Red hooks: hype or fact ?

I can get 100 bronze jig hooks almost half as much for red ones. I mold my own Road Runners and use plasic bodies (crappie thunder, turbo tails, etc.) and cast and retrieve them or slow troll them. With all the flash,vibration and color does the little bit of red wire really draw a strike that a bronze hook won't ? An article in the In-Fisherman said biologist say that fish don't have the brain cells/thought pocess to think "see red, that equals blood, that's wounded prey, that's an easy meal, must strike now." And tank test showed no real preference for red on hooks or lures. Plus, the red flakes off after a few fish or bounceing off trees and rocks. So are red hooks worth the extra dough or are we fisherman attracted to red more than the fish ? Any input or opinions ? -Thanks ;)

Creativity i believe plays a big role in the fisherman's view of the baits ,"That" i can be pretty sure of"far as the fish is concerned"i think and have thought this for some time"is light levels low,and high will always play a part in what the color attraction will be"from one fish to another" then its up to the fisherman to do the math as far as what the fish feed on or the match of the hatch as it were"...ever wonder why at times"your fishing" and nothing much going on?"then all of a suden"bam!"not only one strike but when fishing several poles"they may all start to go to town"well"perhaps light level is to question here"and maybe a lil scent coordination"plays a part as well"? I do know that if i want to present a Drk.red plastic worm to a fish"its because the shades of brown i know a worm color to have that are present in that particular body of water w/ have concentration's of red,blue,and purple depending on water clarity Black too" maybe what the fish will really be acknowledging when presented"
enough rambling"some of the ugliest baits to me" personally have had the best luck for me"then the nicest made lures w/ the poorest luck have never allowed me to touch them again from fear of wasting time striking out !
Least thats my $.02...:D

My reds cost me the same as gold or bronze

I think it's b.s.

Vote for hype - but still use them....

hype

Hype, most of the time. There are times when it does seem to matter but I have never noticed a difference when fishing for trout or panfish. I think a splotch of red for gill marks is gonna be much more effective than a sliver of red from a hook.

And I pay about the same for red, silver, bronze and pretty much all other colors except for the VMC Vanadium.

My red hooks are no more expensive than others either. Gotta give a shout out to Grubs on the color argument he made. Excellent stuff there Grubster. Makes sense to me. I like the red hooks, but I will not say for certain they will catch more fish. I also like different and a couple years ago, these were different. Now you see them everywhere being used on everything from trout flies to Buzz Baits to Deep Divers. The first company to make the red hooks must have certainly benefitted greatly from catching the fishermen!! Bronze hooks break easy anyhow...

I think red hooks help in certain conditions,key word being think. My favorite is a black chrome,then red,gold and rarely bronze. New favorite might be some jigs with sickle hooks that I had chrome plated .Should get those this week.Something about that silver flash really gets em.

Just my .02 cents worth.

I am not a fan of them ... but that being said, fellow that worked with Tru Trn Originaly was with his Dad in So Fl .. they had a bait shop and while playing with the shiners found that they would go after red before any other color .. and from that they worked into the red hook thing . don't remember the year but it was just before I came off of the road so it was around 2000 .. they were introducing them at our annual tackle show.
JSC
:)

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Originally Posted by JUNGLEJIMJIGS

I think red hooks help in certain conditions,key word being think. My favorite is a black chrome,then red,gold and rarely bronze. New favorite might be some jigs with sickle hooks that I had chrome plated .Should get those this week.Something about that silver flash really gets em.

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I hadnt noticed that bronze break easier than most others"huh"...maybe good to know"
Back Atchya"there tntjigman"I think chrome has more appeal far as the fish is concerned compared to red hooks",just my observation so far"as a 35yr.long Veteran":D

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Originally Posted by LedHed

Vote for hype - but still use them....

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Ditto. I usually dip my own with the blade dip when I want colored hooks, which I suspect is the same thing the mfg. is doing only in larger quanities.

Say it all the time, blood in the water isn't red, it dissipates too quickly for fish to associate it with blood. It's just a hype, but a little extra red in the jig might help occasionally, but I wouldn't use the red hooks as the finish beats off after a couple of fish.

If red fishing line disappears in water (Cajun Red) as advertised, then why would a red hook stand out under water?

Red plating over another color metal gives it a different color profile in deeper water. I don't know how to explain it but I have seen it on TV on a fishing or discovery show. Was really cool to see the difference in color of a hook in deeper water when coated and not coated and with different coatings.

It would be nice if the red hook simply vanished completely.

I have stood by the idea that some tackle is designed to catch fishermen. I still use bronze, fished it against char hooks, bronze still wins.

after I put hair on it I can barely see hook anyway so why pay more?

JJ

Don't believe in it at all and like you said it comes off to show a gold hook soon after using it a little. Guess they think you should buy more and just throw that old one that the read came off of even thought it's only caught 2 or 3 fish? Too much.

I don't even stock any red hooks at all.

Skip

and prefer black nickle steel hooks for durability and rust resistance in general.

Something new to think about,chrome plated jigs with the sickle hooks. I sent some jigs out to get chrome plated and just got them back. Awesome!!!!!!!!!! I'll post a pic soon so you can make some comparisons. Next project is to send some jigs with sickle hooks out to get gold plated.Won't put a drop of paint on these,these are ready for the vise.

When I read about the red hooks here I was sure they were hype but I bought 250 each of size 2 and 4 sickle just to try them. They look good but I haven't had the chance to try them yet.

Fatman