Fish hook sizes

[dsbklyn]

New to the sport! can someone explain FISH HOOK SIZES to me. I have a pond in the back of my house there seem to be small fish in there. (Sunnys?) I would like the use crankbait or plugs to fish for them. I need to know what size hook I should use. Rapela makes all different hooks. I see online size 4 thru 8 I am not sure. THANKS!!
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[aquaman]

in a nut shell smaller the hook larger the number i.e. size 16 is much smaller then a size 2 and now to make it confusing "O" hooks go small number small hook large number large hook yet here a scale of sorts size 22 very small....12 small....2 larger....1/0 larger....5/0....larger....10/0 larger hope that helps if you really want to catch those sunfish use a size 8 or 10 hook two feet below a float with a small peice of nightcrawler that will give you all the action you want
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[JapanRon]

Hey there dsbklyn,

Aquaman is right on the money as usual. But... depend on ol' JR here to throw unwanted and un-necessary info! ha ha

The actual number/size ratio of the hook varies not only amoung the different manufacturers but also the different style hooks that are avaliable. Aside from treble hooks, you'll be supprised to see sometimes big differences in standard J-shaped hooks. I'd use smaller hooks that what many might be thought common as I also fish very light line most of the time.

A bait hook size 4 is different than a live bait hook which is different than a circle hook and on and on! Buy a number of different hook sizes and styles depending upon knowledgable advice and experiment!

Enjoy those little fishies.

You might want to flyfish for them. Ops another series of hook sizes. ha ha

JapanRon
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[OneWhoFishes]

Check it out if you did not follow what the other guys said check out this link. Visuals work better for me.[]

[url "http://www.outdoor-links.com/hook.htm"]http://www.outdoor-links.com/hook.htm[/url]

or check out the attachments
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[tubeN2]

[cool] You have been given some very good info. Now comes the goood part.

Once you have established the size of hook, method and approach for your fishies, then it time to consider the barbless hooks. It makes it much better on the the fish that you decide to release back into the wild.
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[fishfather]

Circle hooks work great too for catch and release. Hooks the corner of there mouth and easy to release.

OWNER makes some really good ones. Avaliable at most fish and tackle stores. TURNERS OUTDOORSMAN is having a sale on them in California right now.

Unknown if that is a national sale. Check [url "http://www.turnersoutdoorsman.com"]www.turnersoutdoorsman.com[/url] weekly ad for more info.
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[tubeN2]

[cool] Thanks for the info there fishfather,

I live bout 1/2 mile from a Turners. Might just go check them out myself before tonights bite.
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[DrownedDesertRat]

I know exactly what you mean JR. I've got some 2/0 hooks that are different sized. This is a good subject. Maybe we should get the official word from a fish hook manufacturer. I've got some 2/0 hooks that are larger than my 5/0 hooks. But the diameter of the 5/0 hooks are bigger than that of the 2/0 hooks. Maybe the hook size is refering to the hook diameter?
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[davetclown]

ya know,

since fish hooks are not asembly parts there is no standard that a hook or multitude of hook manufactures have to comply with.

I have tried as i might to figure them out and there seems to be no ryme or reason other than that each manufacture has its own standard as what to hold the hook sizes to.

I too have number #4 hooks and several other sizes from different manufactures different styles snell bait circle and others. sizes dont match. I have taken a set of calipers to mesure the angles hook thickness check the radious of the hooks, nothing matches.

the only thing I can tell you is that between manufactures for the most part is there are subtle differences in different sizes like a #8 and a #6 and other sizes form one brand to another are relitively the same.

ranking them from small to big the numbers run like this

#12 - #10 - #8 - # 6 - #4 - #2 - #1/0 - #2/0 - #3/0 - #4/0

there are bigger and smaller and some in between.
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[JapanRon]

Hey there davetclown,

As far as I'm concerned those guys from the British Isles and the Swedes messed things up by them all doing their own thing including deciding on their own hook sizes!!! ha ha ha

JapanRon
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[davetclown]

lol they must think a hook is a hook and do not realize we anglers spend hours upon hours making sure that we have just the right hook, for just the right application. [crazy] I have gone as far as to take my calipers in to the store with me to select hooks. you should see the strange hairy eyeball they give me [laugh]

when I want to use a red worm I want a hook to match, when I want to use a cricket I want a hook to match, I will even mesure the cruckets in the bait shop to make sure I have the right size hook.

that makes all the difference of having my bait stolen or a fish lip stuck on my hook.[shocked]
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[hharada]

It seems to me, if you're talking about using crankbaits or plugs, you'd be more interested in overall size of the lure compared to the size of the target fish rather than hook size. Hook size, to me, becomes the prime question when fishing bait -- or using a fly.

Although most of us have probably landed a fish and found the fish had swallowed another fish so big the tail was sticking out of its mouth, I try to choose a lure size I think the target fish would normally chase and eat. From the description you gave (and this is coming from a stream trout fishing guy, remember), I wouldn't go much bigger than a two or so inch long lure.

I'd use something like a #8 or #10 if bait fishing for those fish.

As for hook sizes varying among manufacturers, I agree they do, but for my sloppy type fishing, there's usually enough relative commonality (is that correct usage?) to not make much difference unless you run into an entirely different numbering system like JapanRon describes.

I ran into that type problem in Circle C's from Eagle Claw. I got some #4, 6, and 8 L787G's through mailorder and they were gigantic!! I eventually got down to a #10 and they were still bigger than the Eagle Claw #4 181 baitholder I was trying to replace. I finally ran down to the Eagle Claw factory store here in Denver and, though I can't remember the details, found out they have two different numbering systems with their Circle C's. The L787G's obviously used a system I wasn't familiar with. I ended up getting their NT2050FS Circle C's, which although not absolutely identically sized to the 181 baitholder, uses the numbering system most of us have been referring to in this posting.
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