Coloured Hooks!

[mark brailsford 2]

Simple Question,
Are coloured hooks a gimmick or do they really give you an edge?
I have a few packets of Drennan sweet corn hooks but to be honest when I have used them I didn't think it made that much difference. And what about red hooks for red maggot?
What are your thoughts on this?

 

[stillwater blue]

If a fish knew what a hook was we could catch any fish. To be scared of a hook means you have to know what it's for, something I'm sure a fish isn't capable of reasoning out. IMO how the bait behaves is more important than trying to camouflage the hook, I'm sure anybody that uses a hair rig will agree.

My favourite hook is bright silver in colour, it's bothers me or the fish I catch not one iota.

 

[cg74]

On the basis that most fish can't see what's going in their mouth as it enters why is there any need to try so hard to conseal the hook.
Plain old common sense tells me to just make the hook not too conspicuous. I think in clear water on a bright day a shiny gold hook will stand out more than just about any other colour. A dull dark hook will always be less noticeable regardless of the colour of the bottom (or even if used in mid water).

Besides sweetcorn is yellow and not a shiny reflective gold colour.

On a dull overcast day in coloured water they'll be good. It's a shame they're so damned in your face shiny, as they would be a cracking pattern.

Red hooks for red maggots; another silly gimmick, if the fish are that wary of your hook, use a smaller one!

 

[laguna]

There is nothing silly about hook camouflage or concealment - be it colour, size or shine!

Have you ever wondered why fish hoover up your freebies and leave the hook bait intact?

Perhaps of even more concern; all fish, regardless of species can detect and/or will react (variably) to tiny electrical signals from metal/steel hooks (but not so much lead as I later learned) and that some of them do so, just as easily as they can detect food items at a given distance.

The reactions come from 'galvanic reactions' between the metals and the water. In other words, hook metals (links and swivels too, especially dissimilar metals) produce an electrical current!

A crude human analogy perhaps; but if you are as unfortunate as me as having undergone several torturous dental amalgams (fillings) in the ol' gob over the years (in those few remaining teeth), and you ever 'inadvertently' touched your tooth on a fork prong (or even a bit of foil from a kitcat etc), did you feel a jolt? The mercury amalgam being of a higher nobility metal will conduct!
This is no different to a lower order metal (steel hook) 'Galvanising' in the murky soup (aka the electrolytic pond) detected by a fish - but of many magnitudes higher than we can ever imagine.

Considering these kinds of capabilities of fish, so long as the hook point is left exposed, it wont harm your chances of trying to disguise and conceal (or even shield) your hooks if you think it would help.

 

[chav professor]

I wonder if the teflon coated hooks offer a degree of 'shielding'? A bit like the stealth bomber of the fishing world...

the anti glare gotta be a bonus

 

[tiinker]

I use some hooks that I dress as underwater creepies this mainly comes from fishing the fly for over forty years and I cannot say it definatly makes a difference but it definately does not stop you taking fish. There have been several attempts over the years to market hooks disguised in this way, indeed at this time it is the so called zig is all the rage . I have caught most fresh water fish on nothing more than a hook dressed with just tiny glass beads under a float . It is a avenue well worth exploring.

 

[S-Kippy]

I wonder if the teflon coated hooks offer a degree of 'shielding'? A bit like the stealth bomber of the fishing world...

the anti glare gotta be a bonus

I am minded to think it might...more so than coloured or shiny patterns.That said silver hooks dont seem to put fish off;witness the popularity of Kamasan Animals. Generally I like a dull and unobtrusive hook...except for bread punch when I do use a silver pattern.

 

[peterjg]

An interesting thread. I wonder has anyone ever tried coating (matt nail varnish?) the hook with for instance varnish? Is this why a coating of 'Goo' works? Any thoughts/ideas?

 

[laguna]

I wonder if the teflon coated hooks offer a degree of 'shielding'? A bit like the stealth bomber of the fishing world...

the anti glare gotta be a bonus

Hi Christian, there are some kinds of plastics, especially high temperature resistant plastics that include sintered metals, notably some shrink tubing for example contains it.

Teflon/PTFE I suspect could be free of powdered metal, are they coated for their slippyness, is that their purpose to increase the chance of penetration in the fishes mouth do you think?

A quick search reveals they (teflon) are of high electronegativity which is also relevant

 

[barbelboi]

Possibly different methods should be taken into consideration, I don't think there will be much of a 'hook inspection' from fish comfortably taking on the drop. During tests I've had no problem catching roach on plastic hemp on a size 16 hook with the 'hemp' pushed round to the shank - i.e. a bigger hook than is ideal for the bait size with most of it exposed.
Jerry

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

I've used the red hooks with red maggots - not sure what difference it makes

I've never tried the camouflage hooks - seems a step too far to me

 

[aebitim]

I like to use the drennan red maggot hooks, which seem to work well for me, possibly the pattern rather than the colour.

Teflon coated hooks seem to pull through spam better, I use the Korda ones for hidden hook fishing.

 

[guest61]

Simple Question,
Are coloured hooks a gimmick or do they really give you an edge?
I have a few packets of Drennan sweet corn hooks but to be honest when I have used them I didn't think it made that much difference. And what about red hooks for red maggot?
What are your thoughts on this?

My thoughts - I dunno..mg:

That said, I've caught a lot of Trout on buzzer patterns which are no more than a coloured hook - green, red and black being most productive.

 

[Richox12]

I think it does matter - to me. A couple of extremes would be blood & joker fishing with red/burgundy hooks and bread fishing with nickel hooks. I would not do this the other way around.

 

[cg74]

Hi Christian, there are some kinds of plastics, especially high temperature resistant plastics that include sintered metals, notably some shrink tubing for example contains it.

Teflon/PTFE I suspect could be free of powdered metal, are they coated for their slippyness, is that their purpose to increase the chance of penetration in the fishes mouth do you think?

A quick search reveals they (teflon) are of high electronegativity which is also relevant

Doesn't an electrical current/pulse going through the water actively draw-in many species; barbel, chub and bream being prime examples?

 

[tiinker]

I dabbled with colouring lightweight floater hooks with tipex white correction fluid for fishing bread cubes on a tight hair but found it made no real difference to my catch rate using just the plain black hook.

 

[chefster]

I always use the Drennan red carp maggot hook for most pole work with maggot,pellet,etc as its supposed to be almost invisible in water,obviously its not a baggin hook ,but its good for general work

 

[laguna]

Doesn't an electrical current/pulse going through the water actively draw-in many species; barbel, chub and bream being prime examples?

All fish will react to an electrical field but it differs. Generally they're attracted to a positive charge and are repulsed by a negative charge. A hook being negative will need to be countered to within a volt or so or shielded.

When fish are feeding well on freebies its because they are confident (safety in numbers) and will occasionally make a mistake.

 

[Judas Priest]

I used to use VMC green hooks when fishing in weed, don't know whether it made any difference but it gave me confidence when stalking wary fish.

Use gold hooks when using sweetcorn, and red hooks when using red maggots.
Can fish though see a colour spectrum or is it more it gives us confidence ?

 

[Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC}]

I used to use VMC green hooks when fishing in weed, don't know whether it made any difference but it gave me confidence when stalking wary fish.

Use gold hooks when using sweetcorn, and red hooks when using red maggots.
Can fish though see a colour spectrum or is it more it gives us confidence ?

That's probably the key point.

It might seem irrelevant but on another forum two keen pikers frequently fall out with each other about whether pike can become wary of fishing tackle. One who fishes vast wild relatively unfished tracts of Irish water swears blind they don't. The other who fishes the much more pressured waters of southern England thinks they can.

IMHO, it is unwise to draw conclusions on one type of water and level them at another.

Speaking personally I would always opt to disguise my terminal tackle at any given opportunity. Whether it matters to the fish may be open to question. The fact that it inspires me with greater confidence is not.