Maybe read the post directly above yours.

19 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Maybe read the post directly above yours.

Oh, I did. I wouldn't take it personally as that wasn't the intention.

 

That being said, as an engineer who traveled to factories the world over,  the mere fact something is made in another country doesn't always mean quality is affected.

 

In the case of Gamakatsu and your anecdote about the family being heavily involved, I have no doubt that the Thailand factory is operating using Japanese machines, using Japanese production techniques and QC, and turning out Japanese quality hooks.

 

I did find it odd that I purchased some G-lock hooks in 2/0 and 3/0. The 3/0 made in Japan, the 2/0 in Thailand. No rhyme or reason. I would have expected, perhaps, that different lines were made at different factories. Not just different sizes.

21 hours ago, Banned User said:

For a long time I've been using the Walmart Eagle Claw EWG and offset hooks. No complaints really. But I started to really think about sharpness and how much ofban impact it really has. So I wanted to do a fair comparison. 

 

 

I ordered a handful of different brands/types of hooks. And honestly, I wish I had just saved my most. Very few pass the fingernail test.

 

VMC, Gamakatsu, Victory, Mustad, Trokar... 

 

Treble, straight, EWG...

 

It blew my mind how few can scratch my fingernail out of the box. Not gonna lie, I have stayed away from Gamakatsu hooks because of the price, and I'm utterly unimpressed. 

 

By far the sharpest out of the box was thr Trokar, couldn't even drag it across my nail because it would literally just cut into it.

 

Another test for myself has been to let the hook point rest on the edge of my hand and roll it off. If the hook stays, I call it sharp, if it slips off without every trying to hang on at all - not so sharp. Again, relatively speaking these are all so similar in sharpness I will never pay these prices again. 

 

Except for maybe trokar going forward 

 

Well with 125 dullish hooks - Is one filer/sharpener truly better than another? How So?

 

So far sharpening to create a cutting point like Trokar with a cheap Amazon grooved hook sharpener has made hooks sharper, but people say that rips holes in bass mouths and loses fish. 

 

Any hooks you've been disappointed by?

 

Any hooks you've found to be noticeably sharper than others?

 

what do you consider sharp?

 

Tips on sharpening?

Years ago I quit using Bass Pro products because of poor hooks.

Tonight, for the first time in recent memory I lost a fish due to a less than perfect hook sharpness.  it was a spinnerbait (from the mid 90’s actually) that I’ve caught a bunch of fish on lately and hadn’t checked the sharpness.  I made a long cast and the fish hit it as soon as it hit the water before I could even click the reel over.  I had him most of the way back to the boat and it shook free.  

I despise Trokar and any "cutting point" hook. It does exactly what it's designed to do...cut. It cuts a nice hole in the fishes mouth that's much bigger than the hole a typical hook leaves and makes it incredibly easy for them to spit the hook if they head shake. It's like comparing a broadhead to a field point. I also find the points on those easy to roll. 

 

As far as sharpness of other hooks, the slip coated hooks like Ryugi Pierce trebles and Gamakatsu Nano Finesse Trebles I have found to be some of the best. I use both of those for jerkbaits. For other hooks I like Owner and Gamakstu for most things. 

I fish ultralight.  My favorite hooks are the Gamakatsu thin wire offset shank worm EWG (size 4).  I'm no longer able to strongly do a hook set, so I appreciate very sharp thin wire hooks.  

Ryugi hooks are crazy sharp. Stuck myself really good on a couple of these RPZ punch rigs.

 Gamakatsu with the exception of Trokar for jigs.

4 hours ago, PGA Dropout said:

Ryugi hooks are crazy sharp. Stuck myself really good on a couple of these RPZ punch rigs.

Yep! What a great little Jika rig. Those fine wire EWG are ridiculously sharp! 

The “bronze “ hooks we used back in 70-80’s are not close to hooks available now. You had to sharpen hooks and do it correctly.  Hooks today are impressive.  I’m more concerned with design than running a hook point on my finger nail.  👆

On 8/10/2025 at 10:29 AM, A-Jay said:

deep a dive into hook design

Have you posted your deep dive? I'd love to read what you have to say about the finer details 

 

Copped a pack of these on sale for 7 bucks, one of the sharpest out of the pack hooks I've ever touched. No idea who's the OEM, but these are on point

 

On 8/10/2025 at 11:59 AM, Pat Brown said:

different hooks are optimized for different applications

What's your optimization strategy? 

13 minutes ago, Banned User said:

Have you posted your deep dive? I'd love to read what you have to say about the finer details.

I did this one a few years back.

However, the premise here revolves around treble hook replacement & selection.

This is it. 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/241684-treble-hook-replacement-~-one-man’s-theory-application/

A-Jay

On 8/10/2025 at 10:42 AM, BayouSlide said:

test for hook sharpeness isn't whether it will scratch/slide along my nail, but dig into it... premium brands...

So which ones do this, like I said, all the premium brands have been about equal enough in their unimpressive sharpness. 

On 8/10/2025 at 11:26 AM, scaleface said:

go to a medium wire hook.

Anything specific? 

16 minutes ago, Banned User said:

Have you posted your deep dive? I'd love to read what you have to say about the finer details 

 

Copped a pack of these on sale for 7 bucks, one of the sharpest out of the pack hooks I've ever touched. No idea who's the OEM, but these are on point

 

What's your optimization strategy? 

 

I try to think about what the hook is gonna be doing and what plastic it’s gonna be occupying and what I want the bait to be doing in the water etc etc

 

It really distills down to you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.

 

I try to use thinner smaller lighter wire lower profile hooks for more open water applications where freedom of movement in the soft plastic is critical and cover is minimal and I want maximum hook penetration etc etc

 

i tend to beef things up a good bit and de emphasize action and subtlety when my bait is going into heavy cover where I merely want to pull a large fish rapidly out of something treacherous.

 

sometimes I will upsize hooks on weightless plastics to make them fall faster.

 

I will downsize hooks to give my soft plastics more freedom and glide on the fall.

 

sharpness is paramount for any hook and in any application and here’s the real kicker -

 

I don’t care how much money you spend on your hooks or how nice they are out of the package - you cast it a couple times and retrieve it a couple times and before you know it, it needs new hooks or a little touch up.  It can get very expensive very quickly if you replace your hooks every time they need to be replaced instead of touching up the tips with a sharpener.  It can be very heartbreaking if you leave dull hooks on your bait.

 

I maintain that a hook sharpener is a good investment for anyone who fishes a lot.

 

I still believe wholeheartedly that using the right hook for the right job can mean the difference between getting all the bites while your buddy skunks using the same bait and the same weight - merely because his heavy wire EWG has killed the action of the plastic and my light wire offset worm hook is letting my plastic dance seductively.

On 8/10/2025 at 10:57 AM, Smirak said:

sharpening a hook

What's your strategy?

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

hook sharpener is a good investment for anyone who fishes a lot

Which do you use and how do you use yours? 

 

6 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

right hook for the right job

Never thought it could make that much of a difference, I'll pay more attention and see what happens

12 minutes ago, Banned User said:

So which ones do this, like I said, all the premium brands have been about equal enough in their unimpressive sharpness. 

Anything specific? 

I use VMC's a lot.  I know a lot of folks will scoff at it but the offset Ozark Trail worm hooks have been good . If I break one or straighten one I might change my mind but so far so good. I flip and pitch cover with them.

10 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Ozark Trail worm hooks have been good

If my walmart ever carries these I'll give them a try

 

@ALL, OR AT LEAST ANYBODY WHO'S A HOOK SNOB OR HAS PUT MUCH THOUGHT INTO HOOK DESIGN AND APPLICATION 

 

What Are Your Thoughts On Hooks With The "VLOCK/Pro V" design?

 

The math looks right to me, but curious your experience. Maybe this should be a separate thread, I'm see if people catch it and respond. 

24 minutes ago, Banned User said:

What's your strategy?

Which do you use and how do you use yours? 

 

Never thought it could make that much of a difference, I'll pay more attention and see what happens

 

Have you ever replaced all the hooks on your favorite jerk bait only to find that it no longer darts and suspends the way it once did?  
 

Crankbait won’t run correctly anymore?

 

Same principle.

 

Its just something where you can intentionally or unintentionally destroy the action of your bait before you make a cast with soft plastics.

 

This is also more or less a nuanced micro view of the rate of fall thing.  Just further extrapolation of why rate of fall matters and how hooks are part of that equation.

 

 

11 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

Have you ever replaced all the hooks on your favorite jerk bait only to find that it no longer darts and suspends the way it once did?  
 

Crankbait won’t run correctly anymore?

 

Same principle.

 

Its just something where you can intentionally or unintentionally destroy the action of your bait before you make a cast with soft plastics.

 

This is also more or less a nuanced micro view of the rate of fall thing.  Just further extrapolation of why rate of fall matters and how hooks are part of that equation.

 

 

Excellent advise that most don’t think about. 
I rarely throw a crank as I’d much rather use a trap in most all circumstances. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

1 hour ago, Banned User said:

So which ones do this, like I said, all the premium brands have been about equal enough in their unimpressive sharpness. 

Anything specific? 

 

I find Owner, Gamakatsu, Trokar all pass my fingernail test (dig into the nail)...maybe I have soft fingernails, but they're at least as hard as the mouth of your average bass. 😉

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

don’t care how much money you spend on your hooks or how nice they are out of the package - you cast it a couple times and retrieve it a couple times and before you know it, it needs new hooks or a little touch up.

This. Ordered some Nomad D-Trac 80 deep diving crank baits for Kentucky lake, the hooks are BKK and they are maybe the sharpest, stickiest hooks I’ve ever seen. They’re designed after triple-grip hooks. Whether or not they maintain sharpness or strength has yet to be determined but I’m gonna try them before I change them out. The brand is doing good on some swimjigs I’ve got.. Strength of hook is important, I’ve been using Lucky Craft square bills and deep divers and I’ve had a few hook failures. They have straightened out a couple times on 5 pounders. Investing in better quality hooks and split rings just adds more expense to an already expensive bait. 
 

It sucks anytime we lose a modified Japanese bait. 
 

BKK = Chinese company 

OP - by “knock off the backside” and I’m referring to removing the burr if you’re thinking about knife sharpening (for example). On a hook, I just flip it over and run it on the file once or twice.

 

Very rudimentary pic, but hopefully it explains what I’m trying to say…

6 minutes ago, F14A-B said:

Whether or not they maintain sharpness or strength has yet to be determined but I’m gonna try them before I change them out.

They do. I’ve been fishing them for a year or so now and they are as sharp as when I bought them. BKK is a Chinese company. Their hooks are designed in Japan. A quick google search shows they’ve been in business since 1856. They probably know what they’re doing by now…

On 8/11/2025 at 9:09 AM, MassYak85 said:

I despise Trokar and any "cutting point" hook. It does exactly what it's designed to do...cut. It cuts a nice hole in the fishes mouth that's much bigger than the hole a typical hook leaves and makes it incredibly easy for them to spit the hook if they head shake. It's like comparing a broadhead to a field point. I also find the points on those easy to roll. 

 

As far as sharpness of other hooks, the slip coated hooks like Ryugi Pierce trebles and Gamakatsu Nano Finesse Trebles I have found to be some of the best. I use both of those for jerkbaits. For other hooks I like Owner and Gamakstu for most things. 

x2

43 minutes ago, Smirak said:

).

So you only sharpen the top and bottom of a hook? 

There are a lot of good quality hooks now a days.  I've used Gamakatsu, Owner, Berkley,  Trokar, Zapu, Fina, BKK and Ryugi. They all are good in their own way. I have struggled to like Mustad overall but I do like their flipping hooks.

 

The one that gets me is the Gold Eagle Claws that my fishing buddy uses . They bend, rust and just flat loose fish. I finally got tired of seeing him struggle so I bought him a box of the BPS version and so far so good. 

 

On a side note, I'm sort of picky about my hooks these days but as a kid I could care less. I think I had a silver and black Rapala Floating Minnow tied to a rod for most of my childhood. The hooks were rusted red and were as dull as a butter knife but that lure could catch fish anytime and anywhere dispite the god awful hooks.