Eagle Claw 500 R (red sickles)

Wasnt a fan of these hooks. Went to use some up I had, #2 in particular, and ended up throwing probably 6-8 away out of 100. 6-8% of bad hooks seems somewhat excessive? Those were just the ones that were too warped/bent to get to lay correctly in the mold. The anodizing or whatever on the remainder was garbage for the most part. They're horrible to bend back into shape once bent too.

I've got 1000 #2 black victory sickles to burn through, which so far have been great quality when placing in the mold, and stupidly sticky sharp. Finish seems great.

I think when I run through those 1000, I'll either stick with them (depending on their performance) or just go back to the old tried and true aberdeen style light wire jig hooks (be it bronze eagle claw or bronze mustad) and be done with it.

I love the ole aberdeen even though it is not in vogue this day and age. I am in the process of using up the rest of my Matzu hooks if people request them and I have poured lots that are still laying around here. I do like that hook too..

Hooks are personal. Some molds finish better with one exact hook, over all the others. I am learning about what my mold shapes will do best with still. I am liking the larger sized hooks. 1/0 is my best size now. The Victory hooks come from a nice machine, working a very good quality wire.

I have been told.

Those machines leave a sleeker barb. A slicker and slimmer stab wound might open up less during the fight. Stay stuck better. Possible.

The red color is a gimmick.

I am sizing my hooks to best match my preferred plastic baits, and not the various jog weights. I like a nicely raised hook tip, fitting a bait length that still allows some wobble back there. A gap that is more than what a smaller sized hook offers. Extension away.

Of course each company has it’s own idea of what the standard should be for a 1/0. I think using the Victory hooks is a good plan. My choice anyways.

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Originally Posted by Micanopy

Hooks are personal. Some molds finish better with one exact hook, over all the others. I am learning about what my mold shapes will do best with still. I am liking the larger sized hooks. 1/0 is my best size now. The Victory hooks come from a nice machine, working a very good quality wire.

I have been told.

Those machines leave a sleeker barb. A slicker and slimmer stab wound might open up less during the fight. Stay stuck better. Possible.

The red color is a gimmick.

I am sizing my hooks to best match my preferred plastic baits, and not the various jog weights. I like a nicely raised hook tip, fitting a bait length that still allows some wobble back there. A gap that is more than what a smaller sized hook offers. Extension away.

Of course each company has it’s own idea of what the standard should be for a 1/0. I think using the Victory hooks is a good plan. My choice anyways.

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Have you seen some of the jigs we post? �� I think we do what we do for us a lot of times. I’ve never put any thought into a red hook but for some reason, they look good in the box haha.

I’m interested in exploring the Victory hooks more, they’re sticky sharp and lay well in my molds. I’m going to order some of the mustad Aberdeen’s though because I love an Aberdeen hook, and I usually bend them out just a smidge.

I agree. We do tend to make our jigs look a certain way. Hard to imagine liking a hook you have to bend to get to work, but hey, that style of hook has caught many many fish over the centuries.

The irony of fishing lures is they must catch the fisherman before they catch fish.

I have some hooks to buy so I’m paying attention to everyone’s findings. Have just a few Matzuo left.

As to the red color; part gimmick and part fact IMHO. When I trolled cranks in TN I sometimes had days when the fish were always grabbing the baits from behind and coming to the boat with one of three hooks on the rear treble being the connection between me and them. I bought some red trebles and swapped the belly hooks on a couple of the baits and threw them into the spread. Lots of times the fish had the front hook in their face where they had T boned it instead of creeping up from behind. Not every time but enough to notice a difference. The hooks have to be plated in gold first to give the red the brilliance they’re after so I’m sure they’re still more expensive.

Tim Stallings had a tackle shop in Orlando and had two boys, TJ and Ronnie. In the shop was an aquarium with a few local fish in it. One night after closing, Tim grabbed TJ and said to look here. He took a small flashlight with a lense to focus the beam, like a laser would today, and some colored plastic and they went to the aquarium. He turned on the light and shined it into the background in the tank. White, green, yellow had no reaction. But when he made it red, all the fish in the tank turned to see where and what it was. TJ later worked for Daichi and tru turn and Blakemore, now all under the Blakemore name I believe. They’ve marketed red hooks for a lot of years. As Jack said earlier, gotta catch the fisherman first. I think it’s worth a try to see if it works for where you fish.

Skeet I had the pleasure of being an acquaintance of Dr. Loren Hill of Color-C-Lector fame among many other things. This was in the late 70's at Indiana St. U and anything he has written about colors is fascinating. From what attracts fish or repels them to what attracts sales and what to avoid. Two things always stuck in my head was he told me to never buy a fishing boat with yellow on it and never forget red when fishing shallow (i.e) good water clarity. In December when we are fishing for walleye just before ice up light penetration is good and red hooks do real well. This whole topic revolves around light, refraction of light in the water, U.V. light and how the colors respond to all these factors. It is a fascinating science all of us need to explore on a lazy afternoon this winter. Sorry if I rambled off there but it all factors into what we are doing. Tie on my friends.

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Originally Posted by GrumpyLoomis

Skeet I had the pleasure of being an acquaintance of Dr. Loren Hill of Color-C-Lector fame among many other things. This was in the late 70's at Indiana St. U and anything he has written about colors is fascinating. From what attracts fish or repels them to what attracts sales and what to avoid. Two things always stuck in my head was he told me to never buy a fishing boat with yellow on it and never forget red when fishing shallow (i.e) good water clarity. In December when we are fishing for walleye just before ice up light penetration is good and red hooks do real well. This whole topic revolves around light, refraction of light in the water, U.V. light and how the colors respond to all these factors. It is a fascinating science all of us need to explore on a lazy afternoon this winter. Sorry if I rambled off there but it all factors into what we are doing. Tie on my friends.

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I have read some of that in the past

With the right water clarity, and if I remember right, red loses its color and goes to a shade of gray at about 15’. Most of my trolling with the cranks was about 11 or 12’ so the red hook was somewhat of a factor, to my way of thinking. I wouldn’t bet the farm that I’d outfish someone because I had red hooks and he didn’t, but they never hurt and I learned something along the way.

Yep and that opens another can. U.V. coatings have the same properties and is good here and not so much there. Confidence in a bait plays a big role too. I kinda poo poo'd yellow on boats because of reflectivity into the water, but in the same breathe I like baits that color for the same reason. I wish I still had color vision because this is one part of lure making that is great. I was fishing B.A.S.S. at Kentucky Lake and I thru the ole color-c-lector in the water and it said RED all thru the water column. I frantically looked for something red and found a 3/4 oz spinner bait with a #3 Colorado blade. Thought what the heck and waylaid the bass and got 3rd. Point is nothing is wrong but color matters (sometimes).

TreednNC this is a little off topic but I relate to your handle. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune in N.C. in the 70's. We were waking across a parade deck when a pack of dogs came running our way. We scrambled up a tree for 6 hours while the dogs ran around under the tree before they came looking for us. Quite a startling reminder seeing your handle here.

Mustad 32500 sickle and 32746 j hook are all I use anymore. Mostly the j hook. You’ll pay a premium for the j hook but hands down best hook for crappie jig I’ve ever seen or used.