Fishing Articles
The Mighty Big Thing about Small Hooks
Set the Hook Once and get the Fish
Timothy Kusherets
I'm going to beat a dead horse here on the issue of hooks;
bear with me and you'll see why it’s important to address this
issue; it really works and is worthy of reading this very important
article entirely. Saltwater fishing has requirements that may often
call for larger hooks and heavier line test which will make it appropriate
to use larger hooks, but that is not the same for freshwater fishing.
Rivers and lakes do not need to be fished with large hooks; it is a
detriment to the fisherman and the fish. The smaller the hook is the
greater the penetrating power is going to be. Smaller hooks penetrate
the jaw of any anadramous species, as well as any indigenous freshwater
species, of fish with ease. It is the surface are of the tine that is
crucial; the smaller the surface area there is the better the sinking
power of the hook. 
The hook-set on this impressively large Chinook, was done with a
size two hook, ten-pound test leader with a reverse six-pound mainline,
and a ten foot six inch rod. The penetration of the hook was so deep
in the bone I couldn’t get it out of the maxillary without breaking
the hook or the jaw of the fish. It never came out. I only had to set
the hook once to deeply sink it.
The point diameter comes into play as fish fight to throw the hook.
Since the tine of the hook is so far away from the shank on the 2/0
it is more likely that a sizeable fish will bend or throw the hook much
more often than a size 2 hook. The 2/0 hook is very large in diameter
and it’s the width of the point that doesn’t allow for good
hook-sets; the length of the shank takes away power from setting the
hook because it is further away from the tine. Don’t misunderstand;
hooks of any size can be thrown; more often than not, smaller hooks
are thrown fewer times than larger ones because of the simple dynamic
flaws of using long rods with large hooks. The longer a rod is the less
power the hook-set is going to be due to less direct tension on the
hook itself; conversely, the shorter the rod is the more tension is
placed directly on the hook; that’s why halibut fishermen use
very short rods and very large hooks. The size of hooks used for halibut
fishing are almost always going to be larger than 5/0, and that’s
a very large hook indeed. The power needed to sink it is directly proportionate
to the length of the rod. Consider that it is the weight of the halibut
that alerts the fisherman a strike has been made and has nothing to
do with the sensitivity of the rod. The longer a rod is the more sensitive
it’s going to be regardless of the "weight classification" of
the rod. A long heavy action rod is going to be sensitive enough to
feel the hits of either bass or catfish, but the length of a long heavy
action rod will still sacrifice hook setting power. Match the hook to
the longer rod by using smaller hooks and it will turn out to be the
match you're looking for for good hook-setting power with little effort.
Whether you sharpen the hooks or not it is easily seen that a larger
hook may offer more body but does not necessarily mean better hook-sets.
The diameter of the point is vital when entertaining salt or freshwater
fishing.
Proportionately speaking, the larger your line is the larger your
hook is going to be, or at least "should be". Typically, fishermen that
use large hooks use very heavy test. Typically, the heavy test is then
proportionate to the capabilities of the rods of which are both stout
and shorter than rods used for drift-fishing where sensitivity is a
must. Fishermen that use small hooks use line test to match the hook
somewhere in the range of 6 to 12 pounds and the rods are long and more
sensitive while those that use larger hooks have line test that ranges
from 17 to 80 pounds and short rods by comparison, there's really no
choice. While it is very true fishermen using the heavier test and larger
hooks may land fish they are fighting, it is more likely that each fish
hooked by the extra heavy test will be thrown, broken, or bent; which
is not the same for smaller hooks. All of this is based on the premise
that anglers that opt for larger test will invariably choose the larger
hooks automatically. 
This large native chum took a small corkie (lil' corky), yarn, and
hook. Chum are renowned for their incredibly large teeth and dense jaws
yet the tiny hook in the photograph easily penetrated the maxillary.
The strength of small hook never faltered allowing me to concentrate
on the fight rather than the idea that the fish might be able to throw
the hook.
Fish biting into the offering almost always overlook the light test
and smaller hook. The natural appearance of the drift, due to smaller
hooks, allow offerings to make presentations at a strata of neutral
buoyancy and as such put fish “on” the bite rather than
“off” regardless of the water clarity.
The distance between the tine and the shank comes largely into play
when determining hooks that will get thrown versus those that don’t.
Larger hooks require much heavier hook-sets than do smaller hooks; the
force needed to deliver, on the line, to set the hook is limited. Regardless
of how hard a fisherman pulls back on the rod he can only exert so much
pressure and that limits the sinking capabilities of the surface area
of the tine to penetrate bone. Pondering the dilemma of straightened
out hooks and how it how it can happen if fishermen only exert a certain
amount of force is not a quandary; it is the immoveable object meeting
the irresistible force. When the twain meet, chaos can erupt. The irresistible
force is the fish and the immoveable object is the hook. The hook is
static. Nothing known to man can make a hook move in any way without
aid from an outside force. The retrieval of your line has inertia as
the line travels back onto the spool immediately after casting and retrieval
begins. Fish attempting to pick up the lure are going to strike the
hook and as they do will exert a certain amount of force directly to
the hook, more often than not, in the opposite direction of the cast.
It is the force and momentum of the strike, coupled with the minimal
force of the hook traveling in the opposite direction that straightens
out the hook; but there’s more. The size of the hook will determine
how much force is expressed on the “eye and bend” of the
hook. The greater the distance between the point and the shank of the
hook the more it becomes weakened with each strike or snag. A hook with
a distance of ¾ of an inch will become weaker than a hook that
has a distance of ½ inch between the point and shank. With large
hooks, the strike encompasses only a portion of the hook, of which,
the surface area of the tine is wide enough that it prevents the necessary
penetration for a good hook-set. In some cases, the force of the strike
makes the hook bend outward or forces the hook to invert backwards due
to the pull and poor penetration of a large hook. The hook, as it is
bent to the side or backwards, acts like a razor to the fish. As the
tine is thrown from the jaw of a fish the tip of it slices through any
portion of the fish’s body that it touches. The effect of the
exerted forces can slice open a Chinook or Atlantic killing it slowly
and painfully; it does happen, but only with the larger hooks, which
is not the case with smaller ones. "See, I told you I would be a dead
horse, but are you getting it?"
The single best way to ensure that the rod and hook complement each
other is to consider the species of fish. Each species has rod requirements
and the rod has line-test ranges of what to use and the line will tell
you the appropriate size of hook to use. Stay within those set ranges
and you will have a stable template from which to fall back on if you
don’t already know what to do. Just remember that the physical
properties are always the same. The lager the surface area of hooks
are the more power is required to set it, conversely, the smaller it
is the less power is needed. Recall that there are conditions where
large hooks and small rods should be used; however, those conditions
will likely never happen while fishing for salmon, steelhead, and trout
while they’re in fresh waterways.
© Timothy Kusherets, 2004/09
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