ripalip
not hammering you on your choice of hook, whatever you use obviosly works for you. you were the one asking about hook preferences i just gave my 2 cents. 1 or 2/0 wont hold up to 60-70lb fish on the skeena.

Always had my best luck with a size 1 or 2. The smaller the better.

How does a simple thread about hooks end up in trash talking???Don't get it!

I'm with ya on the 1 and 2's also.
And I feel that if you want to go cheap somewhere, hooks are the place to do it. As long as it's sharp, what does a fish care what brand ( or how much dinero it was) it is. I'd bet that some of these guys could spend 30 minutes fashioning a nail into something they could tie onto a line, and if they sharpen it, they'd catch.
I do not believe in shorting yourself on line or swivels. When I first started fishing, I lost several fish on that Danielson crappola that was sold as swivels. No sir-ree....I'll pay top buckeroo for swivels, thank you very much.
And line? C'mon....we've just spent HOW much time to get one on and we're gonna risk it on pennies per mile line???? Gimme a break, no pun intended.
And shall we discuss the reel? Wanna hear my marlin on light gear/cheap reel story? It's somewhere else on here while talking about Penn Internationals.
I suppose you could cut corners on the rod. As long as it doesn't break ( yeah, I've had a couple of those, too ), you could save some money here.
But then again, if we didn't have these disasters due to bad luck and cheap gear, we wouldn't have really funny stories to tell, right?
Bottom line....use sharp hooks, not necessarily spendy ones.
Just my $2 worth.

diana

price dosent matter WHEN you have a 20lb fish on but whats your ratio on 20lbrs and lost hooks? i will never buy diachi just because of the price and don't buy gammies unless they are the only thing. the visions are cheap as hell and sharp too.
tyler

I agree with those that posted about price not mattering, but sharpness does. I used to fish an Eagle Claw baitholder behind homemade spinners on the Grande Ronde for steelies, just like my old man still does, and NEVER broke one, or my bank. I like Gamies now that I am here in W WA, and have a job ha ha. Let's not cut at one another on here, and if it is a "re-post", then just don't open it. I am fairly new to this WA steelhead/salmon fishing and like those who choose to help out us "rookies". Guess that is just how I am, heck I take pics of other people catching fish and send em to them. If you see me on the river taking pics of you and your fish, then you will know it is me. Good fishing to all, and look at it this way, at least you are fishing and not over here in cold As$ Kosovo playing Army 14 hours a day!!!

While we're at it anyone know where I can get some Mustad 92141 2/0 hooks? Friend loves them for tying up his mooching leaders but can't find a source.

BTW Vision RULES unless you like burning money.

Gooose

Diana, your right about cheap import junk. Stay away from anything Danielson unless it's a herring cutting guide or fish stringer. Ande is ok line for the price, if price is an issue. I use Max and Tri myself. As for rods I have 21 of them, GL3's ect. My two favorite coho rods are (Walmart $49.00) "Shimano IM6 Convergence". Reels? "Curado!" But when I started river fishing, (before Tyler was a gleam in his father's eyes ) I used a closed faced spincast w/fighting drag on a $19.99, 8'6" Diawa rod. I slammed the other two (in their boat) who were using Lamiglasses and baitcasters. My 7 to their 3 fish. I was at least using Gammies. I couldn't afford a nice rod and reel on $6.00 an hour and buy food and pay rent. But I knew where the coho were hiding. My point? Learn with what you can afford now, then move up later. But for now, FISH!!! FISH!!! FISH!!! Just my opinion though.

Gooose, try special ordering them from "Allsport Supply" from your sporting goods dealer.

Hooks are certainly important.. But personally, I can't remember the last time I took a file out to file a hook. If I dull it on a rock I cut it off and tie on another that I have pre-tied. You can sharpen a fresh hook, but sharpening a dull hook serves no purpose. As for hooks I like I prefer #1 Owner Cutting Points in which you can now buy in 50 packs which breaks down to about .30 cents a hook. #2 Visions and mustads are my second favorite and I use these when catching bigger #'s of fish or fishing areas where I may go through 10-20 leaders in a day or just fishing for the clone hatchery fish...

Here's a bit of knowledge for those that don't beleive steelhead and salmon won't "SWALLOW" an offering. First off when immature fish enter the river system (ie. summer steelhead, spring chinook) will and have seen it many of times swallow an offering and reality is they don't take it all the way to the gut but actually into their esophagus where you have no hook showing. Do you really think a fish that enters the river systems in March/April and doesn't spawn until Nov-Jan won't eat, you try and not eat for 8 months and see how well you live off of what your body has now. The more mature fish (winter steelhead, fall chinook) rarely will "SWALLOW" an offering because when they enter the river systems their insides are mature (eggs, cumsacks), which makes for less room in their belly and puts pressure on their esophagus and makes it tougher for them to swallow an offering.
I beleive it is a feeding instinct that these fish have or else they wouldn't bite bait in which they live their whole lives on in the ocean. Think about it. When you watch a summer run move 10-15 feet to grab a bait, that's not instinct, that's hunger!!
Keith

[ 01-13-2002: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

When I was a little boy I had hand me down tackle.Old hooks,lures and bait.I still made it down to the creek to chase fish.It did not matter. I was happy to go fishing.Little did I know I was Going to Grow up and spend my time arguing about who has the sharpest hook!!!Reminds me of the guy's I used to watch down at finch cr. with 1000.00 worth of gear just to snag chums!good night!!!