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.
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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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
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 !!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.