i have some gammy ewg offset hooks. i know what the ewg is (extra wide gap) but its the offset that puzzles me. for a while i thought that offset was when the hook point/bend wasnt lined up with the shank/eye. but on these gammys, everything is in line. the only thing i could think of as being offset is the little kink near the eye that holds your worm on (whats that thing caled anyway?)

so, is the "offset" when the point isnt in line with the rest of it, or is offset when it has that kink behind the eye to hold on the worm?

If a hook is offset, that means that the hook's eye is not in the same line as the shaft.

If you look at these two pictures, you can see that the hook eye and shaft are separated by that two nearly 90 degree bends. This is why they are called offset because the eye and shank are not aligned.  A hook that in not offset will have the eye and the same in alignment.

Click on the link below to see a hook that is not offset.

http://www.gamakatsu.com/catalog/worm_straight.htm

What he said.  

ok thats what i was thinkin. now what are the hooks called where the entire bend is tilted to the side and not inline with the rest of the hook?

Tru turn.

These were extremely popular for a brief time back about 1980.  The fact is that the cam action did improve hooksets on plastic worms.

The claim to fame was that these hooks were used in military survival kits.

The bad news is that they cause the worm to tumble on retrive.  This results in nasty line twist problems for spinning gear.

Modern offset hooks with their CAD design and chemically sharpened points have pretty much outdated this hook.

That being said, they have a loyal and die hard following of true (turn) believers.

I think he is talking about the Aberdeen or O'Shaugnesy (sp?) hooks that are straight shanked but the point is offset slightly to the side from the bottom of the hook. These hooks are for live bait not artificials.

Found this on Woo Daves' site.

Thought you may enjoy the "offset" mention.

"When fishing a Zoom trick worm or a lizard I will use offset Mustad model 30121BLN black nickel hook. You have no sinker in front of the hook and you need the offset to keep your worm on the hook. When fishing smaller lizards, I will use a 1/0 and just work up in size with lure size. Very rarely do I ever go over a 3/0 when Carolina rigging. When fishing the trick worm, 90% of the time I will use a 2/0, depending upon the speed I am fishing the worm. In other words the heavier or bigger hook you use the faster you can fish the worm."

Hope it helps explain what "offset" does for your bait.

I think he is talking about the Aberdeen or O'Shaugnesy (sp?) hooks that are straight shanked but the point is offset slightly to the side from the bottom of the hook. These hooks are for live bait not artificials.

that is exactly what i was talking about. the point isnt in line w/ the rest of the hook. those are for live baits? i had a pack that had the offset thing at the eye to hold on a plastic worm. i didnt like those hooks too much...