relative nb to fishing. i have a couple packs of eagle claw hooks, 50 quantity each. almost all the rotating panfish hooks, size 6, have eyes that have gaps that can let line thru. it seems easy to close them, with pliers. the other pack, baitholder hooks, size 4, almost all the eyes are fully closed. 

i think it's ok to use these hooks, as they're small and the eye is easily closed. but i'm assuming other brands of hooks won't have this problem?? uh, is eagle claw a low quality hook?

happy fishing

I've seen that on Eagle Claw EWG hooks. One thing you don't want to do is use a loop knot - it can fall through that gap. I've lost nice fish like that. If you use a knot like a San Diego Jam, that gap is not a big concern.

 

I close the gap with pliers, even though many people will tell you it weakens the metal. I'm sure it does, but I don't think it weakens it enough to be a concern.

 

There are other brands that don't have that issue, and some hooks are designed specifically to avoid that like VMC's with the Resin Closed Eye.

I’ve seen that more on Mustad than EC lately.

Eagle Claw has become the low end in hooks. They use to be the what everybody used and we all caught fish on them but as years have gone by, hooks have improved greatly and there are much better options out there. 

3 hours ago, FishTank said:

Eagle Claw has become the low end in hooks. They use to be the what everybody used and we all caught fish on them but as years have gone by, hooks have improved greatly and there are much better options out there. 

For me Mustad has become the low end since they outsource to China now.  Eagle Claw has made some major improvements in the last few years.

I use 3/0 Eagle Claw Aberdeen hooks for the crayfish patterns I tie up for fly fishing for bass.  I haven't noticed any open eyes on this style of hook.  I like them because they're sharp right out of the bag/box.  You're not going to weaken the hook by closing a small gap in the hook eye.  I don't go near Mustad hooks when I tie flies.  

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

For me Mustad has become the low end since they outsource to China now.  Eagle Claw has made some major improvements in the last few years.

Ya Mustad has kind of gone down hill. There are a few from them I still use but far as Eagle Claw goes, I do like the Trokar hooks.  The plain gold ones though, horrible. My fishing buddy uses them and they rust, they break and bend and in general are not sharp. He will not change regardless of how many fish he looses. 

Yep trokar are the only eagle claws I’d use. 

k.... eagle claw are pretty low in terms of quality, sounds like. i can close the eyes on the one pack of 50, which has probably 40 or more w open eyes. it's fine for pan fishing...  

 

I noticed this years ago with braid because it's thinner. I use superline hooks almost exclusively now. I'll still use a light wire hook for finesse stuff, but they're always Gamakatsu or another premium brand.

I recently bought some 4/10 eagle claw hooks and after losing a few hooks, I realized that the hooks weren’t fully closed.  The whole pack was that way!  So disappointed and the store I purchased them from would not give me a refund due to not having a receipt. I will no longer be purchasing Eagle Claw products after being a loyal fishing customer for over 35 years.