Fish Hooks

 There are lots of different types of fish hooks. You could break them down into three basic types; bait hooks, fly hooks and lure hooks. Within these categories there is a wide variety of hook types designed for many different uses. Hook types differ in shape, materials, points and barbs, and eye type and ultimately in their intended applications.

When individual hook types are designed the specific characteristics of each of these hook components are optimized relative to the hook’s intended purpose. For example, a delicate dry fly hook is made of thin wire with a tapered eye because weight is the overriding factor. Whereas Carlise or Aberdeen light wire bait hooks make use of thin wire to reduce injury to live bait but the eyes are not tapered because weight is not an issue.

Many factors contribute to hook design, including corrosion resistance, the weight and strength, it’s hooking efficiency, and whether or not the hook is being used for specific types of bait, on different types of lures or for different styles of flies. For each hook type, there are ranges of acceptable sizes. For all types of hooks, The size breakdown from smallest to largest looks like this:32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 11, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0, 6/0, 7/0, 8/0, 9/0, 10/0, 11/0, 12/0, 13/0, 14/0, 15/0, 16/0, 17/0, 18/0, and 19/0 

The shape of your hook shank can vary a lot from merely straight to all sorts of curves, kinks, bends and offsets. These different shapes contribute in some cases to better hook penetration, better fly imitations or better bait holding ability. Many hooks intended to hold dead or artificial baits have sliced shanks which create barbs for better baiting holding ability. Jig hooks are designed to have lead weight molded onto the hook shank. Hook descriptions may also include shank length as standard, extra long, 2XL, short, etc. and wire size such as fine wire, extra heavy, 2X heavy, etc.

 Lets break down the hook components:

Eye
The eye of the hook generally forms a closed circle that serves as the connection point between the hook and the fishing line. The eye of a hook may be in line with the hook’s shank, or it may join the shank at an up or down angle.
Shank
The shank of the hook runs from the hook eye to the beginning of the hook bend. Two similarly sized hooks (size is determined by a hook’s “gap”) may have very different hook shank lengths.
Bend
The bend of a hook is the curved portion of the hook that connects the hook shaft to the hook point. Although the hook bend is curved, the hook point and shaft are generally straight portions of metal that run parallel to one another.
Point
The point of the hook is attached to the hook bend and tapers rapidly from that heavier gauge metal to a sharp point capable of penetrating the tissue of a fish’s mouth.
Gap
The gap of a hook is the vertical distance between the shank and point of the hook. The size of a particular hook is generally determined in accordance with the size of the hook’s gap.
Barb
Many hooks have a metal barb located near the point of the hook. Anglers use such barbs to prevent fish from escaping once they are hooked.  

So with so much information about the fishing hook, How do we decide which brand or size to use? I think the brand will come down to personal preference. I use Eagleclaw because that is what my Dad always used and they are made right here in the U.S.A! I also don’t lose fish due to hook failure, “So why fix what isn’t Broken”

As for size, this may take some trial and error, but make sure your using the type of hook that is meant for your  particular bait and you will do just fine!

Fish On!

You can use these reference photos to gain a better idea of your chooses and their applications.

This is the floating worm hook, notice the length of the shaft, the elongated bend and wide gap. This hook is suited perfectly for presenting a large night crawler.

This is the keel fly hook, on this hook you will notice the bend in the shank at the top and  the length of the shank on the bottom side meant for perfect fly location.

The offset worm hook is great for presenting those rubber worms and offer a quick and easy hook set.

This is a red bait hook, ideal for hooking live bait. Big fish will swallow this hook and never feel it.

The treble hook commonly used on artificial lures.

A jig hook has a molded head and can be used with a number of jigging setups.

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