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I love sickle hooks.....but I do seem to lose a few fish.....someone said that the small barbs on sickle hooks are noted for losing hook sets due to the small barb.....so, why don't they make them......does anyone make a sickle hook with a larger barb.....I would love to try it.....
Oops....posted this B 4 I saw another thread on sickle hooks.......
I have never noticed losing a fish because of the small barb on sickle hooks. Most of the time the hook a buried deeply in the rough spot in the top of the mouth. I use #2 hooks on both 1/32 and 1/16 jig heads.
Love me some sickle hooks! Never had problems with them coming unbuttoned, actually just the opposite. Gettin em out can be a chore sometimes.
I loose less fish with sickle hooks than I do with the others......most are hooked solid in the roof of the mouth.
I've never had a problem with Aberdeens (jigs or plain hook), so I've never bothered to make the switch.
I see no reason why, though, that a sickle hook would be any less effective in penetrating a fish's jaw or roof of their mouth, cause missed fish by their design or small barb, or allow a fish to shake loose when solidly hooked. Any "lip hooked" fish has the potential to come unbuttoned, regardless of hook style. A weedless jig is, however, a little less likely to come unbuttoned from a lip hooked fish, due to the narrow gap opening between the hook & guard. That's one of the reasons I choose to use a weedless jig :ThumbsUp
... cp :kewl
I crimp the barbs down on all my hooks.
I think the biggest complaint about the Barb is it is so small that when fishing minnows on a double rig. Fish shakes it's head and minnow will fly off other hook. I will sacrifice that for the hooking power of that super sharp hook. Most as G said are buried in the roof of the moth or some other hard spot. I have actually had them hooked to the point on a 1/0 that it actually came through side of mouth and out through Gill plate.
Agree with Cray, they will hook a fish most of the time in the top of the mouth and will go all the way through the gill plate. They are sharp only problem that I have is it's easy to break the hook if you hang into something or try to bend them sometimes.