The price of hooks

iain t · Oct 18, 2018

Looking today to purchase some new course hooks. My favourite hooks for river fishing are Drennan Specimen Hooks and for the lighter hooks, i like Kamasa B911. Both around £1.60 for 10 hooks. Ok about 16p(see i can count). So f i want to buy 100 it will cost me £16.00. Right, so haven't confused myself yet. Where if i want sea hooks i can buy 100 Aberdeen hooks for anything from £8.00 to £10.00.
My question is why are smaller course hooks dearer than Sea hooks. Smaller hooks use less material. Cost less to produce, so am told so why do they cost more.
What are your thoughts on this subject?.

103841 · Oct 18, 2018

I’m sure if Drennan made Aberdeen hooks they would be equally as expensive, that’s branding for you.

iain t · Oct 18, 2018

You say that but Mustard 100 sea hook can be bought for £10.00

binka · Oct 18, 2018

Try doing the comparison with something like Korda hooks, it gets far worse.

If it's any help I go completely against the grain and re-use hooks whenever I can, if they're large hooks it's easy to snip the knot off or back thread through on a knotless and even re-sharpen them and on smaller spade end hooks I always carry a fag lighter and just flash the whipping off before popping it back in the packet.

It's not difficult to tell if a hook's still sharp and many still are after multiple captures, it's an odd fact that in the days when I couldn't afford to throw them away I did and now I can I don't, if you get me drift?

Can't answer your question though...

Popularity of size maybe (commonly known as a rip off) or a more refined manufacturing process?

sam vimes · Oct 18, 2018

I would suspect that economies of scale will come into it somewhere. I'd expect the average sea fishing hook to be saleable pretty much anywhere in the world. They'll be lucky to sell the average uk maggot hook is not likely to find much of a market beyond the UK and definitely not beyond western europe.

Philip · Oct 18, 2018

I suspect the manufacturers would say its down to the finishing of the point, eye and hook coating ..however I doubt this actually justifies all the increased cost.

One of the reason I still use Drennan hooks is because they work and they are cheap. The price has continued to creep up but they are still allot cheaper than some of their counterparts. The Super Specialist and Specimens are the ones I go for.
I rue the day they stopped supplying them in the little plastic boxes of 50. Now you have to buy the packs of 10 and of course it works out allot more expensive ..but still cheap compared to some.

Like Binka I do sometime reuse hooks however I actually do the opposite..I leave the tag end on the hook and put that back in the pack ...this helps to tell me whuch hooks I have already used.

I use the virgin ones for the important stuff were I dont want any doubts that whetever I hook will come off and the resused ones were I am less bothered...smaller stuff fishing for example..

peter crabtree · Oct 18, 2018

Although hooks seem to be going up in price, they're still cheap compared to certain other items of end tackle, a lot of which aren't essential to catch fish.
Hooks are, so we're stuffed....

108831 · Oct 19, 2018

Guru,kamasan and Drennan all well for an average of £1.60 for ten,all of these have a good selection of patterns,yet the others are often £4 for ten,as Simon says the the amount of tackle accessories is enormous and Danny Fairbrass has made a fortune from the sale of them,watch Korea vids and see the never ending flow of innovation,guru(another of Danny's brainchilds)is the same,that said his companies make some top quality tackle,which I pick and choose from...

seth49 · Oct 19, 2018

The new Korda Kamakura hooks they have just brought out are £6.49 for ten.
Each one is individually sharpened after manufacture and the point is then wax coated to protect it, which you remove before use.
64.9 pence each that’s expensive for a hook, mind you if I caught a big carp on one, I’d probably think it worthwhile.

thecrow · Oct 19, 2018

I am unconvinced that "the sharpest hook" is anything more than another selling point

thought up by Korda, hooks do need to be sharp but how sharp do they need to be? imo sharper will mean finer which could mean the point is more easily turned over when it wont matter how sharp it is.

Beaker · Oct 19, 2018

Have always re-used my hooks whenever possible, it stems back to my schooldays. I just get the stone out and a few strokes later ta da! The price of hooks is getting silly, and the quality of some (Korda) is terrible. I now use Angling Iron and ESP for carp and bream, and Drennan E Sox trebles for dead baiting.

S-Kippy · Oct 19, 2018

seth49 said:
64.9 pence each that’s expensive for a hook, mind you if I caught a big carp on one, I’d probably think it worthwhile.

Indeed. It does seem a lot of money for a single hook but not when compared to the cost of the rest of the gear, permits, bait etc. No doubt there is an element of "gimmick" about it as when all said and done its just a sharp hook and there are plenty of those out there more than capable of doing the job.

Mind you...at 13 bob a pop I would certainly be re-using those should I be daft enough to buy any

Mark Wintle · Oct 19, 2018

Apart from the obvious in making hooks far more expensive I despair in the reduction in bulk buying of hooks. In the 70s it was boxes of 100, then 50s, then 20s or 25s, now hard to even get the 20s, mainly packets of 10.

The bad one · Oct 19, 2018

I think the fundamental point is being missed here it, what the market will stand. When you have a price point for vogue hooks of 3 50 - 4 50 the market for the excellent but viewed as cheaper end hooks will rise because the market will stand such a rise.

benny samways · Oct 19, 2018

Hook sharpness when hair-rigging or looking for fish to hook themselves is imperative.

Looking back through my angling diaries the amount of fish I have had after changing to a fresh rig is unbelievable. Chub taps and rattles turn into hook ups, and I am convinced that I had such a good season with the barbel last year because I was ensuring I had a razor sharp hook on every cast.

For big carp fishing why not use the sharpest you can get away with? If it lands you a biggy and you have to chuck the rig then so what?

Even when maggot fishing, the minute my hook-point doesn’t go straight through the maggot on goes a fresh one. I have found that the pre-tied Drennan super spades blunt really easily and I don’t know how they got such a good reputation.

ATB

thecrow · Oct 19, 2018

benny samways said:
For big carp fishing why not use the sharpest you can get away with?

Do big Carp have harder mouths than other fish?

Having a sharp hook is the important bit and imo this is nothing more than the dropping the lead fashion that must have made manufacturers thousands in lead sales.

Just a thought, how do Korda know they are sharper than any other hook? have they published any scientific data showing test comparisons with every other hook.

108831 · Oct 19, 2018

Guru are the match side of korda,I use the mwgb pattern for my barbel fishing,in 10's & 12's,you can drag barges out on them,now at £1.60 for 10 these hooks are cheap,and sharp,I re-use them,if the point is sharp,when I was at Christchurch in August I used two hooks,the latter was still good when the holiday was finished,but was discarded on packing,they can't make a much better hook imo,unless you use a 3.75lb tc carp rod,then you can straighten a bankstick.Also how sharp is sharp,as is the blurb,if it catches in your nail it's sharp,simples....

benny samways · Oct 19, 2018

thecrow said:
Do big Carp have harder mouths than other fish?

Having a sharp hook is the important bit and imo this is nothing more than the dropping the lead fashion that must have made manufacturers thousands in lead sales.

Just a thought, how do Korda know they are sharper than any other hook? have they published any scientific data showing test comparisons with every other hook.

Depends on how old they are, what bottom they feed on. Some carp have mouths like the bottom of Steptoe's feet.

My point being that most of the time you are relying on the rig to hook the fish for you so why not have the sharpest hook you can?

thecrow · Oct 19, 2018

benny samways said:
My point being that most of the time you are relying on the rig to hook the fish for you so why not have the sharpest hook you can?

There must come a point when the sharpness of the hook becomes irrelevant, chemically sharpened hooks are imo plenty sharp enough, if a self hooking rig isn't working with a sharp hook then I would be looking at other things within the rig.

I wont be paying for these overpriced hooks as I believe they are yet another gimmick to make more profit.

The blurb about these hooks says they are individualy sharpened, doesn't this happen to all hooks?

108831 · Oct 19, 2018

benny samways said:
Depends on how old they are, what bottom they feed on. Some carp have mouths like the bottom of Steptoe's feet.

My point being that most of the time you are relying on the rig to hook the fish for you so why not have the sharpest hook you can?

You obviously are quoting from the korda blurb mate lol,I'm the same when barbel fishing,but,if your rig is not correct on the day in question,it won't matter how sharp your hook is cos they'll drop it anyway.

The price of hooks

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