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Thanks for the generous offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redman
I like bigger hooks and use a #1 in 1/8 and 3/32. The fish seem to have no problems getting them in their mouths, I've caught some aquarium sized crappie on them. Since going to the sickle hooks I lose less fish and about 95% of them are hooked in the roof of the mouth.
Sickles for everything but fishing thick brush. Then I go to the light wire hooks. Easier to straighten and re-bend.
justinp61 I am with you on the larger hooks on the 1/8 oz. on them I use the # 2 sickles. That is the heaviest weight that I fish with any more. The #2 are in the right proportions for the shad imitators. My lake waters are shallow enough that i very seldom need more than a 1/24 oz. to get to the catch zone. In the fall is when I need my larger patterns when the crappies feed on the bigger shad. Then it is silver and gray all the way.
BTW the offer still stands.
Redman
As far as sickle hooks are concerned, they have definite pros and cons. I have gotten bad batches before and I have to give them a close look. I have found the ones that have broken have small machined lines in them. I have also have some with burs in the eyes. I put some through a torture test and fished for specks and reds. I was using 2/0 and for trout they did ok, but reds 4lbs. or better they started to fail. All that being said, I use them almost exclusively when fishing under a cork because a fish can tap it and most of the time they are hooked! I don't use sickle OR lite wire most 75% of my fishing because I'm dipping jigs in tight thick cover that is no deeper than my pole and I wanna get those fish out with no chance of bending a hook. I deep water, I use a round bend lite wire. Sickle hooks are great if you take the time to inspect them. Sickle vs. Round has been a hot topic for years. I'm no expert, but it has always seemed to me that something round spreads the energy and something with angles has concentrated stress at those points. For most cases with panfish it probably doesn't matter. Everybody has to try a little of this and a little of that find the perfect recipe for them. good luck! :)
I changed all my jigs over to sickle hooks three years ago and have not gone back. Hook sets are better and less lost fish. If they bite a sickle you can pretty much count on it going in the livewell. When I use a #2 hook with a 1/32 jig head the weight is a 1/24th which I really like because I did not have to bore out my mold. I like the bigger hooks on the jigs when trolling.