Hook life

daji · Sep 17, 2013

Just a thought after reading a previous post but how many sessions would you expect to get from a single hook?

i'm aware this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question so lets say by sessions i mean a days fishing for a healthy bag of silvers. The reason i ask is i had a bad experience after purchasing some size Fladen match style hooks (after being dragged by my wife to the Range superstore) and after bumping a fair few fish checked the hooks and found them all to be blunt.

mg:

since this time i've become paranoid with all hooks and do a quick thumb prick check. Is it normal practice to re sharpen hooks or dispose of blunted hooks?

Cheers all

Daji

chefster · Sep 17, 2013

I change the hooks on my rigs after every session,i,ve very rarely,if at all had to change a hook because it was blunt-these are the hooks i use most Kamasan B911,B911 X-STRONG,B911 F1,Drennan Wide gape carp,silver fish pellet,carbon feeder,Maggot,Tubertini 175,.Chef

barbelboi · Sep 17, 2013

It depends where you're fishing, sometimes you'll need to replace/sharpen it after reeling in one cast.
Jerry

binka · Sep 17, 2013

I know plenty of people who re-sharpen hooks in the bigger sizes but I've never bothered, the simple thumb test does it every time for me and if they feel right they go back in the packet and I will re-use larger hooks if I think they are still sharp, if not they are disposed of.

I generally tend to dispose of the smaller sizes after a session though, usually Kamasan on a hooklength because I find it too fiddly and can't be bothered to wind them back up and store them but I can't see anything wrong with re-using them in principal if they still feel good and you're prepared to do it.

S-Kippy · Sep 17, 2013

Big hooks I'll re-use after an inspection & re-sharpening ,particularly if they are expensive. Small one's I trash. I wont compromise on hooks or line because to do so is to miss the point.

Unintentional hook related pun there...I apologise.

daji · Sep 17, 2013

ahh ok, thanks for the replies. so in general i guess the rule for smaller hooks is to replace/dispose of them after 1 session. Maybe i'm being a skinflint expecting them to last a little longer, although thinking about it @ 15p a pop i guess im just expecting a little too much

cg74 · Sep 18, 2013

A couple years ago I spent aprox 30 days and nights fishing the Lower Severn for barbel, always using two rods and only used 15 hooks, they were a pattern that I'd lost faith in for carp fishing - ESP Big T's.

On gravel pits I kept on getting burred points, it never happened on the river, probably due to the angle of retrieval being different. Whenever I have hooks out of the water I always inspect them.

laguna · Sep 18, 2013

There are no rules to go by, only guidelines. If its sharp its good and if its blunt its pretty much useless. A good test would be to run it over a thumb nail.

You can sharpen a blunt hook on some carborundum, but you will never get it as sharp as a chemically sharpened hook.

jacksharp · Sep 18, 2013

I never think that chemically sharpened hooks, like most modern hooks, respond that well to sharpening? Stainless steel sea hooks, which can't be chemically sharpened, respond well to a re-sharpening though.

After each session I just simply do the old thumbnail test and if the hook point still catches I put it back in the bag/box with a bit of line still attached so I know which ones have been previously used.

nicky · Sep 18, 2013

If using maggots with small hooks you can tell if its blunt when it doesnt glide through the maggot when putting the maggot on theres just a little bit of resistance at which point i will change the hook

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

nicepix · Sep 18, 2013

I'll re-use bigger hooks several times after testing and sharpening if necessary. Small hooks I tend to dispose of mainly because the finer line tends to twist and knot so I dispose of the whole leader / cast.

chav professor · Sep 19, 2013

I do re-use hooks, especially large ones. It pays to buy quality...

Essential to check re-used hooks, but just as importantly, fresh ones out of the packet!!! Its one of 1% things that makes such a big difference to your fishing... Strike and bump a fish only to find the hook point is burred over - its painfully your own fault.

If I'm float fishing, I may change the hook link (which is dead quick link to link) 2 or 3 times in a day... (probaby far more frequently when I fish my favurite corner of a certain lake with an over hanging branch

mg

.

the first tell tale sign a small hook is past its best is usually when it starts to burst maggots on re-baiting.

laguna · Sep 19, 2013

Blunt?

I remember learning as a young recruit; the Queens regulations stating that all bayonets should be sharp and clean!

Sharp ensured a good kill as we don't want to leave our enemy injured..
Clean because; should your enemy survive the assault he may later suffer an infection!

So unless you want to go against Geneva conventions and face charges; Shoot the buggers instead!

(with a polished warhead of course)

You may face similar accusation from witnessing fishers against sentient maggots if caught with a blunt hook...

mg:

terry m · Sep 23, 2013

Invest in a small hook magnifier, you may find yourself amazed at the condition of some hook points, especially when fishing on gravel or pebble bottoms.

I sharpen pike trebles, everything else I junk, for me it simply is not worth taking the chance.

nicky · Sep 23, 2013

Why pike trebles ?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

binka · Sep 23, 2013

I'm sure Terry will answer but i'm guessing at the cost, along with the fact that they really do have to be needle sharp to penetrate a pike's boney jaws...

nicky · Sep 24, 2013

they arent much more expensive than carp hooks and if pike have the hardest mouths surely they should b the first hooks to ditch and if they can be sharpened up so good why not other hooks
P.s personally i do resharpen pike trebles just brought it up as it seemed like a bit of a contradiction

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

binka · Sep 24, 2013

nicky said:
they arent much more expensive than carp hooks and if pike have the hardest mouths surely they should b the first hooks to ditch and if they can be sharpened up so good why not other hooks
P.s personally i do resharpen pike trebles just brought it up as it seemed like a bit of a contradiction

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

I did say it was only a guess

nicky · Sep 24, 2013

Ok i forgive you

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

no-one in particular · Sep 26, 2013

I hardly ever buy hooks, maybe two packets a year on a bad year. I reuse hooks again and again until I lose them or rarely , they bend out. I never sharpen them either. Mind you I rarely buy much from the tackle shop. I either make it or find it. I just fished out of the cupboard two almost brand new rods that some bloke once was throwing into a skip. I asked him if I could have them and he gave them to me. There was also a box of lures in the skip. 15 of them, big rubber ones that cost an arm and a leg in the shop.must unused. Amazing what people throw away these days. I have a lot of tackle from skips. But, with the hooks, don't know if I lose more fish, seem OK to me, but I wouldn't recommend it to any one else, just me , tight as a -----.

Hook life

Well-known member

chefster

Guest

Well-known member

binka

Guest

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

binka

Guest

Well-known member

binka

Guest

Well-known member

Well-known member