Eel Rigging - hook size/type?

[SmokeBringer]

What size/type hook is your most common when just free-lining 'em (no weight just drifting)?

[5/0]

5/0 Live bait Gamakatsu

[cheferson]

mustad 94150, just need to be sharpened. Cheap and reliable

[redcrbbr]

6/0 gamakatsu octopus

[Slingah]

4/0 Gami Live Bait

[Clogston29]

I like 6/0 or 7/0 gami live bait hooks depending on the size eel.

[hyefisherman2]

i like using size 6/0 or 7/0 with a 24 inch 40-50# fluro. leader.

[Hobie Wan]

6/0 or 7/0 Gami Octopus hook

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by cheferson

mustad 94150, just need to be sharpened. Cheap and reliable

Bingo!

Long time no see, Smokebringer

[jim sylvester]

used 6/0 gami octopus last year until I had one straighten out

6/0 gami live bait for me thid year....I like the hooks but they do loose their sharpness in the rocks....so stay on top of them with the file

[t.orlando]

[QUOTE=jim sylvester;518141]used 6/0 gami octopus last year until I had one straighten out

Bent a few myself Jim. HD Live Bait hooks 6/0-8/0

[Saltheart]

I like fine wire chemically sharp hooks. At one time I reduced the size and strength of the hooks to 4/0 "lazer sharp" hooks. The standard hook prior to changing strategies would be 6/0 Siwash hooks. the change in startegy came when I decided i wanted to get that tail hook into the game more.

I think its a trade off because you get more hook ups on bumps when the hooks are very thin wire super sharp hooks. The number of foul hooked fish i got , epsecially on the tail hook went way up when I went to the sharper , thinner wire hooks. Of course , the thinner wire means you could starighten one out. I never have. I think its because as the hook gap gets smaller , there is less leverage. Also , single point hooks straighten out less than trebles since its harder for the fish to get a leverage point and because the gap is small and the point sinks in to the apex of the hook bend. Because the rigged eel has 2 hooks , there is still the chance the fish can leverage one against the other so the danger is still there.

Now there are lots of chemically sharp hooks available in all sizes. It may be that you can get the same stickiness out of a 6/0 modern gami as you could 25 years ago from the thinner wire lazer sharps which were about the only game in town for chemically sharp back then.


the whole point is the trade off between the strength of the hook for the fight and the deadly sharpness needed to foul hook fish when they purposely just bump the eel instead of inhaling it. Bumps happen a lot more than people imagine. i started hooking the fish upside the head , under the chin , down the lateral line , in fact almost anywhere they touched the eel on a bump when the chemically sharp hooks were used.

Aside form the idea described above , as i stated , the old standby was 6/0 siwash. If the hook is too big , you will start getting snagged as you try to slowly drag in through the rocks. Like almost everything else in fishing , there are trade offs depending on what you are trying to do.

[Saltheart]

actually , after that disertation above , maybe he just wants to know how to hook a live eel? It says rigging an eel ?

Anyway , if the question is about simply hooking a live eel , that also has eveolved for me. i have progressively increased the size of the hooks over the years. I have gone from 6/0 to 8/0. For simply hooking a live eel , mustad 94150 8/0 is a good choice IMO.

[The Iceman 6]

I like the Gammi or Owner 6 octopus...