HOOK TYPES and Usage

HOOK TYPES:

Gary Anderson

Many a different hook and design are on the market today so I choose to pick the ones I use the most with my favorite being that of the Circle Hook, to which is about all I use today.

O’Shaughnessy
This hook design, more often called a ‘J’ hook, is considered the basic industry standard hook design because it is the hook design in almost every illustration of a hook. It is a classic hook coming in all sizes, and is made in a variety of metals. It is the most widely used hook on the market today. Use this hook for all general-purpose fishing. Just make sure you purchase the right size for the fish you looking to either put in the box or practice CPR upon.

Live Bait
When fishing with live bait, it is desirable to have short shank hook. First, a short shank allows the live bait to swim more naturally, and second, the shorter shank means the hook is more difficult for feeding fish to detect. Great in King fish Rigging with an added stinger of the same.

Aberdeen
These hooks are made from thin wire and range in size from a number 10 to a 4/0. They are very applicable for fish with soft mouths, like that of the Weakfish or for fishing with light tackle. Many Aberdeen hooks are bent to fit jig molds. Using light line means softer hook sets when using these hooks as the point and barb penetrate quickly. Generally designated as a freshwater hook, the Aberdeen is suitable for saltwater too but must be rinsed of salt, lubricated with a repellant such as Corrosion Block or they have a tendency to rust out in your box or bucket.

Circle Hooks
The commercial industry has used a form of circle hooks on their catch boats. Using this type of hook attached to a long pole, commercial anglers would hooked it up with the fish, slinging them backwards in a quick release and return the pole for more from their encircled nets. It was easier in the early years of commercial Tuna harvesting to employ anglers to pole the fish rather than hoisting the nets because the nets were not strong enough to hold the weight suspended. Circle hooks are named for the unusual circle like bend in the gap of the hook. The point of the hook actually curves into the hook shank. If the bait is swallowed, the hook will come right back up the throat hooking the fish in its jaw line or mouth. As the fish turns away and runs, the hook is pulled toward the mouth of the fish. When the line pulls the shank of the hook out of the mouth, the hook naturally turns back toward the angler, and the fish is hooked right in the corner of the mouth as the angler is slowly retrieving his line back onto the spool of his reel. Today these hooks are becoming more popular, are used in catch, and release situations. Where size limits mean releasing undersized fish, circle hooks offer a very high survival rate on released fish. The rule is – do not set the hook. It is so hard fro anglers to remember that rule. Setting the hook means pulling the hook and bait right out of the mouth of the fish. Let the fish turn, run, and simply start reeling. The hook sets itself with a slight lifting of the rod at a right angle to the run of the fish!

THE CIRCLE HOOK RULING;
JOINT ADMENDENT 27/14

The New Law States As Follows:
The law states you cannot use any hook except circle hooks when fishing for reef fish. The law states at least one de-hooking device is required and must be used to remove hooks embedded in gulf reef fish to leave minimum damage. The law states that at least one venting device is required and must be use to deflate the swim bladders of gulf reef fish to release the fish with minimum damage. NMFS is delaying until June 1 the effectiveness of these requirements to provide additional time for manufacturers and retail outlets to prepare for the demand. This also will provide more time for anglers to comply with these new gear requirements, though Joint Amendment 27/14 became effective Feb. 28, 2008.
The circle-hook rule applies only to tournaments, not recreational fishing!
CIRCLE HOOK RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT IN
February of 2008 but allowing a phase-in so as it will only be pursued after June of 2008.
Beginning in the year 2008, then, all participants in billfish tournaments on the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. territories in the Caribbean will be required to use a non-offset circle hook when using natural or natural/live bait combinations.
Joint amendment 27/14 requires the use of no stainless-steel circle hooks when using natural baits to fish for gulf reef fish. It also requires venting tools and de-hooking devices when participating in the commercial or recreational reef fish fisheries.
Specifically people fishing for gulf reef fish in the Gulf EEZ must have them onboard and use them as described by law. This new federal mandate is meant to reduce mortality in released fish. Circle hooks tend to lodge in a fish’s jaw; J-hooks can often lodge further down a fish’s mouth, sometimes gut hooking a fish. The circle-hook rule applies only to tournaments, not fun fishing. Even so, many offshore anglers might adopt it full-time, if only for practice. The switch to circles will force not-so-subtle changes in both rigging and tactics.
In order to comply with the law we have to understand just what a circle hook, a de-hooking device and what venting tools are. I think the circle hook and the de-hooker are going to cause some concern until tested in court for there are many look a likes out there as well, those that claim to be but are not. The law and descriptions of these elements are provided by NMFS, a division of NOAA. National Marine Fisheries Service or NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to the stewardship of living marine resources through science-based conservation and management, and the promotion of healthy ecosystems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere.
A circle hook is described by NMFS as a hook designed so that the point is turned perpendicular back to the shank in forming a generally circular or oval shape. There are several hook manufacturers that make a hook with the point turned perpendicular back to the shank to form a generally circular or oval shape, but they are not advertised as circle hooks, like an octopus hook. I am curious if these hooks will pass the smell test to usage within tournaments being their description is much the same as a circle hook but in fact, they are not.
In real life and cutbacks at FWC Law enforcement, (story in the works), this is going to be a hard law to enforce. Think about it: What if you have J-hooks in your tackle box and are fishing in federal waters? When you are favorite Game Enforcement officer or other law enforcement agent comes up and checks your box, are you still in compliance even though you do not have one (a J-hook) on your rod and reel?
I do not think enforcement is going to rifle through your tackle box to see just how many different kinds of hooks you possess but if they wish too and you present a danger to them or whatever, they can. The law states you cannot use any hook except circle hooks when fishing for reef fish. What if you decide to troll for king mackerel? Do you have to use circle hooks on them too?
If you use a Duster and nothing else, no, you do not have to use a circle hook. Nevertheless, if you use a cigar minnow as an enticer I would believe you would need a circle hook. The next question is do king mackerel qualify as reef fish, or shark or tarpon or?
The law states at least one de-hooking device is required and must be used to remove hooks embedded in gulf reef fish to leave minimum damage. The hook removal device must be constructed to allow the hook to be secured and the barb shielded without re-engaging during the removal process. The de-hooking end must be blunt, and all edges rounded. The device must be of a size appropriate to secure the range of hook size and styles used in the gulf reef fishery. Pliers are out, appropriate sized whatever is in; who comes up with this stuff? I wonder what an official de-hooker looks like, hmm maybe The Island Anglers could build and sell it along with the million other look a likes.
At least one venting device is required and must be use to deflate the swim bladders of gulf reef fish. This tool must be a sharpened, hollow instrument, such as a hypodermic syringe with the plunger removed, or a 16-gauge needle fixed to a hollow wooden dowel. I wonder how many fish will die or better yet, be murdered before anyone actually learns how to use such a device? Here are explicit instructions on doing just that: Insert the tool into the fish at a 45-degree angle approximately 1 to 2 inches from the base of the pectoral fin.

Hook Composition
Hooks are all made from various metals. Saltwater hooks were generally made from corrosion and rust resistant metal but since a number of anglers had the foresight to worry about our oceans futures, tinned hooks are now available for those of us that are esuriently anglers. Freshwater hooks can be made from wire.

Hook Types
There are several basic hook designs currently on the market today with many specialty designs for catching specific fish, but for the everyday angler the basic hooks are the ones I have chosen to explain to you.

Hook Sizes
Hook sizing is relevant to just what you are fishing for. The measurements used today use a numbering system that measures from the smallest hook to the largest hook. The smallest hook readily available is size 24. This is a hook, with a 1/16 of an inch gap, can be found on trout flies to Salmon egg hooks. As the size number decreases, the width of the hook gap increases, all the way to a size 1. A size 1 hook is at about ½ inch in width on the gap. After size 1, the numbering system changes and begins with 1/0 goes all the way up to 20/0, the largest commercially made hook; generally used in Gaffs.

Hook Parts
There are five basic parts to a hook: the point, gap. shank, eye, and barb with all of these parts working together in its design; different hook designs are made for different fishing applications. Knowing the sizing and what species you are angling for can help make your selection an easier task. The type of hook you select does make a difference, and hook selection depends on the fish being sought.

NOW YOU KNOW!
“FISH ON!”