaster-ND]

I dont sharpen my hooks [size 1]before I use them for the first time. I buy hooks that are already sharp[]! I like gamakatsu hooks-they dont get much sharper than that. As for other lures that have "normal" treble hooks, I always switch my trebles to Excalibur rotating trebles. I've have the best hooking percentage with those.
I've been looking at the berkley electric hook sharpener. Has anyone tried it?? Is it any good??[/size]
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