I was watching a Richard Gene video where he showed bending hooks out will catch more fish. Does anyone else do this? Does it really help?
Fin
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I was watching a Richard Gene video where he showed bending hooks out will catch more fish. Does anyone else do this? Does it really help?
Fin
Yes and Yes. You want to bend it out about 10 degrees. By doing it, you will get more hook ups in the roof of the mouth. Really improves the catch ratio.
I don’t, however I think on 4,6 size hooks there could be an advantage.
I don’t think you have anything to loose, might as well try it.
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Keep in mind, he is using standard hooks not sickle hooks. Pop
Depends on the hook of course,but yes,I bend hooks often,and it does improve hook up.
I always wait until I get hung up and after I pull it free it is bent out!
Yes, I think bending out slightly helps with the hookup.
Yep, especially on those little hooks.
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I saw that video, too. On small hooks the point of the hook is below the jig eye. He was bending it up to be above the line tie and increasing the hook up. I bend up the standard hooks a little. Have never had to been a sickle hook.
If the fish are biting, and I'm not catching them, I would try it, but I think it's just part of the unique character that RG happens to be.
If I am using live bait, I use a no.4 hook. I think I get more hook ups with the bigger hook. If I am using smaller hooks or jigs with live bait or plastic's, I always bend my hook out. I think that my hooking percentage goes up.
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If you bend your hook out you will also catch more hangups.:twocents
Been doing this for years and yes it does work.
I do and it helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by FIN
the jig heads I have been using lately come slightly bent out , interesting I thought they was just poor quality and keep bending them back in ....LOL
I do know if you bend a hook slightly offset it will work better sometimes instead of out .
Yes, I bend my hooks and will also sharpen them if I think they need it.
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I use weedless jigheads w/Aberdeen hooks .... and the only time they get "bent out" is when I manage to hang them up. :biggrin (after which I will promptly bend them back to their original position)
What weedless jig heads you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
Custom made ballhead with #2 Aberdeen hooks and Y shaped plastic guard ... made by the member known as Grousefly.
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When I was in my early 20s, a 80 year old guy took me under his wing and taught me to jig fish. He taught me to tie jigs and how to fish them. We tied #8 jigs if I remember right and he opened the hook up to catch more fish. I could never catch what he could fishing right along beside him.
I first want to say that I think you should do what you have confidence in. I also want to throw no stones at Richard Gene as he has more time to fish than I've ever had. Years ago, when I chased green fish, I missed a lot of fish while using plastic worms. Frustrated wouldn't come close. So I tried do replicate what happens when I set the hook and pulled. The hook, being flat, pulled between my fingers. So I pulled the hook point away from the shank and tried again, with the same result. So I then took a pair of pliers and bent the hook a few degrees to one side, so that it could no longer sit flat when lying on the table. Now it was a can't miss deal for one lip or the other. Hence, this is where my confidence lies. Later on a few years, Eagle Claw came out with a variation of my idea of a hook with a bend in the shaft, called the 45 automatic. It was designed to rotate the hook 45* as it was pulled between the lips, worked every time.
We present our hooks more consistently in a vertical orientation. I can see that opening the hook could have it's benefits, but it wasn't that for me. I did catch a few more fish but I also lost a lot more jigs, especially around grabby stuff. There was no dragging a jig over a branch and having it drop down the other side cuz it found purchase along the way. What did consistently up my catch rate was sickle hooks. Being sharper than most conventional hooks, they touch flesh and bury and hold on. Better than anything else I have tried. Where I used to lose jigs with a #4 hook, I now stick fish with a #6 and keep the fish and don't lose the jig in the trash because of the smaller gap. A lot of the fish I catch have the jig deep in their mouth and I need hemostats to get it back. That's the best I can explain what rattles around in my head when I get on this subject. Just my opinion and a little research, but nothing I can say can beat whatever it is that you have confidence in.