I fish all the time and I've made a lot of rods for myself...I mean a lot. One thing that keeps haunting some of my builds are the hook keepers. Mistakes I've made. 1: Putting the hook keeper in the split handle area (behind the reel). It seems harmless and a good idea. The initial thinking was that I could put a rod sock on, and it won't get fouled with the lure. But it turns out to be a train wreck...it causes problems with other rods in the rod locker...and I just ended up hating it. (I just needed shorter rod socks.) 2: Just epoxying the hook keeper in situ. (no thread). I came up with this ridiculous idea because I didn't want to cover some of the nice thread work that was there. This idea could actually work (for a while...until it gets bent) It just come off. The real solution here was to use a clear thread (nylon or silk) and this let the thread work shine through. 3. Turn the trigger into a hook keeper. This is done by drilling a hole in the trigger. I did this on my Pitchin' Stick. This does work pretty well, but if you have to use that rod all day (and I do) it gets bothersome. I moved the hook keeper back up and filled the hole with epoxy. 4. Using the guides (or the reel) as a hook keeper. The hooks can chip away at the ceramic on guides and scratch the reels. What works. By far my most used hook keeper is a two footed kind (large). The two feet add much needed stability. I will use an open-end hook keeper on rods where the hook is embedded into plastic like a worm rod. I bend my own open keeper from wire I use in crankbaits. Another key characteristic of the hook keeper is the position...though not real critical. All my spinning rods and baitcasting rods are left hand retrieve. I like to have the hook keeper at about 125 degrees (zero being at the top). I only have to twist my wrist a bit, and the keeper is 100% exposed for hooking. The main takeaway is this: be creative with ideas and don't be afraid say it was a bad idea. "Don't let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn't go with it." ~ Colin Powell

Best hook keeper ever is frame of first or second guide 😁

The Hook Keeper Manifesto

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April 27Apr 27

Super User

I'm hopelessly old school plain old hook keeper 180 degrees from the reel.

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April 27Apr 27

Super User

7 hours ago, Alpster said:
I'm hopelessly old school plain old hook keeper 180 degrees from the reel.

The farther out they are the more likely they are getting tangled, not so much with that one, but open drop shot keepers.

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April 30Apr 30

I didn't realize how strong of opinion I had about this till I read the thread.

Open-style hook keeper on the bottom, a few inches up from the reel. Kigan clip is my favorite, because it holds the lure in place while I take out slack. Second best is the bent wire loop. Doesn't hold the bait with line slack, but otherwise no complaints.

Every other style frustrates me, Fuji add-on most of all. Maybe there's a JDM addon that works well.

Hook on reel? Tried that on a shimano rod. Zillion's all scratched up, probably blunting the hook, doesn't work well with soft plastics.

Keeper on top gets in the way of line on casts.

Closed keeper means I wreck soft plastics taking the hook out or pushing it through.

Split grip placement has all the issues already mentioned.

I find the fuji takes extra steps to get the hook in it especially on soft plastics. It's just... Fiddly. And the sun ends up wrecking the bands over time.

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April 30Apr 30

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8 hours ago, txchaser said:
...
Closed keeper means I wreck soft plastics taking the hook out or pushing it through.
....

I couldn't agree more...

I have some rods (like for flipping) were I have an open hook keeper.

What I've been running into lately is this:

Seems like the majority of the rods I'm using today are similar in set up. Shimano Curado, seven foot-ish rod, medium power - fast action...I start to use them interchangeably. I mean, I originally set out with a specific technique for a rod...then decide I like it for something else better.

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