Favorite Hook for bait fishing

[NSR Fisher]

Hey all, would love some feed back on something I've been thinking about / analyzing for awhile.

What is your favorite hook to use when bait fishing?

You could even separate it in your response to this thread with your:

A) Favorite hook for fishing a worm

B) Favorite hook for fishing a minnow (dead)

C) Favorite hook for general use.

D) Favorite hook for targeting a specific species (Circle hook for sturgeon, wide gap for walleye, etc etc)

I know how to lindy rig / 3 way swivel rig / slip sink rig / slip bobber rig. I'm just curious as to what everybody uses for hooks!

I'm currently using the gamagatsu "Walleye wide gap" and it seems to work fine for what I'm doing. But I'm curious to see if there's anything better / innovative what with all the new fangled hooks they have now.

I mainly target pike / walleye with a little bit of trout here and there. But don't let that limit your response! I want to know everything haha!

Look forward to any and all responses and feel free to be as specific or as general as you would like in your response.

Thanks all!

[bobalong]

I ordered some of these a couple weeks ago, still haven't got them though. Best of show at ICAST this year.....interesting concept, we will see.https://trappertackle.com/

[FlyTheory]

I love octopus hooks. They're pretty much ideal for most situations I approach. So, I use them for sturgeon (only bait fishing I do) and trailer hooks on flies. Just as long as they're good quality. So gama, trokar, owner, NOT mustad

[3blade]

Gama octopus hooks pretty well across the board, I bought a good supply years back and have been using them ever since. Wider is better for walleye.

Have some circle hooks that were intended for tip ups in the winter...and have never got a single bite when using them. Odd.

I second that mustad hooks suck. Very soft and easy to bend the tips. Guess what I tied a 10 year supply of flys on before realizing it?

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by bobalong

I ordered some of these a couple weeks ago, still haven't got them though. Best of show at ICAST this year.....interesting concept, we will see.https://trappertackle.com/

That's out of the box thinking for sure. Very interesting.

Please post a review on them once you've had the chance to give them a good shake down.

[NSR Fisher]

Thanks for the replies guys!

And yeah I use a smaller octopus hook for when I'm trout fishing. I find it helps with hook ups a lot.

Interesting that one guy doesn't like Mustad. I've heard other people mention that too.

Anyone here know anything about circle hooks? Anything different you need to consider when setting the hook after a fish takes it? I've heard they are tricky to get used to but some guys I know swear by them and the chance of throat hooking a fish is almost 0 when using circle hooks apparently.

[Bushleague]

For worm fishing I generally use an Eagle Claw bait holder hook. Makes it a bit harder to steal.

For minnows I use an octopus hook, if I'm after walleye and there's lots of pike around I use a long shank hook which does a surprisingly good job of preventing bite offs.

For large sardines and herring I use a couple different quick strike rigs. If I'm fishing on the bottom I use an octopus hook, pushed through the tail twice and then a treble near the head. If I'm suspending the bait under a bobber or tip up and I want the bait to hang horizontal I push the shank of a big treble through the belly and out the back at about the middle, then run a stinger to the head.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by NSR Fisher

Thanks for the replies guys!

And yeah I use a smaller octopus hook for when I'm trout fishing. I find it helps with hook ups a lot.

Interesting that one guy doesn't like Mustad. I've heard other people mention that too.

Anyone here know anything about circle hooks? Anything different you need to consider when setting the hook after a fish takes it? I've heard they are tricky to get used to but some guys I know swear by them and the chance of throat hooking a fish is almost 0 when using circle hooks apparently.

Circle hooks take some getting used to. The only time I've used them was flats fishing for redfish in Florida with a guide who used nothing else... I had plenty of bites but with my quick walleye jigging reflexes I couldn't manage to hook anything. My wife did pretty good though, it seemed like letting the fish swim off and set the hook itself, or just cranking down on it rather than jerking the rod worked way better. I just couldn't get used to it after a lifetime of developing muscle memory that wanted to do otherwise. By the time I thought of the proper thing to do I'd already yanked the bait out of the fishes mouth.

[NSR Fisher]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

For worm fishing I generally use an Eagle Claw bait holder hook. Makes it a bit harder to steal.

For minnows I use an octopus hook, if I'm after walleye and there's lots of pike around I use a long shank hook which does a surprisingly good job of preventing bite offs.

For large sardines and herring I use a couple different quick strike rigs. If I'm fishing on the bottom I use an octopus hook, pushed through the tail twice and then a treble near the head. If I'm suspending the bait under a bobber or tip up and I want the bait to hang horizontal I push the shank of a big treble through the belly and out the back at about the middle, then run a stinger to the head.

Oooh, that's really interesting. Do you use an Aberdeen style long shank hook? Or one of those "slow death" hooks I keep hearing about"? I've thought about using a longer shank myself but some guys say it keeps your bait too rigid and doesn't let the bait have much action.

[Etownpaul]

I tried slow death hooks out for walleye on the NSR recently ( 3 way swivel with a leech on the hook). My fishing buddy was asking about them and I told him " I dunno but walleye are supposed to love em". First cast= fish, second cast = fish, 3rd cast =bite but lost it. I couldn't believe it. The bite slowed down after that, but my buddy was pretty choked he was getting skunked on his spoon while I pulled out 2 on my first 2 casts and lost a 3rd. I'm not catching trophies or anything, but they do seem to work well on river walleye at least.

I have been using octopus hooks on sturgeon, but I've yet to land one. Might give circle hooks a try. I've used circle hooks while jigging for cod out east, and they seem to be harder for the fish to toss than traditional j hooks.

[EZM]

In terms of brands, I recently have been buying Trokar, which seem to be pretty good and hold their points nicely. I have always used, and will continue to use the good old Gamakatsu. Great hooks.

The style of hook depends on what I'm doing. If I'm soaking a big bait, which is rare, it's a big circle - but I certainly wouldn't expect to use a circle hook to jig with - the design of a J hook is superior for jigging.

For E-town .....

I'm really not sure how one would drive the hook home using a circle hook at the first sign of a nibble. Circle hooks are meant for the fish to chew the bait and once they clamp down and close their mouths the point pierces the lip and secures the fish - so there is no need to set the hook when using a circle hook.

These (circle hooks) are great for dead sticking pike under the ice or soaking a bait in the river hunting for sturgeon.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by NSR Fisher

Oooh, that's really interesting. Do you use an Aberdeen style long shank hook? Or one of those "slow death" hooks I keep hearing about"? I've thought about using a longer shank myself but some guys say it keeps your bait too rigid and doesn't let the bait have much action.

I've used both types, as well as various hooks intended for texas rigging plastics. That's pretty much how I hook my minnows too, run the hook through the eyes, then slide the minnow up the shank, then bring the point back through the body as far back as I can.

IMO the slow death hooks work great for fishing worms or various plastics, a minnow hooked in the manner I described spins and wobbles anyways so the slow death hook adds nothing.

[NSR Fisher]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I've used both types, as well as various hooks intended for texas rigging plastics. That's pretty much how I hook my minnows too, run the hook through the eyes, then slide the minnow up the shank, then bring the point back through the body as far back as I can.

IMO the slow death hooks work great for fishing worms or various plastics, a minnow hooked in the manner I described spins and wobbles anyways so the slow death hook adds nothing.

I rig my minnows the exact same way! I was taught at a young age to go threw the eyes , and the back into the belly and up. And I actually just stopped by a shop and grabbed some of those slow death hooks. I agree it will work great for crawlers.

It's got a nice straight eyelet too (hook will sit nice and perpendicular to the line) so I'm thinking about using the slowdeath to dropshot a worm. The zig zag pattern will wiggle nicely as I jiggle it threw a couple of the holes I fish. Heheheh I'm betting it's going to work beautifully.

[Etownpaul]

Originally Posted by EZM

For E-town .....

I'm really not sure how one would drive the hook home using a circle hook at the first sign of a nibble. Circle hooks are meant for the fish to chew the bait and once they clamp down and close their mouths the point pierces the lip and secures the fish - so there is no need to set the hook when using a circle hook.

These (circle hooks) are great for dead sticking pike under the ice or soaking a bait in the river hunting for sturgeon.

When we went cod jigging I was using the traditional j hook and my buddy wanted to try out a new circle hook he got. I got more bites but couldn't land as many fish as he did. We then switched setups, and I was landing more than him.
We just let the fish swim off with hook then reel em in, no hook set required as you said.

It wasn't really a typical fishing experience though, we got on a school of cod and they were hitting our hooks so fast it was unreal. It was more catching than fishing at that point. We got our 15 fish limit in 20 minutes, then spent the rest of the day whale watching. Went back the next day and limited out again in 30 minutes. The circle hook rig landed twice as many in the boat as the j hook rig.

[pikeman06]

Eagle claw for the smaller sizes for perch and trout and suckers and whites and stuff without teeth that cut line. Their pre-tied snells never let me down and they tie nice knots and no kinks or crappy line to let you down when it's the moment of truth. For walleye rigs off a bottom bouncer or a lindy I go to a gamagatsu just because I can tie my own custom lengths and stuff. Not sure what you fish for but for alberta fish those two brands are great. It's the certain brands of jigs that straighten and even break. Some wire worms tied with the straght shank brass hook have broke on me more times than I care to mention aswell. Maybe it's the vice they use that creates a "score"or weak point in the bend of the hook.

[Bushleague]

So... what sizes do you all use for the different species?