Hook 5 0 what size. Sizes of fishing hooks, their numbering and features

How can you determine what hook size you have?

Take a close look at your hook. There is a stamp on it indicating the diameter of its head

The thicker hook, the higher this figure. That is, the diameter of its head in mm (hook number) is the thickness of the hook.

On hooks made in Russia, the number coincides with its thickness (hook No. 3 is a hook with a thickness of 3 mm), since a unified hook numbering system is used. In other countries, for example, Japan, USA, Great Britain, the numbering is different.

Below is the correspondence table.

Japanese classification of hooks

Regular hooks

Japanese size

7.5/0

10/0

7mm

8mm

Size in mm

Thin hooks

Japanese size
Size in mm	1.75		1.25			0.75		0. 5

You can also determine the hook size yourself. To do this, use one of the methods listed below:

• Vernier caliper- this is the most accurate determination of size, especially if the caliper is electronic.
• Paper puncture- approximate determination of hook size. The paper is pierced with the head of the hook, and then the diameter of the puncture is measured with a ruler.
• Run sample- you need to knit several samples with a light thread of different hook sizes; determine the hook that is suitable for you based on the knitting density.

A fishing hook, although small, is the main part of fishing tackle. But now there are many varieties of hooks. Which one is better and more correct to choose? It all depends on what kind of fish, at what time of year and with what baits you are going to catch.
The most common are the following types of hooks: single, double, triple, with a long or short forearm, straight or curved, with a ring head or a spatula head in various combinations. The hook number (size) is the distance from the shank to the sting, measured in millimeters. The smallest hook is 2.5, the largest is 20, if you don’t take into account very exotic ones for huge fish and special gear.

It’s worth noting right away that big fish are not always caught with a big hook. The type of hook in which the hook is not parallel to the fore-end, but is slightly bent to the side, is more hooky. And one more piece of advice. To make the fishing tackle more sensitive to bites when fishing from the bottom, the sinker is installed no further than 5 cm from the hook.

When fishing with soft vegetable baits, you need a thin and sharp hook. You can check its sharpness this way: put the sting on your fingernail, and if it doesn’t slide off, then the hook is sharp. For fishing with a worm, it is better to use hooks with a long shank, and when using vegetable or sponge baits, it is better to have a short shank. For a light bait, select a light hook, for a dark one, choose a dark hook.

The fishing hook is divided into the following parts:

1. The head is where the hook is attached to the fishing line.
2. Forend - a straight section from the head to the hook.
3. Prying - a rounding from the forearm to the sting. It is conventionally divided into two parts - the forehead and the back of the head.
4. The sting is the pointed tip of a hook. Includes the point itself and the beard.

The hook should be moderately hard, not bend under load, but not fragile. Hooks come with a spatula and a ring at the end of the shank. The length of the forend should exceed the width of the bend by 2 - 2.5 times. This kind of hook is more catchy.

Hook numbering by fish species

It should be noted that at the moment there are two main numberings for hook sizes - Russian (Soviet) and international (Redditch scale). According to our domestic classification, the number is the width of the hook, expressed in millimeters, determined by the distance between the tip and the fore-end.

The international classification is guided by other definitions related to hooks for fly fishing using artificial lures - flies. The basic definition is that the length of the shank of a standard hook is strictly regulated and is twice its width and, accordingly, the standard length of the hook is regulated. But, depending on the size of the fly being tied, the hooks can have different lengths. The Redditch scale defines the standards, and manufacturers indicate on the packaging what the length of this particular hook is, correlated with the standard, that is, how much longer or shorter the hook length is than the standard one and what scale number it corresponds to.

When catching minnows, bleak, char, roach, ruffe, dace, small perch or crucian carp, use hooks No. 2.5 - 4.
For catching rudd, silver bream, roach, crucian carp, podust, perch, roach, and bream, hooks No. 4 - 6 are used.
For larger and stronger perches, carp, tench, bream, ide, burbot and medium-sized carp, hooks No. 6 - 10 are suitable, and for large carp, hooks No. 10 - 14.
Pike is caught with single hooks No. 8 - 12, double hooks No. 7 - 10, triple hooks No. 7 - 8.
To catch pike perch, use hooks No. 8 - 12.
When catching asp with a spinning rod, the bait is equipped with a tee No. 7 - 8.
Catfish are caught on hooks No. 18 - 20 (for a frog), and with live bait, meat - the hook should be even larger.
When fishing with bloodworms, steamed grains of oats, wheat, peas, barley, balls of bread and dough, use hooks No. 2.5 - 4,
Hooks No. 5 - 7 are suitable for caddis flies, pieces of worms, maggots, dragonflies, mayflies, porridge, and dough.
Hooks with a long shank with the same attachments can be used when fishing in fast currents. Hooks No. 8 - 12 with a long shank are suitable for attaching large worms, beetles, crayfish, and live bait.

The most common shapes of hooks

Round hooks. Their bow is almost semicircular. The most famous and popular is the “perfect” type with a short, medium and long forearm and a bent or straight point. The forend ends with a spatula, but there are also options with a ring bent inward (it is better to tie a metal leash). For catching carp, the “perfect” hook is very suitable, the length of the shank of which is twice as long as the width of the hook; for catching predators - hooks with a long shank with a ring bent inward.

Initial shapes of hooks: a - rounded; b - semi-rounded; c - angular

Semi roundedhooks. The transition between the forend and the top of the hook is slightly flattened. The most famous type is the “limerick” with a bent tip; these hooks are usually coated with black or dark brown enamel. The “Italian” option is very popular among amateur fishermen. It has a point bent to the side and is dark brown in color. The semicircular hooks also include the famous “crystal”; such hooks are always flat, without a point bent to the side; color - golden or silver. The silver-colored “crystal” is always somewhat narrower. It is indispensable for catching small fish. The group of semicircular hooks also includes hooks for fishing with an artificial fly.

Angled hooks. They have an angular shape. They are used for catching predatory fish, and large hook sizes are popular. Triple hooks can also have an angular shape.

You can also note a group of hooks of special shapes. These include Kirby and Mackenzie Crystal hooks. The latter is a transitional type between round and semi-circular hooks. Due to its flat shape with a relatively short fore-end and massiveness, it is often used for catching carp.

The forend of all types of hooks ends with a head made in the shape of a ring, a spatula, a thin undercut, a ribbed head. The sting has a conical shape and can be bent inward - towards the fore-end or outward - from the fore-end.

The oldest form of fish hook is considered to be the Aberdeen round shape. In addition to the mentioned form, the Limerick form is also considered the basic one. The common forms Kirby and Crystal are derivatives of the first two.

Every serious fishing brand has a whole series of hooks of various types and shapes with their own names. At the same time, a classification of hooks was made for each method of fishing, peaceful and predatory, sea and freshwater fish, etc.

There are hooks single (single hook), double (double hook, double), triple (three hook, tee, anchor), as well as single bend and double bend, i.e. curved in two planes. In addition, hooks vary in thickness and shank length.
Single hooks are universal: they are equipped with most amateur fishing gear for fishing with natural baits and artificial baits. Double and triple hooks are used mainly for fishing with live bait and for rigging spoons, Devon and artificial fish.

Hook finish and color

Since the main material for producing hooks is carbon steel, which is not resistant to corrosion, the thinnest layer of non-ferrous metal is applied to such products using the galvanic method. Bronzing is most often used, but does not guarantee 100% protection against oxidation. To further protect the product, it is covered with a polymer paint layer on top, and color is also added. A less common method is nickel plating with added color (from silver to black). Considering the durability and reliability of nickel relative to bronze plating, its cost is an order of magnitude higher. Thanks to the thinnest layer of polymer varnish, which fills the pores of black nickel, the surface of the fishing product is perfect. Another option for protecting the product is tin plating.

Color is an important factor that reduces fish suspicion when biting bait, and therefore must match the color of the bait or the bottom of the reservoir. The color of the hook is determined by the anti-corrosion coating, as already mentioned, it is applied by various methods of surface treatment of metals: chrome plating, oxidation, enameling, tinning, silvering, gilding.

How to fix and sharpen a hook

Sometimes a caught fish leaves with a broken hook. This happens if the hook is overheated and fragile. It can be weakened in boiling vegetable oil.
The hooks should be placed in a metal jar, pour a teaspoon of oil into them (even used ones), then take the jar with pliers and hold on the fire until the oil suffuses. From the moment smoke appears, keep hooks No. 2, 3, 4 on the flame for one minute, and No. 5, 6, 8 and larger - for one and a half minutes.
The jar with hooks removed from the fire is placed in water until it cools completely.

Unprotected steel products rust from moisture, and this also applies to fishhooks. No matter how well the hook tip is polished and sharpened, if stored improperly it will still become covered with rust and, therefore, become dull, even if the hook has never been used.

Large hooks can be brought to the desired sharpness as follows. The hook is taken with tweezers and its tip is dipped for some time in a 30-40% solution of nitric acid. After this, rinse with water and use a magnifying glass to determine the result of etching. To obtain the desired degree of sharpening, repeat the operation several times. The finished hook is immersed in a soap solution for a long time. It should be remembered that working with acid requires compliance with safety measures.

But even the majority of new hooks that are sold here - be they Japanese, French, Swedish, Canadian - are foreign consumer goods. Our production is also not happy.

Almost all hooks have hardening and planes in the area of ​​the sting.

That’s why they all need to be corrected and sharpened.

The ideal sharpening shape is an elliptical cone with a slight inclination of the tip of the sting towards the shank of the hook. The hardening must be removed with a diamond-coated file (it is always on sale and is inexpensive). The plane is selected during the sharpening process with a special whetstone and it is used to give the hook tip a taper. It’s easy to make a special whetstone for sharpening hooks yourself. To do this, you need a plate made of steel, or preferably stainless steel, 1 mm thick. It is better to give the plate a trapezoidal shape.

Such a plate is comfortable to hold in your hand and therefore easy to maintain any angle when sharpening. Using “Moment” or “88 N” glue, strips of sandpaper of two, or preferably three, types are glued to the plate on both sides, as shown in the figure.

After processing with a file, the tip of the hook is finished with a block, first on coarse, and then on fine and zero strips of sandpaper. Don't be afraid to sharpen the point from the outside towards the shank of the hook. This only makes the hook more catchy.

To ensure fewer disruptions while fishing, do not forget to at least occasionally sharpen the hook tip with fine sandpaper while fishing.

The sharpness of the hook can be checked by a simple method: if the tip of the product can easily catch on the nail, then the hook is really sharp. In case of poor engagement, and also if it still requires some effort, the hook is blunted.

How to solder hooks.

Double and triple hooks of small sizes, for example No. 2-2.5, are not sold, although they are very necessary for fishing. There is only one way out of this situation: you need to solder them from single hooks.
For soldering, you will need a simple device: cut a piece 50-60 mm long from a hexagonal pencil, remove the writing core, and make shallow slits at the end with a razor blade - across the edge. To prevent the pencil from breaking, it is fastened with thin copper wire. Single hooks (one with an eye, two with cut off eyes for the tee) are inserted into the slots with hooks downwards, aligned and fastened with drops of tin. The double (tee) remains to be cleaned, sharpened - and it is ready.

Homemade doppelganger.

The roach bite is barely noticeable. It is difficult to hook cautious fish when fishing with bread. To avoid mishaps, a small double should be tied to the fishing line.
Before soldering, the ring or spatula of one of the hooks is cut off.^ The hooks are placed on the board, with their tips turned to the sides. Then, sticking the points into the end of the board into previously prepared holes (they can be made with a needle), the hooks are fastened with tin.

No beard needed.
When catching predatory fish with live bait, it is not necessary to use purchased doubles and tees with barbs. They are not inferior to homemade doppelgängers without beards. And they are not difficult to do.
A piece of steel wire approximately 10 cm long is sharpened with a file at both ends, then the wire is shaped into an anchor. At the bend it forms a ring, to which the leash is tied. It is attached to a fishing line. Live bait is put on the double. This way he is less injured and retains mobility for a long time. Flexible steel leads can be used, but it is better to use thin copper wire with several turns.

Homemade double (triple) hook.
You won’t always find a double or triple fishing hook of the right size on sale. But it’s easy to do it yourself. All you need is an ordinary student’s ink eraser. Deep slots are made in it, in which the hook blanks are firmly held during soldering. The forend of the hooks must be tinned and secured with a winding of thin wire before soldering.

How to remove the hook.
To remove a hook from the mouth of a large fish, they usually use a gaper and a fork, which is not very convenient. You can use a simpler device.
It is necessary to cut a tube 15-20 m long from an old bamboo fishing rod. Make a longitudinal cut along the side wall. To release a hook that has been swallowed by a fish, you should pass a fishing line through the cut into the tube, pull it up, and push the tube into the mouth until it reaches the hook. It is enough to apply light pressure and the hook is removed along with the tube.

Is the hook sharp?
The easiest way is to run the sting along your fingernail. It leaves a scratch, if the hook gets stuck in it, it means it’s sharp enough, but if it slides, it’s dull. A perfectly sharpened hook seems to stick to the skin. You can study the condition of the hook in more detail using a magnifying glass, and it’s easier to control sharpening with it.
You only need to point the point from the inside. For this, it is best to have a wedge-shaped carborundum block. It’s a good idea to make a recess along one side of it, and across it on the other. It is convenient to insert a hook into these recesses when sharpening. You can use such a sharpener. A strip measuring 40 X 15 mm is cut out of velvet sandpaper, greased with BF-2 glue on the non-working side, bent in half lengthwise, and inside, closer to the bend, a strip broken off from a matchbox 45 mm long and 2-3 mm wide is inserted. . After this, put it under the press for 12 hours - and the sharpener is ready.

The hook can be fixed.
On fishing hooks of all numbers, the ring is made perpendicular to the plane of the hook. It is not easy to place bait on such a hook, especially with a short shank and wet hands.
The ring can be unrolled by heating it on the flame of a match or burner. The remade hook does not affect the bite, but is baited easier and faster.

We will fix the defect on the hooks.
1. The disadvantage of some fishing hooks is the sharp edge of the end at the ring and its loose connection to the fore-end. The fishing line tied to such a hook, once caught in the gap, is cut off when pulled, and the fish leaves along with the hook. This defect can be eliminated if the joint at the ring is soldered, having previously treated it with pickling acid. The solder will hide the gap and the sharp edge.
For small hooks (No. 2.5-4), the solder also fills the ring. To avoid this, before soldering you need to insert a piece of varnished winding wire into the ring, which is then pulled out.
2. You will also have to use soldering when the hook with a spatula, when landing a large fish, cuts through the knot (or jumps out of it) with which it is tied to the fishing line: as a result, the fish disappears. To prevent this from happening, you need to make a thickening on the hook blade with solder. This will make a small hook even more manageable in your hands when stringing the bait.

Updated hooks.
Fishing hooks come in different types and sizes. But you don’t always find what you need in the store. Meanwhile, any hook can be corrected. Hooks with a long point are less catchy. The fish, having grabbed the bait and felt the prick, immediately throws it out of its mouth. The point of such hooks is shortened by holding the hook in pliers and grinding off the point with a file almost to the barb (hook), then the sides are straightened and the entire sharpening is polished.
A hook with a long shank is not suitable if you use small-sized plant baits. The shank of such a hook must be shortened, then the tip of the remaining part must be heated in a match flame and doubled. You will get something like a “spatula” that needs to be cleaned so that it does not cross the fishing line.
A hook with a short shank is especially good for catching bream, roach and other non-predatory fish.

Storing hooks.
Do not store hooks “in bulk”, in one pile. In addition to the fact that in this case they are inconvenient to use, they become dull and, under certain conditions, may even be damaged.
They should be stored in a special multi-section box. The bottom of the box is covered with foam rubber, lightly soaked in machine oil, into which hooks are inserted according to size and type. When transporting fishing rods, hook them onto the rubber rings placed on the butts of the rods.

Hooks, snap hooks and other fishing accessories will not rust if you add a little starch to the box where they are stored. If rust does appear on the hooks, you need to stick them in soap for a while, and the rust will disappear.

Every fisherman has an empty box of Kyiv hooks. On the side, almost at the very base, below the edge of the lid, a hole of 1 - 1.5 mm is pierced with an awl. Then, having opened the box, the leashes are passed into this hole from the inside and pulled together until the hooks stop in the hole. So, the hooks are in the box, the leashes are outside the “storage chamber”, it is closed with a lid. If a fisherman wants to use a box in which the depth of the lid is equal to the height of the box, then he must make a window in the edge of the lid. For small hooks with a short shank, and the smallest jigs, if there are many of them, the hole should be made not on the side of the box, but in the center of its lid.

Fishing hooks are distinguished by width, thickness, length and bend shape. They are single, double (twins), triple (tees, anchors).

The hook consists of: 1 - head, 2 - shank, 3 - hook, 4 - sting with a barb.

The size of the hook determines fishing hook number. According to the Russian classification, the size is taken in millimeters and ordinary factory hooks come in numbers from 2.5 to 16. And also on packages with hooks you can see, for example, the following formula 5-0.4x12, where 5 is the number of the fishing hook, 0.4 is the thickness of the fore-end , 12 - hook length in mm.

Numbering of fishing hooks

International	Russia	Finland	Japan
24	-	-	22
22	-	-	20
20	-	-	18
19	2	22	17
18	2,5	20	16
17	3	18	15
16	-	-	14
15	3,5	16	13
14	-	-	12
13	4	14	11
12	-	-	10
11	4,5	-	9
10	5	12	8
9	-	-	7
8	6	10	6
7	-	-	5
6	7	8	4
5	7,5	-	3
4	8	6	2
3	8,5	-	1
2	9	4	0
-	11	1	-
-	12	1/0	-
-	14	2/0	-
-	16	3/0	-

The head of a fishing hook can be a ring and a spatula, bent outward or inward towards the sting, or not bent at all. Some anglers make a thickening on the blade with solder to prevent the line knot from slipping. It is recommended to cover the tied knot with “BF-2” or “Moment” glue and let it dry for a day.

The main requirements for a fishing hook are, of course, a sharp sting, a tenacious barb, and good hardening. The sharpness of the hook is checked in different ways, some on the nail: a blunt one slides, a sharp one gets stuck, scratches; someone on the pad of the finger: well sharpened, it seems to stick to the skin. A good sting has a regular conical shape, its length is 3.5-4 times the thickness of the hook. It can be parallel to the forearm (a), slightly bent from it (b) or bent inward (c).

Hooks with a bent sting are considered more tenacious, but they do not hold the fish firmly. Fishing hooks with the tip bent inward hold the fish better, but they hook worse when the fish completely swallows the hook. The beard counteracts the fish's attempts to free itself from the hook. The bend of its neck should be approximately equal to double the thickness of the hook.

There are hooks with two barbs on the fore-end. By the way, such hooks are convenient for attaching large worms that “like to crawl” off the hook.

A well-hardened hook springs when unbent, an overheated hook breaks, and an under-hardened one easily unbends. Sometimes some fishermen, including me, weaken the hardening in the hooking area so that if it gets caught on a snag, the hook straightens out and does not have to tear the line. This is usually done when fishing with a spinning rod, where there are a lot of hooks, or when exploring a new fishing spot.

How to weaken the hardening? They heat it up until red hot and then let it cool on its own, i.e. They don’t stick it anywhere to make it cool faster - like in water, snow or a refrigerator. Let it cool on its own in the air. It is important to heat until red only by prying it, do not touch the tip and the forearm with the head. Also, don’t overdo it with weakening the hardening, otherwise you won’t be able to hook the fish.

There are forged hooks - this is when the hook is slightly flattened. This is done to increase strength, but small forged hooks can easily cut through the lip of a fish.

To protect against rust, hooks are galvanized (tinned hooks), nickel plated (mirror shade), varnished (blue-black hooks - blued), oxidized (matte black), bronzed (brass-colored hooks). If rust appears on the hooks, you can try sticking it into dry soap, it sometimes helps, the rust comes off.

If you are not sure about the protection of the coating of fishing hooks, you can stick them into a piece of foam soaked in machine oil. And more often you have to do this with hooks that you have already fished with; the protective layer is broken, for example, when sharpening the tip.

Fishing hooks come in different hook shapes - “oval” and “steep-faced”. There is an opinion that the holding capacity of the hook depends on the shape of the hook. Personally, I haven’t noticed a difference yet; I prefer oval-shaped hooks, although there are many who prefer sharp-faced hooks. This is explained by the fact that the fish, when eating the bait, discovers a sharp-faced hook later than an oval one, and when it discovers it, it tries to spit it out.

For hooks, the usual shank length is 1.5 - 2 times the width of the hook. Fishing hooks with a long shank are mainly used for baiting fry and live bait. And I use large worms for bait. Hooks with a long shank are convenient when catching “greedy” fish such as ratan, which, if you miss the bite, swallows the hook at the very least. In this case, a hook with a long shank is easier to get than a regular one, and you don’t have to cut the fish.

Today we will talk about what types of hooks for fishing there are, and what you need to pay attention to when choosing them, since there are many types of fishing hooks, and they differ in thickness, width, color, shape and bend length, as well as number of subdevs. I also advise you to read the article, now in more detail about what kind of fishing hooks should be.

Previously, the Soviet metric system was used to number fishing hooks, where the hook number indicated the distance in millimeters from the sting to the shank. But with the arrival of European manufacturers on the market, the reddish scale began to enjoy increasing popularity, where as the number increases, the size of the hook decreases, so if one of the smallest hooks according to the Russian classification is No. 2.5, then according to the international classification these are hooks No. 30, 32. You can also find a designation where after the hook number the number zero is written through a fraction - 1/0; 2/0; 3/0, these are very large hooks for large fish, and the higher the number before the zero, the larger the size, maximum 10/0. Unfortunately, among foreign companies there is no single canon regarding the size of fishing hooks, and hook No. 10 from one company may differ in size from hooks from other companies with the same number, this is especially true for cheap Chinese consumer goods.

Very often, hooks for fishing are marked on the packaging, for example 6-0.3-12, this means that the hook number is 6, the fore-end thickness is 0.3 mm, and its length is 12 mm.

Table of the ratio of the main numbers of hooks

One of the smallest hooks according to Russian numbering is hook No. 2.5, it is used when catching small fish with a small mouth on a small bait, for example, catching high water, medium-sized roach on maggots and bloodworms. To catch larger fish, such as adult roach, silver bream or medium-sized crucian carp, we need larger hooks No. 3-4. Fishing hooks No. 5-7 are considered the most universal; they can be used to catch crucian carp, large roach and silver bream, as well as bream, tench, perch, medium-sized pike and carp. To catch trophy carp, carp, pike, and chub, we will need larger fishing hooks. Although it is worth noting that when catching peaceful fish, you should not play it safe and take too large hooks; on the contrary, it is better to take an order of magnitude smaller, this will have a positive effect on the bite. If you have to, then you shouldn’t waste time with a hook, but take the largest, sharpest and strongest ones.

Main characteristics of fishing hooks

In addition to size, the choice of hooks for fishing is influenced by such parameters as:

Number of subdevs

Types of heads

• Spatula
• Grooves on the hook

Fishing hooks with spatulas are considered more reliable than those with an eye, since there is no possibility of the ring bending; also, under the ring as a result of a defect, there may be a sharp edge, the presence of which cannot be determined by eye. In addition, a correctly tied knot on the shoulder blade is much stronger than a knot on the ear. However, it is worth considering that hooks with a small size also have a small blade, which is why an inexperienced fisherman may have some difficulties attaching them to the fishing line.

There are also hooks with notches on the fore-end; they allow the line to sit more firmly on the fore-end; in this case the thickness of the line should not exceed 0.1 mm. These fishing hooks are used in winter for catching small fish.

Fishing hooks, shank length, bend and sting

Fishing hooks with the same number may differ in shank length.

The longer the fore-end, the larger the bait you can attach to it (for example, to make a bouquet of a worm), such a bait can increase our chances when fishing for small fish, especially important for silver bream, roach. Since small fish live in schools, they bite often and quite sharply, and the bait is often swallowed deep into the mouth; the presence of a long fore-end will allow you to pull out the hook without making excessive efforts. In order to increase the chances of a successful hooking, the sting of the fishing hook should have a side bend and a short length; in this case, it becomes less noticeable and does not frighten the fish so much. Also, the small tip dulls less on the bottom with constant re-casting and retrieving.

Tip and heads

When catching large fish, on the contrary, the fore-end should be small, the bend wide and angular, and the sting long, as this will make it easier to pierce the massive lips of large fish. It is also desirable that the tip be bent inward; although this will reduce penetration, it will eliminate the possibility of derailment.

Goatee

Fishing hooks are available with or without barbs. Hooks without a barb penetrate the fish's lip better, but the presence of a barb prevents the fish from leaving. Therefore, a compromise would be fish hooks with a small barb. Only when catching small fish is it better to use barbless hooks.

There are also hooks with additional barbs on the shank; these barbs prevent the bait from slipping and prevent the fish from pulling them off, although their presence is often more harmful.

Hook thickness

Hooks of the same size can have different thicknesses; for peaceful fish it is better to use thin hooks, especially when fishing with small baits. But thin hooks need to be bought from high-quality, proven brands, otherwise the Chinese counterfeit will quickly break down.

Color and coating of fishing hooks

Usually the color of the hook depends on its anti-corrosion coating, but sometimes, to achieve the desired color, the hooks are coated with special varnishes or paints. Mainly used as protection:

• Nickel plated (on the packaging it is indicated by the letter N or NB black nickel)
• Bronze coating (BZ);
• Gilding (G);
• Blueing;
• Black coating (BK), blue (Bb);
• Pewter, red (PS);
• Stainless steel (St);

Pencil case for hooks

When choosing a fishing hook, you need to ensure that its color does not have a sharp contrast with the bottom and the bait. If your hook is covered with rust, then soak it in soap for a day or try cleaning it with kerosene, but keep in mind that after the kerosene, a not very pleasant smell may remain. You can try to clean it with a knife, but this will affect the strength. In order to prevent the formation of rust, you can put a piece of cloth soaked in sunflower oil in the box where you store fishing hooks.

Fishing hooks, sharpening methods

There are mechanical sharpening (Cone cut), pressed sharpening (Needle Cone) and chemical sharpening (Cut Point) - the most effective method of sharpening, since with this method of sharpening there are no microcracks and scratches.

Offset hook

Fishing Hook Material

Hooks are made of strong wire, which is made from the following types of steel:

• Stainless Steel – alloyed with nickel and chromium, including various additives of non-ferrous metals. Hooks made of this material perfectly resist rust and have good strength, so many of them are designed for catching trophy specimens, as well as for fishing in salt water.
• High-carbon steel (Hi-Carbon Steel) is the most common material for making hooks, about half of them are made from it. Its main disadvantage is its poor resistance to rust, so these fishing hooks require the application of various protective coatings to their surface.
• Carbon steel alloyed with vanadium (Vanadium Steel). Due to the presence of vanadium in this steel, its strength is increased by 25% compared to conventional high-carbon steel. This alloy also requires the application of a protective coating against corrosion. Due to their increased strength, fish hooks made of this steel are very popular when catching large carp, grass carp, chub and various types of predatory fish.

In addition to the material, the strength of the hook is also affected by the method of making the hook; stamped hooks are characterized by increased strength and reliability (by about 25%). These hooks are distinguished by the presence of a flat shape at the base and at the location of the sharp bend

Choosing fishing hooks in the store

It is better to buy hooks from trusted brands, since you won’t catch much with a bad hook. The most popular manufacturers of fishing hooks are the following companies: Mustad(Norway), Owner(USA), Kamasan, Gamakatsu, Tiemco(Japan), rare fisherman can say something bad about them.

Tips for choosing

Due to the fact that hooks from different companies have a discrepancy in size, it is better to bring a sample of the required hook with you, this will make it easier for you not to make a mistake. Be sure to tell the seller what kind of fish you are going to hunt, because there are many specialized hooks on sale that are sharpened for a specific fish (for example, hooks for catfish, pike, crucian carp, etc.) In order to determine the strength of the hook, apply a load to it, under its influence, it should not bend or break.

To determine the sharpness of the hook, run the sting along your nail; if it slides without leaving scratches, then the hook is dull and you shouldn’t buy it, but if it became dull during fishing, you can sharpen it using a nail file.. For sharpening small hooks, a striker on a matchbox will do. By the way, it is quite convenient to store hooks in matchboxes, although it is better to do this in boxes with foam rubber, or stick them into pieces of foam plastic). Also on the box there should be markings on the size of the fishing hook, the materials from which it is made, and how to sharpen it.

Video hooks for fishing

Well, that’s probably all I wanted to tell you about hooks for catching fish.

Success in fishing is equally determined by the professionalism of the fisherman and rationally selected gear. Sometimes more depends on the smallest component - a fishing hook - than on the rest of the equipment.

Structure

The structure of the hook is:

1. Head. Functional part, place for attaching the thread. Visually it may consist of an eye or a blade, and instead of them it may contain notches for attaching a very thin fishing line.
2. Handguard. The working axis, which determines the distance between the head and the hook. For vegetable profit, a short one is important, while it is better to attach a worm to an elongated fore-end.
3. Prying Hook bend. The shape can be semicircular or angular.
4. Sting. The sharp part that provides hooking and retention of prey. The most common are single, double and triple copies. Catching “peaceful” fish is carried out with a single hook, while it is advisable to fish for pike perch, bream, perch, and pike with double and treble hooks.

The size of fishing hooks is the main characteristic that anglers are guided by. The concept implies the distance between the forend and the tip of the sting, which is usually called width.

The gear market is characterized by a wide variety depending on the sharpness and type of tip, head shape and hook. The most informative distinguishing factors are:

1. Fishing hook sizes.
2. Forend thickness and length.

Numbering

In order to simplify the understanding of the existing diversity, it is customary to distinguish the sizes of fishing hooks by numbers. For the domestic system, it is customary to number them depending on the distance between the forearm and the tip, which is called width. So, hook No. 3 has a width of 3 mm, and No. 7 - 7 mm. These principles are clear to all fishermen.

Difficulties arise with the international designation system. It has reverse numbering, based on the principles of comparing the dimensions of a real product with certain standard values. In fact, the reverse order of numbers occurs. At the same time, the modern version has an expanded range of capabilities, which makes it possible to produce both very small hooks up to size 32, and very large ones - up to size 20/0.

In order to know how to determine the size of a fishing hook from a foreign manufacturer, you need to understand the correspondence between the Russian and international systems.

An approximate table of hook numbering correspondence is given below.

Width, mm	Russian markings	International marking

At the same time, the foreign system is only indicative, and manufacturers label their products in their own way, based on the standard.

The sizes of fishing hooks, as well as the number of hooks, must fully comply with the fishing conditions, as well as the parametric and characteristic features of the fish. So, for catching small crucian carp on a float rod, the smallest single-single specimens are suitable, and for fishing for a large predator - medium and large “tees”.

Russian markings

Considering the variety of gear of this type, numbering fishing hooks by size is not the main thing. Important characteristics that the manufacturer and consumer pay attention to are also the thickness of the forend and the overall length of the product.

The standard designation most often indicates its type. Visually, hooks differ in the shape of the bend of the hook, in the nature of the bend and the type of head, in color and material.

The Roman numeral I denotes one-flex, with one hook with a spatula-shaped head.

II - differs from the first sample in the presence of a ring for attaching fishing line.

III - double-bend hook with a spatula-shaped head.

IV - the same, but with a ring.

An example of full marking in the domestic version:

where 0.3 is the diameter of the forend, mm;

10 - total length of the product, mm.

The thickness of the forend and the material of the product are complementary characteristics: a fairly thick one, made of low-quality metal, can perform an order of magnitude worse than thin, high-strength tackle.

Production Features

All fishing hooks can be made in two ways: forging or stamping. Forged products are more reliable and catchable, but the price often contributes to the advantage of stamped products over them. The latter can often serve almost at the same level if all the ratios are taken into account: the thickness of the forend, the material, the sizes of fishing hooks and their shapes, and the features of the desired prey.

The international designation necessarily includes relevant information regarding all the nuances.

1. Material: Stainless steel - stainless steel, Hi carbon - high-carbon, Vanadium - wear-resistant steel alloyed with vanadium.
2. Color range and external coating option: N - nickel plated, BN - black nickel, PS - tin plated, G - “gold plated”, BK - dark burnished.
3. Sharpening method: chemical (Cut point), mechanical (Cone cat), pressed (Needle Cone).

It is rational to give preference to wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant well-sharpened hooks, the color corresponding to the bait used, the characteristics of the bottom and the reservoir as a whole.

The choice of each angler is quite individual, based on knowledge, experience and personal beliefs. A precisely selected, effective and catchable hook is an indicator of the experience, professionalism and luck of its owner.