Hooks, they come in many shapes, thickness & even coloration! It's mind boggling some times when it comes to hooks. Each hook design is meant to catch, or provide a higher chance of hooking & holding a certain species of fish. Hooks also comes in different thickness. How to utilize the thickness is subjected to the fishing conditions & style of presentation. Off course, colors may be a factor with regards to presentation styles.
Before we delve into the details of hooks, a good angler should learn about the parts of a hook (Anatomy). The illustration here is self-explanatory.
Shape - So many shapes, but I'll just focus on a few ones which I use regularly.
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| Wide Gap |
Wide Gap hooks - These hooks are good for general bait/pole/bottom fishing as they provide a high degree of hook up. Wide Gap hooks are suitable for fishing catfishes, carps & chiclids. I normally use for paypond fishing or in wild waters where I know there is minimal snags at the bottom. Be careful though, WG hooks are easy to snag. Local fishes like Patins, Tongsan & Keli are suitable to use such hooks. Works well for groundbaits (dedak), bread & pellet baits.
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| Circle |
Circle hooks - Specialized hooks designed to tackle toothy fishes. When using this hook, 90% of time, the hook locks onto the outer lips of the fish rather than the gut or mouth area. This hook also ensures a high rate of survival for CnR fishing. I normally use these hooks for Pacu fishing or when I know there are toothy fishes in the waters. This hook is also suitable for dead bait fishing for Toman & Haruans. With the hook point pointing toward the shank, it is less likely to snag in weedy waters where there are plenty of vegetation.
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| Long Shank |
Long Shank hooks - These are another type of specialized hooks meant to tackle toothy fishes but can also be used for general fishing. It's got a long shank to prevent fish from biting on the line, instead, fish bites onto the long metal shank. I find that pellet fishing with this hook is best, especially the smaller, thinner sizes. I normally use this hook when float fishing as the narrow gap would fit small mouth fishes as they attack the bait from below.
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| EWG |
EWG hooks (Extra Wide Gap) - This hook is part of the soft plastic bait fishing system. This hook is required for Texas & Carolina rigs as well as my favorite Spinner fishing lures. We can rig SP baits weedless using this hook. This is my choice of hook for Haruan fishing in snaggy waters.
Thickness - Some anglers want to catch big fish with big mouths but the fishes are easily spooked. So he uses a thin large hook which is more discreet. Some anglers know there are big fishes in the waters & would use thicker hooks to prevent hook bending or snapping altogether when fish fighting. It all depends on the situation. Some anglers prefers to use thick small hooks as the target fish has small mouths but is a brute. Generally, when fishing at new or unfamiliar waters, it is best to start with small thick hooks. This has the benefit of not spooking the fishes there & if you do! hook onto a brute, the thickness of the hook will hold. Most anglers make the mistake of using over-sized hooks in new waters as they assume it's a new unexplored water & there are big fishes here.
Coloration - There are believes that certain colors, eg. Red tends to entice or attract fish to bite. But in my experience, I've never hooked a fish with red colored hooks. Another consideration with colors is whether to use a really shinny hook, especially in sea fishing or to use a low shine or carbon coated black hook. I normally stick to carbon coated black hooks to minimize shine & be as discreet as possible. Especially for freshwater fishing in clear waters. Fishes like Tilapia & Lampam can easily be spooked by shinny tackles. |
| Red colored hook |
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| Black colored hook |
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| Normal hook with no paint coating |
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