Hook Shank Length

[Micanopy]

I am learning.

I am discovering that the jig hook size and shape can provide varying results in both hooking and retaining hooked fish. Now don’t go Duhhhhhh on me here. The differences can be very subtle and even small changes can create differing experiences. I know this is true because those that catch a lot of fish have a favorite hook or two.

Let’s take a look at something here.



Top one is a great hook for my Free Style design and I really like the performance. It is a Victory sickle in size 1/0.

Under that is a hook I like for my Bat Jigs. It is a Do-It Whacky 60 degree hook in size #2.

Bottom is a new to me Eagle Claw 571 in size 1/0.


Notice that the sizing is way off ? One company’s 1/0 ain’t what the others call 1/0. In fact there is little size difference in the top two even though one is supposed to be three sizes up, Also when compared to the bottom hook in the same size, the top hooks look much larger. So sizing of jig hooks varies wildly.

One of the advantages of making your own jig heads is that you can overcome this issue and dial in a hook that works best for your style. Just like the really good fishermen did. They found a hook that works for them, which means their style of baits and fashion of presentation. Trial and error gets this done best.

VICTORY- I like this hook because it catches fish like crazy. I troll jigs out behind the boat and I almost never lose a fish once the rod bends using these hooks. Very sharp and they have a great shape that works with my style. My baits will fit on the shank in a normal fashion with not too much shank being inside the bait. The hook tip is sitting high and proud above the eye and that is said to be an important feature of any jig. No bending the tip to make the hook “work”. The issue I have is that my plastic baits are made for smaller sized hooks, and I am not very good at piercing and installing baits upon the long shank hooks. I create kinks and weird angles and such.

I have always kind of dangled the bait beside the boat as I am trolling to gain a sense of it’s swimming attitude. I did this while seated in the front of the boat. One day I swam a bait back towards the rear of the boat, with more line out, and walked back there and observed the attitude. Suddenly flaws became very noticeable. Baits that looked like they swam good up front, were actually disasters when some line was paid out. I reckon the line gives it enough freedom to show what I have done wrong. Spinning baits, wobbling, just odd looking jigs. Mind you they still caught fish, but how many fish passed because the minnow looked weird ?


WHACKY - I made some Bat Jigs up and the shorter shank of this hook made it easier to insert the hook into the bait in a straight line fashion. My baits swam better because my errors were not as pronounced. I also observed that the baits seemed to have better action. A more pronounced wobble to the paddle tails. I deduced that this was because of the point where the hook exited the bait. It was coming out near where the tail meets the body. Before with longer shanked hooks there was a section of the fat and sturdy body behind the bend and I feel that was probably inhibiting the wobble some. Keep in mind these are my observations not science.



So I wanted to use a short shank hook in my Free Style mold, so I could get these results in a 90 degree hook. I searched and read about the Matzuo hook. It however is difficult to obtain and is said to have about a 10% waste due to malformations and such. Gamakatzu has a great short shank hook, but at a steep price. I then read about the Eagle Claw 571 hook. This hook is said to be sharp and strong. I was leery but when I got my supply I was impressed. Nicer than the very sad Lil Nasties by far, and very much sharper.

I made up some Free Style heads and here they are with baits.



These are some of my better color combinations and bait styles. Slabonator brand Booty Thumpers that have been cut down in length. Their Hot Rods, again cut down. Bottom right first picture is their large Booty Thumper cut down which is a wild action bait. Makes the rod tips jiggle like crazy. Then second picture are some Crappie Magnet Curly Slabs which have not been cut in length.

I glue the baits to the jig head as that keeps them positioned nicely and the baits seem to last better. I might even experiment with crushed barbs at some point. I like to lift the fish, plop it on the deck and give him slack line as he will thrash about and pitch the jig most times. This lets me re cast quickly and then later I go back and containerize him. Little fish I bring to hand, unhook and pitch back. Glued on baits keeps me fast, which is important because when one bites…..there are others ready to bite. I land the fish and that bait is right back out there.

I plan to test test test of course. There might be some issues with these 571 hooks which I have not foreseen. So far they look to me like they will slaughter the fish. High hopes can be dashed of course, and I like the Whacky hooks in size #6 until I discovered that that was the worse hook ever. Might be good for vertical jigging, but trolling it was horrible. Fish On turned to fish gone about 3/4’s of the time. Nice devils, too. Made me mad.

So small differences in our hooks can lead to wildly differing results. One hook will outperform another, not only when it comes to retaining a hooked fish, but also when it comes to the presentation of the plastic bait. Both aspects are important obviously.

The 571 fits the larger sized heads of the Free Style mold. However, the tip rides onto the mold in the smaller sizes and I just used a hand file and removed a smidgeon of the material to get a good fit. That area is meaningless to the mold anyways so it was easy to do without damaging anything.

Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures the next trip out. Might go Wednesday but this is the time of year winds pick up and blow hard in my area. We get heavy winds for several days at a time. I like calm days as my TM isn’t that good for my boat. Add winds and things get exaggerated even further. I don’t mind the frigid cold, you know 45 degrees because I can wear long pants and regular shoes and such. However cold winds are different. Freezing cold down here already. We got down to 55 degrees last night. Brrrrrrrr cold.

[skeetbum]

I have used thousands like the top on in many sizes and don’t bend em out, use them like they come. Haven’t used the others but don’t care for the shorter shank on the bottom one for the way I fish. Looks like it reduces the gap between the point and the hook eye.

[Micanopy]

I have used thousands like the top on in many sizes and don’t bend em out, use them like they come. Haven’t used the others but don’t care for the shorter shank on the bottom one for the way I fish. Looks like it reduces the gap between the point and the hook eye.

It does reduce that diagonal dimension. Which will cause the hook tip to act differently when pressure is applied to the eye via the line pulling hard. Still I think it worth a try to see if an advantage can be found. Great little swimmers is really the goal.

[DockShootinJack]

You have it dialed in

[DrNip]

I actually was going to comment on another thread about hook sizes varying but haven’t got to it yet. I need to get in my box of hooks to for further pics but here is a quick pic of three different size 4 hooks. They are all from Mustad just different hook numbers. I’m sure once I dig out other size 4 hooks from different manufacturers they’ll vary even more.

[Micanopy]

Eye
Neck
Shank
Barb
Tip
Bend
Gap
Gauge
Material

Eight things that can and will vary from hook to hook. There is no incentive for the makers to employ standards. The hook is far more important than the head shape, but no one much talks about it. The hook’s dimensions can work with your lure or against. With your style or against. I suspect those that catch well either found a hook by luck or by actively looking for one. Either way they are not likely to switch once they found success.

They tell me Winter has the fish demanding smaller jigs. Maybe so.

[DockShootinJack]

For jigs I usually use a sickle hook. The profile allows the hook to exit the bait a little farther forward of the tail than a conventional hook. It does allow the use of a larger hook for bait class. The bigger gap of the larger hook certainly helps me get some hooks in them.

[Micanopy]

When I placed my order with Barlows, I added some of their thin 0.31 wire shafts to the mix. These make great wire extensions for the under spin design I created. They also sold me some inexpensive already painted #0 Colorado spinner blades. I added the swivels. Might add painted designs to them later.











I rather like the yellow blade as almost every combination of color bait that I use has some yellow in it. These are brighter than I imagined and that is a good thing. The lake waters in my area are all stained, with some being really stained badly. If they can see a bright yellow- let them see yellow blades, too. I see no advantage to having a bright flashy blade unless the water is clearer or fishing more shallow.

The size of the blades looks good to my eyes. I have all sorts of sizes that I will never end up using. Well maybe one day. Anyways choosing a size was difficult for me because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I think Colorado blades spin best and offer the greatest amount of sound, so I want those. The jig will swim in a cocked attitude ( nose down ) but I am using a slightly heavier jig head to try to offset some of that. The smaller sized blade will also help with that. The “cup” of the blade is not that pronounced so that will also work to lessen the resistance. Finally I have angled the wire in tighter to the body and that will also help lessen the cocked appearance.

These will be in my midrange spread. Not way back there - not in close, but midway back. There the 1/8th oz size will allow for a reasonable depth. I am using longer plastics with these as the heads were already made using the Victory hooks and their longer shanks.

The 571 hook sits in the mold somewhat cocked, so I suspect a modification would allow for an under spin wire, but not sure I even want those shorter shanked hooks, so that will have to wait. If the hooks work well, I will file a little and get a good fit. I was able to lay the wire in the mold with that hook, but the fit wasn’t what I wanted.

The weather liar says Wednesday good, windy rainy this weekend. Testing shall be Wednesday I guess.

Need to work with my new 10 rod layout to see how that will work out. Looked at that again yesterday afternoon and the baits all dangle down off the side and back of the boat at a good distance apart. Some look to be six feet, some maybe four feet apart. All are far enough apart to allow a straight line pull of ten long lines. So I make four of them short lines and can make tight turns. Make two more midway back drops and make even tighter turns. I think it will be just fine. Acceptable at least as there will be foulings I am sure.

I could add a few more rods but there is an issue. That is I land the fish by reeling them from the sides inward, back to front. There is an area near the back of the boat where they seem to do best. I would say this area is from the stern forward about five feet, and from the side of the boat out about five feet. This area is where my fish leave the water, so I need to be clean there with no lines to foul. It is because I am still underway while fighting the fish and they naturally approach the boat in this fashion. So I will have to add rods some other way, that is if there will be any more added. Been a real hoot trying to fine tune the rod layout, as some great ideas fell to the wayside upon putting them into practice.

I now have my furthest out the side rods to the very front, and these are my longest lines as well. Then as I progress down the side of the boat, the lines all move in closer to the boat. Closer. So that the last pair are out the very back of the boat and close to the midline of travel. This prevents the front rods from fouling the back and I can work the fish to that area in the back for lifting without him wrapping me up.

I enjoyed learning how to fashion up jigs with fur and feathers, but the plastics are just so wild it is hard to imagine giving them up for something I tie. Crazy bright colors, and wild actions, things very difficult to build with materials. Instead I can just slip on a ready made bait and go. Eventually they get ripped up, but only after they have landed a goodly amount of fish. If I dipped jigs things would be different I am sure. I would want hair and feathers and such, but dragging behind the boat I think I want plastic baits. Now all I have to do is get better at slipping them onto the hook. LOL

[Micanopy]

3 sizes

3/16th oz- 3/0
1/8th oz 1/0
1/16th oz 1/0
Victory hooks.

I hope to find out if short shank hooks work better tomorrow. Got a nice supply to test.

[DockShootinJack]

Those will get the job done