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[QUOTE=crappiedoc;Another thing, a #8 hook will not clear the outside of the head resulting in missed strikes. Hope this helps. CD[/QUOTE]
I agree that there is a point where to big a jighead will make it hard to set the hook. You can offset this a little by opening the hook where it is sticking up more. However, in most cases, I still wouldn't recommend going more than 2 hook sizes down from what is recommended.
Bronson In one of my post I talked about a rule of thumb. Mine is one up and one down from recommended. You can go down 2 sizes but then other factors come in to play. When you start trying to bend on thin wire hooks weak spots can occur. Not good!!!
Its not like the old days when we could take a 4x long shank flat forged Mustad hook and bend the heck out of it and still catch a 5 lb. Smallmouth. These sickles are thin wire. I have had some sickles snap on me. Don't get me wrong I love them to death but still treat them gently. No twist no bends don't trust one that has been snagged more than twice. No need to loss a nice fish on a weak hook. Hooks are relitively inexpencive and the only thing that is holding the fish to your line. Use good hooks and tie good knots. Play a fish with confidence and don't horse a big one in. Pay attention to the details and you will be succesfull. Words of wisdom from a old geezer.
Redman
[QUOTE=Redman;Pay attention to the details and you will be succesfull. Words of wisdom from a old geezer.
Redman[/QUOTE]
I like that last couple of lines. Being an high school basketball coach for over 20 years helped me realize it's all about the fundamentals. As soon as you start ignoring them, they have a tendency to come back to bite you.
I agree with the weaker hooks and not trying to force things but I also agree you can modify a mold to make some accomodations as long as they are not too extreme. Sizes can be deceiving too as a #2 in an Eagle Claw and a #2 sickle hook will not look the same, nor will it perform the same.
Not too long ago, you made an excellent post giving suggestions of how to make modifications in your molds. I've still got it on file. You're one of the best resources we've got on this site and I've learned to make a point of reading your suggestions. It has helped save me from making a lot of mistakes.
On molds if you can FIND the older Do-It molds they are in my opinion better than the new ones. You were almost unlimited in what hooks you could use in them. Now alot of them with smaller head sizes have a warming chamber on the bottom that you can use to warm the mold up with, while it's a nice feature it really takes up the space that was open before.
They're pretty much IMO making them so you don't have any choices but to buy other molds to cover bigger hooks. The old catalouges showed the molds. There's not many in the new one.
Example: I bought the Horsehead 1/32nd and 1/16th mold. Figured hey all my other molds are side by side NOPE. This mold has four on one side, then you flip it over and pour 4 on the other side. Guess what happened to all the open space, GONE. It's tough getting bigger sickles in it, I tried putting them in to see if I could load all eight slots. NOPE.
I've sent Do-It emails asking them why not ask us what we're looking for in a mold, if they did I'd bet more of us would buy more than we do. But I never got an answer from them.