Been fishing a long time. One thing I find interesting is that as the decades go by , I find myself using bigger and bigger hooks. I was once a firm believer in 4/0 hooks for eels. then I went to 6/0 and now I like 8/0. maybe its cause I can see the hole in the eye better but i think its just responding to success.

Anyway , looking for thopughts and opinions on hooks and where you think you might go too big on a hook.

Salt.. for eels I have done the same... up to 8/0 Gami Octopus hooks... hook up % hasnt changed, but I rarely if ever hook a fish anywhere but the corner of the mouth.... usually A short (3sec) count. sometimes less if its a small eel; rarely longer than 4-5sec if throwing a horse eel...

Depending on how big they are most of the time I'm going with 5/0 or 6/0....maybe I try 7 on the bigger ones this year.

uh oh, not the my hook is bigger than your hook debate. :D

i use 4/0 and 5/0 gami big game bait hooks for eeling. no reason except that it works for me. :huh:

doesnt it all depend on the size of the bait???;) bigger the bait.......the bigger the hook the bigger the fish???:laughs: :laughs: :laughs:

So Jenn, you are saying that based on your experience, size does matter :laughs: :smash:

Up to a few years ago I was using 5/0 hooks then I went up from there. Now I use 7/0 pretty much all the time.

If you're targeting bucketmouth stripers?

I don't think so...if you're talking chunking. You can always bury the hook in a little deeper in a larger slab of meat.

What's nice about using bigger hooks is that theoretically there is less risk of gut hooking a fish.

Tackle Slut.. I mean WW... thats my feeling... most bass that can swallow a 15" eel can take the 8/0 gami no problem..
I actually use 19/0 gaff hooks for my eels... but I'm using 4' congers...

I would pay serious $$$ to see a striper deep-throat a 4' conger eel. :hihi:

Was that Striper or Stripper?

Wee Wee. What are you thinking???:rolleyes: :confused: I've seen 28" striper with a 12" to 13" scup stuck in it's thoat. I can't believe it was trying to swallow that thing suicidal striper.

I'm thinking it would be kinda raunchy to see a twenty-eight inch striper deep-throat a FOUR FOOT LONG CONGER EEL.

Originally posted by Saltheart
Been fishing a long time. One thing I find interesting is that as the decades go by , I find myself using bigger and bigger hooks. I was once a firm believer in 4/0 hooks for eels. then I went to 6/0 and now I like 8/0. maybe its cause I can see the hole in the eye better but i think its just responding to success.

Anyway , looking for thopughts and opinions on hooks and where you think you might go too big on a hook.

Maybe you use bigger hooks hopeing to catch a big giant fish?

I use 8/0 hooks pogie chunkin', they work

Mike -

I've always used a 5/0 or 6/0 Mustad bronze live bait hook but with a straight point, not the kirbed one - I forget the model number (early onset Old-timer's Disease, I guess).

I use a 30" 50 lb flouro leader with a clinch knot with a 130 lb Spro swivel to the running line - I never snell.

"I'm thinking it would be kinda raunchy to see a twenty-eight inch striper deep-throat a FOUR FOOT LONG CONGER EEL."


You be a sick puppy WW... but thats why we all likes ya i s'pose

you think about 28" bass... I think about 58"...
:huh:
so from that I draw the following conclusions
Bryan = Extreme dreamer/optimist
Ben = Realist (and tackle slut:D )

7 to 8/0 for eels here!!

as each decade goes by your brain starts shrinking more and more until your eyeballs start getting tweaked from implosion pressure and thats what makes the hooks look smaller and smaller....:D

Used to use 6/0 all the time eeling. Now I use 7/0 Gamakatsu Octopus. I seem to have better luck with the7/0's for some reason.

So Jenn, you are saying that based on your experience, size does matter

:D :laughs: No not really. havent we all caught the smallest fish on a larger bait and think "what was that fish thinkin??"

I use a very detailed technique for matching hooks and bait (ahem) if I look at it and it LOOKs stupid to me I go for a larger or smaller hook!;) ok...not so detailed but I figure if I have a huge hook that doesnt look right to me it certainly wont look right to a fish!!! I hardly ever use over a 6/0.

Big striper, big mouth, hard mouth, big hook. 10/ 0 for chunks, 8/ 0 Octopus for eels. I don't know about waiting 3-whatever seconds after getting hits on eels, your reading too many magazine articles. I hit that fish as soon as I feel the bump. Everytime I've ever paused when fishing eels I never got the fish hooked. Chunking is about the only time I wait to hit a fish.

4/0 is perfect, short shank:btu:

I use size 5 for chunking and elling no problems:)

While we're on the subject of eel hooks, I can't say that bigger is always better. I have yet to find a better live eel hook than this (in terms of bang for buck)...a stinky Mustad 94150 6/0 tuna hook.

It's not the size of this hook that I like ... it's the BARB.

Keeps the eel on much better than some of the more expensive Gamakatsus I used to use (I hate the Octopus for eeling).

-WW

p.s. they rust ... which can be a good thing or a bad thing...

I luv that Gami's are sticky sharp and they hold their point. also, the gauge of the gami's are smaller which makes for better penetration.

I like to use 4/0 gami live bait for the fact that's what I always have used and never a problem....seems like the perfect fit
wraps around the slimey's head just so

Originally posted by Slingah
I like to use 4/0 gami live bait..... holy cr@p. someone that uses the same thing as me! that might be a first. :smash:

I had a 22/0 that I bought from Herters when I was a kid. I think if I can find it I'll save it til my eyes are worse than Salthearts.

I remember putting 6/0 hooks in some molds thinkin the where pretty big.Now I wish I could find 94185's in 9/0 for the jigs I throw today I 've gone as far as to fashion a sinker eylet in the mold with a 3407 9/0. I just think that a bigger hook has a better chance of snaggin some piece of the mouth on the way out of a closed stripers maw.with the new braids i think u feel the fish alot sooner than with the mono.So by the time He feels the hook I'mm settin up.I think thats one part.I don't know if its me I think older hooks where alot stronger than they are today.so I feel I have to go up in size to increase the strenght.Another by product of braid fishing.

I use 7/0 Gami's regardless of the size eel I'm tossing. I'd rather not hook a small bass because the hook was too big instead of a big fish due to a small hook.

WW I used them for years and still have some rigs from last year, but made the switch in the summer to the Gami's and havent looked back... come to the dark side.... :D

oops for a change I fall into the Majority. I use the Gami 6/0 or 7/0 Ocotpus. I like the sharpness and they are a very strong hook for the diameter. Also I like to slightly off-set the hook so it can catch easier. Might want to try that. Very Slight Off-set. :) happy that it's sunny out. Now I want to fish.

Yup, WeeWee, that's da one - except I use the one without the kirbed point ('cause I won't and don't snell). Can't think of the Mustad number, it's a 5/0 short-shank Live Bait hook.

And nothing wrong with it rusting quick - it's always a reminder to me not to use the same leader and hook two nites in a row. ;)

Crafty, why don't ya like to snell? and what knot are you tying with mono directly to your eel hook or any hook for that matter? Thanks T

Crafty,

People think I am strange because I rinse off all my terminal tackle - including these hooks, after every trip. Then these hooks get lovingly dried and I givem a good coating of unscented mineral oil before they get put back into the plano box. :hihi:

-WW the obsessive compulsive angler :laughs:

Originally posted by fishweewee
Crafty,

People think I am strange because I rinse off all my terminal tackle - including these hooks, after every trip. Then these hooks get lovingly dried and I givem a good coating of unscented mineral oil before they get put back into the plano box. :hihi:

-WW the obsessive compulsive angler :laughs:

Ya scarin' me man :eek:

I am with Slingah and T-Lap, I use 4/0 or 5/0 Gami Octopus Circle hooks.....they work great for me and like Slingah says, they fit the eel just right! :kewl:

T-Lap...can you believe that "WE" agree?:huh:

5/0 Gami's

Originally posted by fishweewee
Crafty,

People think I am strange because I rinse off all my terminal tackle - including these hooks, after every trip. Then these hooks get lovingly dried and I givem a good coating of unscented mineral oil before they get put back into the plano box. :hihi:



Among other reasons :D :laughs:

De-ice the driveway with gasoline lately? :happy:

5/0 or 6/0 Gami Octopus non circle.

Originally posted by fishweewee
Crafty,

People think I am strange because I rinse off all my terminal tackle - including these hooks, after every trip. Then these hooks get lovingly dried and I givem a good coating of unscented mineral oil before they get put back into the plano box. :hihi:


Hmmmm....WeeWee, ya got me a little worried there, Cap. Overly fastidious? Maybe, I dunno - hey, not that there's anything wrong with that. Hell, come to think of it, I like a good rinse myself once I get back to the tackle bunker - always have a coupla cold ones while I'm doing the damage report on my gear.

Goose, the reason I don't snell anymore is because 8 or 9 years ago I was out slow trolling eels with a friend of mine (okay, no wisecracks about being a latent boat-fisherman) and I got hung up on the bottom - or so I thought. Even the skip thought so - so I loosened the drag until he started backing down on the hung-up eel, I screwed the drag down good and tight, yanked a couple of times, and all of a sudden the bottom started peeling off line hell bent for leather. Looked down to loosen the star drag just a little just as the fish broached and I looked up to find nothing but the hole it had left in the water - it looked like someone had thrown a friggin' mule off the bridge.

All the while my friend is yelling "Holy #$#%$##, didja see the $#%$#^## size of that #%#*&&$ fish? Oh man, oh man, are ya still on?" I start pumping the rod reeling as fast as I could and then my heart sank - kept winding real slow until the little curly-cue at the end of my leader crossed the transom. :smokin:

Nope, I don't snell.

Since then I'll just use a clinch or an improved clinch knot on 50 lb. flouro for my eel hooks, which are just the run of the mill bronze Mustad Live Bait (short shank, straight point) in 5/0 or 6/0, touched up with a diamond file.

I know DZ uses a clinch for his eeling and so does Iron Mike, if memory serves. I've never had a clinch fail yet, knock wood.

Originally posted by BigFish
I am with Slingah and T-Lap, I use 4/0 or 5/0 Gami Octopus Circle hooks.....they work great for me and like Slingah says, they fit the eel just right! :kewl:

T-Lap...can you believe that "WE" agree?:huh: well, i refuse to fish circle hooks anymore so we are ok. :D i put a full season of testing into them about 4 years ago. i had more dropped fish and gut hooked fish than i have ever had with normal hooks. i don't stick to any one plan when getting a hait such as drop rod and count or stick right away. the feel of the pick-up delegates what procedure for me. the first trip each year is always a little unproductive, but once i get the feel feel back my take to hook up ratio stays very high. as with a lot of things, if it works for you stick with it. if not, copy me and you'll do just fine! :laughs:

sounds bout the same to me I do not have and set count for eels either....all feel.........
the hooks I use for eels and from what I see T-Lap posted are Gami Live Bait not Octopus circle hooks

That hook above looks about 4 times stronger than an octopus IMHO...

that hook is the gami heavy duty big game live bait. i have been using them for about 2+ seasons with great success.

That hook may be stronger than the octopus hook, but I know the octopus hook is at least 4 times stronger than the 15 to 20 lb test line I'm using. I've never lost a fish to a bent hook accept when using store bought cheap lures.

I agree with Armen, I use both the octopus and big game stlye hooks and I prefere the octopus over the BG hooks. To me the off set and smaller diameter adds to a better hook.

Hey Goose, if you trade the hook for a book you become a fisher of men :)

But both is good too ;)