I have been making crappie jigs for near 25yrs now and I was wondering what most people like. Would you rather have regular hooks or the sickle hooks? I tie the jelly belly jigs with marabou tails.
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I have been making crappie jigs for near 25yrs now and I was wondering what most people like. Would you rather have regular hooks or the sickle hooks? I tie the jelly belly jigs with marabou tails.
I tried the sickle about 2 years ago, and really like them. Either will work, but if I have a choice it's the sickle hook for me.
Hands Down.. Sickle Hooks. A lot of molds need some slight modification to make then work, they have some inconsistencies that are aggravating but sharpness is amazing...
I've bought a lot of sickles but I still pour the old round bend jig hooks. I'm sure not gonna toss thousands of hooks, and they're the old stock not the new ones. Caught plenty of fish on them in the past and still do. Some of the guys are trying the new Eagle Claw 2X light wire hooks and really liking them.
I use a variety of materials on my jelly jigs I use living rubber marabou in hair. I do not have a favored hits whatever the fish are wanting the day that I fish with them. as far as the hook goes I like sickle.
Got hooked on Sickle hooks about 10 years ago and they are what I like best. I do of course use regular bend that comes on a Roadrunner, but anything I can use a Sickle on, that is what I want. They can be a major pain in the rear if that batch is not good because it can be anything from them breaking too easy to just not a closed eye or too small of an eye. Its not as bad as it use to be where you cow;d even find them with the barb ion the wrong side of the hook, LOL! Still nothing sharper that cheap!
Good to see you again Ragfly Jig Man!
This sums it up. size #10, 8 and 6 are shorter to the eye than standard equivalent regular bend hooks. I just got done pouring and 1 of the #1/0 sickles was SO easy to bend it bent while I was taking the sprue off. I went back n checked all 400. Their inconsistencies are maddening. Super sharp but their tolerances and quality control are lacking...Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeKdog
Sickle. Black chrome.
I prefer sickle hooks
Quote:
Originally Posted by PA_Slabs
the first batch of 50 jigs i did tonight i check each one and i can say there were some inconsistencies like one of the hook eyes were opened rather far for what it should have been and the jig eyes were not horizontal to the hooks. but at a angle for them self which would make them swim funny? any ways 1 out of 50 is not bad so far the hook eyes and not being perfectly strait is another. cant complain yet about them that much they seem decent for the $3.75 i paid per 100 and or $15 per 500 now if they are like tiemco ceramic chemical sharpened garbage hooks that shattered in the vise jaws constantly from thread tension. but they seem to be a better hook all and all any ways here is a shot of 500 of them i just got in the mail...
i also got 500 size 6 and 500 size 4 pictured and 250 mustad 32833bln's for steel head fishing in size 8 got those today form captain hooks ordered them on may 30-2014 and there a few day later all were in stock.
if those mustad bln's for $26.95 for 250 hooks i bought were the same as tiemco or sickle hooks i would make sure there was a recall or i would send them back. at $7.50 for "sickle" compared to $26.95 for "mustad bln's" for the same amount of hooks if the were inconsistent i would return them but of course there not no biggie but to worry about light wire Aberdeen hooks is not necessary i think.
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/...ps39b6c54f.jpg
also quick question how do you open the gap on the hooks up on the sickle is there a need to like regular Aberdeen's?
I swiched over to sickels about 3 or 4 years ago. I still like to pour with the round bend Abredeen hooks for some of my Bream jigs. I agree some of the Matzo's are inconsistant but sharp as heck. I find that I loss less fish with the sickles also. I feel like Fatman will use anything that is sharp and good. Better than tying a pattern on a sharp stick.
Redman
I use both.I would like to get some more size 8 and 10 sickles.
Baxter I still like a #10 Aberdeen better than the sickle in that size on blue gill bream jigs. In a size 8 they are great and when the panfish are aggressive they will suck one down like it was nothing. Am surprised at the size of jigs those bluegills will attack at times.
Redman
Sickle hooks get my vote
I use Sickle hooks on everything, but still have plenty of gold Mustads I need to use.
justinp61 those mustads are just taking up space get rid of them and send them my way to get that junk out of your way. And I even do it for free. What a deal free.
Redman
I can't add too much to what's already been said by folks much busier than I. I tried them in a 100 batch at first and found them better in most every way. So much so that my first big hook order ever was for 7000 sickle's in different sizes. The better price on 1000 count was a contributor to the size of the order, and I had ideas of pouring for some extra bucks. That didn't work for my available time. I have some smaller ones, under size 6 that I will probably trade out some day as I don't use them much but have had to re-order 4's and 2's. I have some aberdeens that I have gotten for a song, and pour a few now and then but not very many. I have landed Crappie over 2lbs on a #6, and I doubt that fish would have been landed on an aberdeen, it was buried in the roof of the mouth. Been sold ever since.
Well said Skeetbum. I find that the majority of the crappies that I catch are in the roof of the mouth. The #6 sickles are my go to size. Do to the size of the baitfish size in the lake. But a lot of the minnow fisherman are still using a 1/0 gold bait hook. I think that the sickles in the smaller sizes are inhaled and that is why we catch and lose less fish . Where the bait fisherman with there larger hooks will catch them on the sides of the mouth and lose more fish because of there paper mouths. I will say in the fall of the year I will use the #2 sickles on the 1/4 oz. pony heads but at that time the crappie are attacking the larger schools of bigger shad. Bindging for the winter ahead.
Redman
I like sickles and also the new 2x lite wire aberdeen jighook being put out by mustad, I'm thinking the model number on that hook is 32889 also called crappie lites. I usually favor the sickles but the sharpness of these mustads and also their extra lite wire makes them a winner too but they only come in 2 and 4, the size 4 being my favorite.
I like to combo fish, catch bluegills and crappies at the same time.. so I choose a regular round bend. I have both on hand and when I'm fishing just for crappies I will use a sickle.
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.