Looks like I will be trying a bunch of new hooks this season..those new super strong owners are on they way & those eagle claw stainless siwash. I also ordered a few real high end hooks from a new company to test out this year (from emperor tackle), mainly based on a few reviews I have read here and there about them and one other fellow that raves about them. These are gold plated Stainless steel hooks. The claim is that they last up to 12X what a standard hook does and 3X longer then a plain SS hook and the gold doesn't come off even if you use pliers on it. They also claim they are not that expensive compared to regular ss hooks ...but they are. I hope to tie some flies and droppers/teasers with them as a test.

I also picked up a couple of their plugs that look like they will work great on the albi/bone/blue bite out at the hooter next year and they have gold plated SS trebles....we will see how they hold up. I just bought a couple as these are pricey too.

How come no one makes Titainium hooks?



Only the best for my fishing:D ....now pass me a can of miller-lite :p

Will post how I think they work out next season....

Ti hooks would snap

Yes Ti is much stronger but it doesn't like to flex at all...

I race R/C's and use Ti alot... it's also 4X expensive..
I was going 50+mph and flipped when that happened..the truck it was in weighs 6lbs.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4t38n/brokeLunsfordTi.jpg

Sandman, have you looked at some of the stuff they use on giant trevalle? the japanese sights i have been looking at Saltigas on have some solid looking hooks. if it can hold up to GT's, it will hold up to a striper!

I will take a look. thanks

Someday we will probably have some sort of composite hooks and metal will be a thing of the past...

I have good luck with owners. Never had a tuna straiten one out.

Originally posted by tlapinski
Sandman, have you looked at some of the stuff they use on giant trevalle? the japanese sights i have been looking at Saltigas on have some solid looking hooks. if it can hold up to GT's, it will hold up to a striper!

Toby have you looked at the Blasts? Seem to be about half price of the Regular Saltigas. 350 vs 679. Is there that much difference in the reels? I know the Blasts aren't waterproof ,but just curious. I have the wife talked into getting me a reel for my B'day next summer and am looking at everything, VS, Saltigas, Saltiga blast. The amount of drag the saltigas are capable of is incredible.

Sorry sandman, not trying to hijack your thread.

i haven't physically looked at the Blasts, but i am pretty much set on the Saltiga just from reading up on them. already sold 3 of my VS's off. contemplating selling my gold 300 now, too. going to keep my 250 only because it's sentimental to me. :smash:

mac no problem...tlap..you have a link?

http://www.plat.co.jp/english/salt_top.htm

TLap, BTW, (hy-jacking my own thread now) , Which model saltiga are you considering? Looks like a diawa is trying to one up stella. Also, can you get it repaired or serviced in the US?

i am getting a 4500 to replace my VS 250, and most likely a 5000/6000 to replace my VS 300's. i want to see the larger ones in person before i decide for sure, though. you should be able to get all the US version Daiwas serviced here.

EagleClaw makes a spinnerbait hook, #254 short shank, that works as a trailer hook on plugs. Light, very strong (50 lb. fish) and it's inexpensive. You can get them at Wally Wolrd...

Here is another place to try. www.japantackle.com

Wow, when you do the conversion on some of those hooks you looking at $3.00 - $6.60 **each** depending on the hook.

The ones I really want are about 4 bucks each. The 6.60 hook is a 6/0 treble which is kinda big for my needs. more like a meat hook!:)

just found some good looking pliers on the site i posted.

http://www.plat.co.jp/english/fisherman/pliers.jpg

http://www.plat.co.jp/english/fisherman/pliers_ima1.jpg

http://www.plat.co.jp/english/fisherman/combi_ti.jpg

$230 for those pliers

Originally posted by Krispy
$230 for those pliers wow! i didn't get as far as to do the conversion yet.

Sandman-

The Saltiga reels are serviced by Daiwa US. I checked last year before I bought the reels.

FWIW a freind of mine from another site just straightened out an owner 9/0 on a good sized tuna. The owner reputation is that they break not bend under extreme pressure, but this guy proved that it ain't always the case.

i would not use a gold hook for tying flys those bones,albies,stripers wont touch it. stick to black hooks for everything

"i would not use a gold hook for tying flys those bones,albies,stripers wont touch it. stick to black hooks for everything"

Have you tried it?
Who knows the flash may add to the fly, not take away from it...

Oh, and we used to CLEAN UP on Fluke using small gold trebble hooks... (size #1) and live Mummes... was the gold the ticket? who knows but it worked very welll

And very small gold trebbles work great for tinker macks and snapper blues...
So Canal Ratt, if you havent tried it, dont knock it....

M.S. , I'd be interested in seeing a pic or link for them gold hooks, never seen em of anysize over #1 or so, just for novelty sake

i have used gold hooks and have seen my hook up rate go way down. ive seen albies and bonito get scared off by a 12lb floro leader and tell my there not going to see that gold hook and say "whoa stay away from that thing"

And I've caught em on wire leaders when bluefishing...
I was just saying that in some instances gold hooks can be a plus...

Albies and bones are funny...in the sound they are shy of anything....Fish the hooter about 6-7 miles off the the beach...and you can catch them on wire with umbrella rigs by the boatl load.
The gold hook thing is a test. Not so much for the color but for the other properties. IMO gold will not stay on. This is 24 ct gold on a stainless treble...not some gold like finish like you see on a cheopo bass hook.


I have spend several hours pouring over the Jap site. They have some amazing gear for the GT fishing. I may order a couple plugs just to see what they look like. But they ain't cheap.... The hooks look interesting. I wonder why these ultra strong hooks are not sold here?

"I wonder why these ultra strong hooks are not sold here?"
Some perceived lack of demand?

And your right what I was using was cheapo colored gold hooks for fluke.... I wouldnt be too bright using $4 hooks for fluke :smash:

I fish a lot for fluke...I have tried just about everything under the sun.. One dogfish will destroy those lame gold hooks. I am trying to get my local shop NOT to carry them (along with the lame rigs)but they are so cheap and people buy them. It never ceases to amaze me that people will make all kinds of efforts to spend a day fishing, take time off, expensive rods and reels, ect...then put a worthless hook on :confused: I just don't get it.
for fluke hooks....I like the VMC wide gaps (very rugged, slightly heavy and will rust) and the mustad stainless wide gaps (for a thinner hook if desired not quite as rugged as the vmc but will not rust and get the largest size they make) Both are reasonably priced and work great for fluking. (again in my opinion..) If you don't like wide gaps (I like them for fluke) then there are a million choices for a good hook besides the sweat-shop tied junkie fluke rigs you see in wall mart.

i prefer a habs needlefish for fluking :hihi:

:p Is there *anything* you can't catch on a habs needle? Several guys I know re-rigged them slightly and used them for tuna offshore and did quite well. honest! I saw the fish. They were calling them Habs cedar plugs.

thats awesome!

MS..
I dont fluke seriously.. usually an hour or two before work to eat...
we dont get a ton of doggies here when fluking (when codding yuck) but they arent a huge hassle here in he summer flukin... besides in my 13ft skiff I cant get to the deep holes outside the bay...

As far as cheap rigs... I use my own....

I can count he number of fluke trips I made last year on two hands, and since I never got around to using mummies, never used the gold...

Now a green/white spro with a fluke belly... yippe....

But to each his own....

I thought titanium was flexible? An upgrade for my aluminum seat stem on my mountain bike was made from titanium as it stated it is not only lighter but flexes.

Today in our lab at work I weighed a 4X 1/0 VMC treble hook and a 1/0 4X Owner Power Point treble hook.

The Owner Power Point treble hook looks a lot beefier than the VMC treble yet both are rated " 4x".

The 4X VMC 1/0 treble weighed 2.14 grams while the 4X Owner treble weighed 3.2 grams. That's 50% greater!

I'm going to try the Owner Power Points next season. They are recommended by Leo Orsi, Sr. in his book STRIPER CHRONICLES.

The author suggests replacing factory-supplied hooks on striper plugs with OWNER Power Point trebles. Maybe Leo Orsi has no experience with VMC trebles?

Does VMC (or owner) make a open eye treble? Generally I don't care for open eye hooks (never have) but I like to keep some on my boat for the quick change outs and I notice a lot of other guys do too. But I have always used the mustads, I consider them disposable and ok for bluefish.

Mr. Sandman,

I don't know.

When fishing from my boat I almost never use lures with treble hooks and when I fish the surf at night I'm not capable of changing hooks on the spot.

Maybe someone else following this thread will know if VMC or OWNER makes an open-eye treble hook.

Bill