Whats the sharpest hooks out the packet?

Specifically stiff rig hooks

In reply to Post #2
I'll check them out cheers

In reply to Post #1
Without doubt Specialist Sharpened Hooks. By a mile 👍

In reply to Post #4
Brilliant hooks

In reply to Post #1
ESP stiff riggers, tune them yourself

Another good one, Atomic choddas, thicker gauge though

I precision £5:50 for 10 hooks you can't go wrong.

In reply to Post #1
Another for J Precision

Ordered some J precision hooks. Cheers for the recommendations

In reply to Post #9
more than the korda kamaura's?

I like them but not 100% sold on them yet, go blunt very quick and no I don't mean just after a fish either lol!

In reply to Post #10
I found the kamakura hooks to stay sharp and can be used for more than 1 session if you don't have a fish on them, I just remove the surface rust from the point with a fine file and they are back to been as sharp as out the packet

In reply to Post #10
Hooks don't just go blunt goochy. The hook's likely either getting dinged on gravel or the very tip of the point is corroding away due to low ph water. A very light coating of wax and a lick of a lighter will prevent this

I have been sharpening hooks for years and got sick of it so now I use the sharpened off-the-shelf jobbies. I have spent a hell of a lot of time looking at all of the various options under X 20 magnification so know for a fact which are the sharpest. I'm completely anal about them and even with the hand sharpened hooks on offer I normally end up touching them up myself.

As said previously, the sharpest by a country mile are Specialist Sharpened Hooks. For the most part they're as good as you can do yourself. I can't recall having to touch up any, they are that good. He does his own patterns as well as those of other manufacturers. Best by a mile. But pricey.

Next is the Kamakuras. These are sharpened by a machine, not by hand. They are only sharpened on one plane so (imo) they require touch up from the sides to get them really, really sharp. But they are sharpened so well and consistently on the top plain by the machine that they still come 2nd even without touch up. They are fragile though; because of the sharpening method you end up with kind of a super sharp spade effect on the points which can go over easily.

Next is J Precision. These are very, very nearly on par with the Kamakuras but they're not as consistent. Some are great but you'll always find a couple in the pack that are poor, particularly in the larger sizes. For the most part these are sharpened to a nice sweet spot - not super, super sharp like the SSH's/Kamakuras so they tend to be more resistant to damage. Personally I tend to touch these up.

Then you have IB Hooks. I bought a pack of each pattern and was disappointed with these. I never cast one out. Some were over-sharpened, some had the points gone over, really, really inconsistent. Imo..... avoid.

Finally you have the 'normal' i.e. not sharpened options which for me are all positively blunt.

In reply to Post #12
The thing with hooks is the packaging. Kamakuras packaging is by far the best and saves the hooks in transit.

Kamakuras can last if looked after as mentioned.

Avid Crvs take some Beating for staying sharp. Managed 5 fish to 34lb on one hook in a session.

In reply to Post #13
I agree with your packaging comment mate and I think that is a problem with the JP and the IB Hooks. Kamakura packing is great and the SSH's come with a protective tip on each hook.

In reply to Post #12
agree they are not going blunt on their own lol but a few times getting stuck in some heavy weed and I think they are being effected. Def cannot use them after having a fish thats for sure


On the rust and touching them up - does the rust not effect the strength of the hookpoint? it has worried me but wasnt too sure?

In reply to Post #15
No properly sharpened hook can be used for more than one fish imo, certainly not without being touched up.

The rust is only surface rust, it doesn't affect strength but it can take the very point off as it literally corrodes away. Defo worth protecting them buddy.

In reply to Post #15
I cant see how It's only slight surface rust my cheap chinese smooth file from eBay takes it of with a couple of passes. the hook still feels sharp it's just a little rough on the sharpened bit last 2mm or so I think a hook will take hold easier if its smooth but then again I don't think about that when I hook 1 and the hooks been the water for 24 hours+ so will be rusty

Just taken delivery of a couple of packets of the J precision hooks as reccomended.

Look decent on first inspection.

Will have to get on the bank and give them a go.

In reply to Post #17
I cant see how It's only slight surface rust

Rust is formed as a reaction of steel (or the iron in the steel more specifically) and oxygen in the presence of water/moisture. Hence it can only attack the surface in the short term

In reply to Post #12
going to disagree. I cast out the fox edges hooks when they first came out, I miscast and hit the water to the right of my spot, I reeled in before the hook had a chance to reach the weed. It had turned over on impact with the water. I found this happened multiple times. Never used fox hooks again. Not only me that had this happen either as a couple of mates had the same thing occur.

In reply to Post #20
Never heard of water impact turning hooks. Must be really soft hooks

For unbeatable sharpness a hand sharpened hook is always going to come out on top, whether you do this yourself or purchase them ready sharpened from somewhere like J-Precision or SS Hooks is up to you. That said I do think there is a time and a place for untouched hooks straight out of the packet. Circumstances for this would be when fishing over gravel, large presence of nuisance fish / cray fish etc. This particularly applies to using bottom baits where the hook is permanently in contact with the bottom and any movement of the rig has the potential to damage the point of the hook. At the end of the day i'd rather have a slightly less sharp "out the packet" hook out there than a a mega sharp, super fine sharpened hook that's had the point turned over.

Because of this when I buy my hooks I check all of them out the packet and sort them into ones that I consider sharp enough to use straight out the pack (normally ends up being about 3/10 and this pretty much applies to all manufacturers) and put these aside in a hook storage case. The others I will hand sharpen and use for pop up rigs or sometimes bottom bait rigs where the lake bed/ nuisance fish are less of an issue.

I should point out that I generally use straight pointed hooks for most of my fishing so again these are more prone to point damage.

In reply to Post #20
Water turning hook point over, was said water frozen at the time?

In reply to Post #23
not at all. I knew it was going a bit skewiff so did slow it down and it landed with a bit of a crash but i can honestly say this happened on 3 occasions to me. The hooks were incredibly sharp and incredibly soft. I think the impact did blunt them yes as I do not see what else could of, either the water or air resistance on the cast.

I did use them and did catch fish and each resulted in a turned hook point. I saw them as a hook per cast if fishing over gravel. if you landed a fish or not you had to bin the hook. shame as the armo hooks were incredibly tough.

In reply to Post #20
I cast out the fox edges hooks when they first came out, I miscast and hit the water to the right of my spot, I reeled in before the hook had a chance to reach the weed. It had turned over on impact with the water.

Or had contacted the lead / arrangement?

I've had this a few times. If you check your points religiously you pick up on things, regular

In reply to Post #25
maybe, but what are the chances 3 times in a 24hr session when its never happened before? With coated braid, and watching it during the flight.

Anyway believe it or not IDC, I know what happened. Extremely sharp hooks out the pack, very soft metal, one cast per hook and no confidence its even fishing properly. no good IMO

In reply to Post #26
Can't you protect the hook points during flight with Foam or a Bag ?

But I'd say it's hitting the lead more than the water doing the damage or far more people would see this regular.

I was casting kamakuras 100 yards into a tree line and didn't have one turn over or blunt.

In reply to Post #27
I did use foam but again miscasts came back with blunted hooks. You can't fish with the most important bit of tackle potentially not fit for purpose can you.

Think of reasons why if you want but I know what was happening to me over a couple of sessions. Not like I didn't give them a chance. Fox edges. Steer clear.

In reply to Post #28
Have to disagree about the fox hooks mate, never had them randomly blunt on water, and now you're saying could be air?????? yes they are sharp straight out the packet, pretty obvious that the thinner the point the easier it will blunt. You are correct rho that they are a one fish hook, but aren't all sharpened ones anyway😜

In reply to Post #29
the air comment was tongue in cheek. I know air wouldn't do it. I had the very first run of them when they came out. Myself and plenty of friends tried and had awful results. This is a sharpest hooks thread which has been hijacked now.

My point was avoid the Fox edges as IMO they are rubbish and you will not be happy or confident they are fishing for you. I've used numerous very sharp hooks and sharpen hooks myself. Most can be re-sharpened if salavagable after a fish. Fox were not. Money is better spent elsewhere. Atomic, Gardner, JP all are sharp and can be honed and do not suffer the same issues as I have had with Fox edges hooks.

Maybe it's my opinion of turning over that is causing confusion but to me if a hook has turned and blunted it's not as sharp as it was when I cast it out and therefore not as effective as it should be. Either visible or by touch.

In reply to Post #28
So your saying even with foam on the hook the points came back blunted and didn't touch the bottom or anything else? 🤣🤣

Sharpest hooks out of the packet I have found have been Gardner Mugga's and Solar 101's, and I trust them 100%. I was quite happy with ESP hooks, and although I have not used them, the Cryogens are supposedly even better.
Bear in mind I do fish rocky and crayfish infested waters, so I want sharp hooks out of the pack, and I don't waste time touching them up.

Personally I found Korda hooks were not as sharp as other makes, and I was able to pick one up on my fingertip with a 3oz lead attached, and lift it off the work surface.
The Kamakura was an attempt to cure this bluntness.

I have found that hooks can blunt after time in the water.
Leave them out overnight and in the morning you can see the point has been blunted, by the water or lakebed itself.

After problems with Fox hooks springing, opening out under (fish) pressure, then spring back into shape, I will not use them myself, as much as others have rated them.

In reply to Post #28
No chance , would a protected hook by foam blunt on impact of water. Must be catching the lead or hitting gravel or something. Think of all the people who fish and no once have I ever heard of that.

In reply to Post #31
On one instance yes a hook did. I do not attach foam the conventional way. Two small bits in a pva mesh bag to ensure it doesn't stick to the hook

I couldn't care less if anyone believes it or not. I know what happened and I don't trust Fox hooks since for this reason and others. Put simply they are crap. Not quite sure why everyone is trying to offer alternative options as to what happened in my personal experience?

Water blunting the hook that's ace 😂 just cast without one mate try that next time

In reply to Post #35
If you use fox hooks you might as well do just that

Seems like it's what your best of doing

In reply to Post #37
The draw back of pin point razor sharp hooks is that they are far more susceptible to damage, I think it all depends on the type of fishing you are doing. If you are pasty bashing at a runs water then a standard out the pack hook would be spot on as 1 hook may get you through a few fish before a change is required. However if you are fishing a hard as nails lake with little stock and big reward then a super sharp hook is the one, just have to make sure its protected with foam on the cast and if fishing gravel opt for a pop up.

Time and a place for razor sharp finely honed hooks.

In reply to Post #37
I use the Carptackleonline.com Scorpion range of hooks, my favourites being the curves on a personal level, they are very sharp straight from the packet and hand checked prior to departure , the whole range is only £2.50 posted too which is great value for money. Been using them for around 16 months now, also use the wide gapes.

Used to use the Nash and Gardener hooks but cannot see me going back to be honest.

In reply to Post #39
Nice plug

Only joking. Never seen them so worth a look

In reply to Post #40
Wouldn't use them if they were no good Tranter lol , trust me they are sharp !!

Still think the carp r us hooks are making the best hooks around. Drennan super Specialist Gardner Mugger Atomic ACE are/where good.

Keeping the thread on topic (sharpest out the pack), I'm sure all those mentioned (Atomic, Gardner, Solar, ESP, Scorpion, Carp R Us, Drennan, ACE) are all good hooks (I know for a fact that some of them are very good hooks indeed). But none of them are even close to being sharpest available out of the pack. Not by a million miles.

Imo the Atomics, Carp R US and Gardner rate as some of the best out there, but 'best' doesn't necessarily mean sharpest. Best is a combo of pattern, strength, durability, sharpness etc etc.

The question here is what is the sharpest out the pack, and anyone with real experience of hook sharpening (or more specifically inspection of sharpened hooks) will tell you that none of the above are remotely close to that.

@Winnedago - I completely agree with you that there is a place for un-sharpened hooks mate. That is where the 'best' hooks come in handy

In reply to Post #43
I've looked at and tested a lot of hooks from a lot of different brands. I'm a nightmare for buying new pieces of tackle just to have a play with them only to never use them (probably comes from my product development background).

In my opinion, of the hooks I've seen which probably includes all of the "big" brands the Fox edges, Nash pinpoint, and Angling Iron hooks are the sharpest untouched hooks straight out pack. By this I mean the usual 30% (as mentioned in my post above) that I consider good to use and aren't slightly burred, dulled etc. The common theme with these brands is they all use relatively long, fine points on their range of hooks in comparison to others. These points generally get a branding assigned to them Arma-point, Duropoint etc and I the hooks all tend to have a very similar finish (light grey PTFE coating) and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they all came out of the same factory but either way this design does produce the sharpest hooks straight from the packet which makes sense. The finer the hook point the sharper it should be, which is in essence what we are trying to achieve by hand sharpening.

That said, despite them being the sharpest I'm not a massive fan of the patterns that these brands offer and the wire gauge that they use. I've been a long term user of the Atomic hooks, the Chodda covers nearly all of my fishing and I really like the pattern, thick wire gauge and the inherent strength that this brings.
Recently I've been using the Thinking Anglers SE and CS hooks and again these use a proper bit of wire.

At the end of the day I'd rather compromise on the sharpness and use something that I know won't let me down once the fish is hooked and generally I find that the good ones sharp enough to use straight out the pack when required.

All my opinion of course.

In reply to Post #44
One thing to dare in mind though, I found the fox hooks to be the worst for blunting very very easily.
Nash, angling iron and hybrid tackle are very good.

If it's straight out the packet and no sharpening direct from a tackle manufacturer then it has to be a Nash Fang or Twister for me although the way they are packeaged which has previously been mentioned inspect each one, if not then a Hayward hand sharpened is the best of the hand sharpened hooks by a long shot.

What price on a good hook? as it's the most important part of fishing a few quid extra for a professionally sharpened hook doesn't need questioning, i'm sure there are proficient anglers who can hone hand sharpen their own, me I balls it up.

In reply to Post #46
Jason Hayward's range of hooks are mega sharp

i used to use the fox edges ones but lost too many fish so moved over to the IB hooks and ive seen a mass improvement in my catches. For the price of them i carnt fault them at all.

In reply to Post #48
The esp trig hammers are very sharp out the packet.

Aren't the majority of all modern designed hooks made in recent years very sharp straight out of the packet, sharp enough for most peoples requirements?

In reply to Post #50
Since looking at them up close (way too close in fact, the full size images for the sharpened hooks thread would be fine on a billboard) I haven't cast a hook out without a tickle, and that includes size 20s trotting for dace. You do get the odd one with turned points, or points snapped off, but the main culprit for blunt hooks seems to be blobs of the coating.

Three seconds with a jag stone can make a huge difference imo.

Whether it actually helps is a question I can only guess at but like many things if it gives you more confidence it's a good thing

In reply to Post #51
Fair comment

In reply to Post #51
Jeez Dave, sharpening a 20 must be fun

In reply to Post #53
What, you mean you dont

I really couldn't call it sharpening, I can't even see the points with a loupe, it started as a habitual few strokes by feel with a point doctor after bursting maggots regularly with new hooklengths (the first sign of a blunt hook, usually followed by bumping a bite) but I made a little widget with some sharpening film so I can hone the plane within the gape if that makes sense. I really struggle to tie the gossamer lines now so it's easier for me to keep a sharp point than changing hook lengths after a couple of casts