This year during the silver run I moved up form 0/1 hook to 0/3 hooks. It was probably just me, but I think I lost more fish with the bigger hooks. Also during winter steelhead season I stuck with the bigger hooks but now am considering going smaller like maybe 1-2. What do you guys think, do you land more fish on smaller or large hooks, whats your favorite size, why do you use that size. Thanks

Good questions.

I'd have to say that I land more fish and thus have more confidence playing one with a bigger hook.

My favorite driftfishin' hook is a 2/0, but that's just because I fish the peninsula most of the time. Overall, I use a range of hooks, dictated by river conditions, between #2 to 2/0. On occasion I use #4s (free-driftin' bait) or even a 3/0 (woke up feeling lucky).

On occasion I'll plunk with the ol' timers. Here's where I'll go relatively smaller. I've see some of those bait soakers use 5/0 Eagle Claws. Way too big in my book. I stick to 1/0s to 3/0s most of the time and still haven't straightened one out yet using that broomstick that I call a rod.

You guys are going to freak out on this one. In the Midwest, I would have to say that most of the guys fish with 4's and 6's. This includes fishing for salmon up to the 40 pound range. Our fish are very skittish when they come in to the rivers, and can develop a real ugly case of lockjaw. There are rivers in Michigan, that when they are clear, must be fished with 8's and 10's in order to get a bite. Yarn is trimmed in the shape of an egg on a snelled hook, and is often times ½ the size of a green pea.

I personally feel that the bigger issue is the line you use. When using 8's and 10's, you typically fish with no more than 6 pound test and a slow action rod (aka; noodle). These hooks have to be fine wire, so the light line can bury the hook. If you use heavier line, you'll straighten the hook on the fish. When I came out West last year, I was fishing rope (12# Ultragreen), and found it perfect for 1's and 2's. My hooking and landing percentages went up with the bigger hooks and heavier line. You neeed 10# or better line to drive these bigger hooks in to the fishes mouth and have them hold. I also tried some 1/0's last year, and they worked great with 12 pound Ultragreen. The nice thing about the larger hooks is that they have a little wider gap, for better bite, and the shank is longer, which I find nice when the fish has the opportunity to run it along his teeth. The shorter shanked hooks allow the line to rub on the fish's teeth, and result in a few break offs.

As a tickler, I tried a 1/0 in a river here this fall, and I was surprised at the results. The hook (Grappling) hit the water, and was followed by a huge comotion, as 50 mint bright steelies went screaming back to Lake Michigan. I was able to pull out the carcass of a drone, and a abandoned car from the bottom of the hole, where they had previously been covered with fish.

Moral of the story. Conditions can and do dictate what size hook to use. I try and run them as big as the fish will tolerate. Make sure to match them up with your line.

Good Fishin!

My hook size varies with river conditions. When the water is high and less that clear, I use a larger offering. In this case I like 1/0 or 2/0 hooks. When rivers are low and clear I use a 1 or 2 and size down offerings. I do seem to have a somewhat better bite to hook ratio when using the larger hooks. When a fish hits downstream from me and I'm using the smaller hooks I do have a tendency to pull them away more often.

Conditions are important in hook selection, but ultimately whether you land the fish is the most important consideration. I had a poor hook to land ratio using 1/0 hooks and saw a great deal of improvement stepping down to size 2s. I generally fish deeper, bouldery water where longer leaders are an advantage, and I've never been one to have that whistling hook set. So I don't think I was getting good hook penetration with the larger hooks and barbs. With the size 2s, I feel I get better penetration and I also think the fish holds onto the smaller presentation longer. The drawback of course is the smaller gap not finding a good hard spot to hold in the fishes mouth.

The tradeoff seems worth it because I do land more fish than I used to. The only time I go to larger hooks is when I'm fishing fast water or just above, when I know I'm going to have to put on the breaks.

I use Gamas; haven't experimented much with anything else, but I've noticed that Gamas have a smaller barb than VMCs or mustads.

In addition to other things, I think it's very important to match the size of the hook with the size,shape, type, and floatation of the lure. I like to use smallish hooks with gaps and stenghth matched to the size of the fish.....penetration.

The reason for matching the size of hook with the floatation of the lure is obvious- presentation.

The general types of lures I'm referring to are hard- and soft-bodied lures. Hard lures like corkies and spin-n-glos have a tendency to obstruct the hook, when setting the hook, more so than soft lures such as flies and yarn, so I tend to use smaller hooks with soft lures than with hard lures.

The size and shape of a hard lure determines the amount of obstruction of the hook, so I tend to use bigger hooks with bigger lures. But since I like to use smaller hooks, I would rather use 2 or 3 of the smallest corkies instead of one larger one....less obstruction. There are other ways to achieve more or less the same result, but I'm sure someone else could explain them better than me.



Of course, if I were on the Kasilof and ran out of 1/0 Owners and all I had was 1/0 VMCs and 5/0 Owners to choose from, then I would have to break my rules and use the 5/0.


[This message has been edited by AkBill (edited 02-11-2000).]

My #1 hook is in fact a #1 when I am fishing yarn. It hides well and I don't seem to lose any more or less fish with it. When I am fishing bait or a rag--heavy water, whatever then I step up to a 1/0. The first time I ever fished anything bigger was on the Peninsula last year where we used 2/0. Why does everybody up there use such monster hooks? These are for steelhead-I usually fish 3/0-4/0 for salmon (with eggs) but have used up to a 6/0 when fishing herring.

[This message has been edited by crayfin (edited 02-11-2000).]

We use big hooks because it is the PENINSULA! Sorry but the sound of the "Skykomish" and "Cowlitz" just doesen't elicit that warm, fuzzy feeling that the "Peninsula" does. I've gotten my ass kicked by Ike and my eyes scratched-out by Tina one too many times out there.

Story time!!!! Last year on the Duc while I was testing out 20lb Gammy-Line for mainline, I hooked up with "Ike Tyson." The Duc was up and relatively mucky (12-18 in vis), so I rigged with a really sloppy-looking rag. The b-rod was cut at least an inch and a half, and was tied with a 20 in. leader of 20lb UG and a 3/0 gammy -- according to Hawk's standards, "meaty," to say the least. To make a long story short, halfway through the fight it thrashed on the surface, rolled up the line like a silver, then jumped. The mainline broke during splashdown. It was quite the beast. Just put it this way, until it came to the surface ten minutes into the battle, my partner and I thought I had latched onto a huge springer because of my inability to even move it. Also, it's not like we didn't know what a big metalhead felt like, because we both have toasted with the Knights of the Roundtable on many occasions.

Sorry, long story and the solution may have nothing to do with a hook. Maybe 40 lb mainline next time? Nonetheless, the gist of this true story is that a #2 hook looks mighty silly tied to 40 lb line.

Peace Out...

Drifting for steelhead when hatcheries are in I use a 1/o on off color water and a 1 on clear water. When fishing strictly CNR for nates I use a 2/o.

I gotta go with AK Bill here, the key is to match the hook you're using with the Corky, Spin-N-Glo, Cheater, rag, yarn or whatever you're fishing with. If you're using a Corky or Cheater or the like, it should fit down in between the hook point and shank. If it doesn't fit into the gap, your hook is too small. One possible exception is tying smaller hooks in tandem with a float between the hooks.

I guess the key is not to get too caught up in the "I only use ........." thing, and figure out that you should probably have at least a half dozen hook sizes in your arsenal at any given time, maybe more.

So match your lure size to the water conditions, and then match your hook to the appropriate lure size. Then fish.........


Fish on............

The bigger hook (2/0 3/0) will incircle the WHOLE jaw bone and will not rip out like a smaller hook that catches the top of the jaw!!!!

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Tight Lines!!