Do Red Hooks work?

[Eager Beaver]

I was fishing off of a boat dock yesterday, and caught a nice crappie. I laid my rod on the dock and took the hook out of the fish and was going to drop the Crappie into my livewell on the boat when my rod took off for the edge of the dock. I had about 4 ft of line off the end of my rod when I unhooked the fish and dropped the Red Hook on the deck and it fell into the water. It had no more than hit the water than a 9-1/2 Bull Bluegill grabbed the bare hook and took off. I was lucky enough to step on the rod and grab it before it went in the lake. It wouldn't have been the first rod I lost to a fish.
Has anyone else hooked a fish with a bare red hook?

[fishboy]

EB,
Don't know if you have had a chance to the read this article but it is interesting. http://www.crappie.com/stories/tj.htm

[crappieseeker]

I caught a 3lb bass on just a plain gold hook.

[Eager Beaver]

Thank you fishboy- I red (pun) it when Ed first posted it. I have noticed that the fish hit the red hooks harder and get a better hook up with these.

[slabbandit]

I mainly jig fish, but I spider rig a lot when I have someone with me that hangs up too much jig fishing.

Normally I just use a crappie hook or a 1/16 oz. tube jig with a 1/4 oz. pinch on lead about a foot above the hook. It's a lot less trouble for me than running 5 or 6 double dropper rigs. Especially when I have an inexperienced fishing partner in the boat.

I think I am going to make a change though and go to using 1/8 oz. Roadrunner heads with the red hooks and placing a red stand-out hook about 18 inches up from the Roadrunner. I'll tip each hook with a minnow. I'll also try different colored tube jigs on the Roadrunner heads.

I can get the Roadrunner heads at Wal-Mart but I guess I'll have to order the red Stand-Out hooks.

[skiptomylu]

I don't know what you pay for the Roadrunner heads at Wal Mart, but BPS has them in 20/25 per pack with red hooks or with other than red hooks.

[Eager Beaver]

I have been painting my own hooks red with finger nail polish-ruby red. I have a bunch of the road runner jig heads and so I just started painting them myself. I painted a bunch of Maribou jigs this spring and used them for the spawn and the fish couldn't get enough of them. I thought I would try painting some instead of buying a bunch of new hooks and jigs to see if they would bite them and they do. Not cheap just frugile.

[chef]

I have been painting my own hooks red with finger nail polish-ruby red. I have a bunch of the road runner jig heads and so I just started painting them myself. I painted a bunch of Maribou jigs this spring and used them for the spawn and the fish couldn't get enough of them. I thought I would try painting some instead of buying a bunch of new hooks and jigs to see if they would bite them and they do. Not cheap just frugile.

Thats a great idea, I was reading the posts trying to figure out where
I could get some red crappie hooks for this fall, I think I will just paint
some of the ones I have.

thanks
Chef

[Eager Beaver]

just paint a few to see if they like the color you use to paint them with. Don't worry about the smell after you paint them it doesn't seem to bother the fish. I used Petites by Scherer in Riviera Red. The Crappie really liked it in the Spring. Haven't used to many jig in the summer. I bought some red hooks to see if they liked them and are still using them. Don't worry about getting the whole hook covered with the polish. Some say it is better if you don't get it completely covered.

[FalconSmitty]

I use both gold and red hooks. I catch more fish on gold hooks. On jigs all I have is gold hooks so I don't know.. Why don't I just change to all red hooks???? Well I grew old using the gold hooks and know they work too..even if I do catch more on the red hooks. I bought some orange and chartruse hooks at big lots.. I caught fish with them but I will stick with the red.