I was fishing the Beaufort River yesterday out of Port Royal and hooked a big redfish. Took about 15 minutes to get it to the boat. I saw it a couple of times and would guesstimate that it was a good bit over 30 inches. Then it suddenly swam away. My dang Gamakatsu hook broke. This is the second time that’s happened to me. Last fall I had one break while fighting a huge stingray. I was glad at the time and didn’t think anything of it. This time it really sucked. The hooks both came from the same bag that I’ve had for a while but neither were rusty or worn looking.
I’ve had a couple of the “premium” brand hooks break occasionally, but mostly on jigs. IMO, the temper/hardness is too high on some, and as has been said they don’t flex much. That may be a quality control issue or simply a manufacturing process issue. It’s been very few times it’s happened, so I’m not too concerned about it.
I used the old Mustad & Eagle Claw hooks for many years & don’t ever recall breaking any of them while fishing. They had too much “give” to them sometimes and would bend, but seldom broke.
I had a bunch of EC tin plated jig hooks break one time while pouring jigs. It was a bad batch & EC replaced them.
Only premium hook brand I can’t recall ever breaking one has been Owner. Have never broken a Partridge either, but they’re fly hooks.
I guess with the volume of hooks produced, and if you fish enough, it’s bound to happen eventually.
I was curious about the heavy duty gamakatsu’s so I looked them up. One review says that even the heavy duty ones break now. It also states that they didn’t in the past.
I’ve broken a few over the years on the reef sheepsheads, but they generally do as well as the owners of the same size for me. Great hooks, but yes, they will break under extreme abuse.
I’ve been using VMC 3x tournament cicles. They start at 2/0. Very strong hook, battled 40+" Bulls and car hood sized Rays in the surf with zero problems. I love those Gami hooks, I use the 2/0 & 3/0 when targeting Specks. But I to have left a few of them in Bull Reds jaws. Just courious though, what size line you using with a 1/0 wire hook?
I would not only go bigger but change brands. I broke several of the 8/0 and will never use again. They used to be good, but when they started making the red colored hooks something changed.
Anyone else ever use a hook from Stout Tackle in CA? I bought several packs last year, with the idea of tying flies on them. Exchanged some emails with the owner of the company & he also sent me some circle hooks. I haven’t hooked anything of any size that would really test them, but so far they seem to be a good hook. They’ve got some styles similar to the other brands, and they’re strong & sharp. But, as I’ve said, have not really got a good test yet.
The guy told me he’s having them made in Korea, and of course many brands are now being made there too. I have no problem with where they’re made, as long as they do what I need.
So, anyone else try them?
BTW, I have used Matzuo hooks, which are made in Korea. Some are OK, others not so much. One issue I’ve found is there’s a burr at the hook eye on some from the manufacturing process that will cut your line. Now, anytime I check out a hook made in Korea, that’s the first thing I check. The hooks from Stout did not have that problem.
Never had a problem with breakage but have had some eyes open up after netting fish! Fish just fall on deck and the knot is still on the line, anyone else had that problem!
Boatpoor, have not had that issue, but have found many hooks over the years that were poorly closed in the eye right out of the package. The older styles were worse than the newer premium brand hooks of today, but I’ve seen it with them as well. I’ve closed the eyes on those older styles with pliers, but the temper on the premium hooks usually causes them to break rather than close. If the eye is not closed completely out of the package & your line gets in there, I could see it coming out while fighting a fish, but not opening up much otherwise unless there’s a problem with the hook or it’s possibly way too small for the size fish & tackle being used.
If this happened to me, I would mail the broken hook back to the maker explaining that this is a sample for them to try to determine what kind of quality issue they are experiencing since you have had several break offs.
You never know, they might hook you up with some free hooks for your trouble. (pun intended)
We use 6/0 Octopus circles bottom fishing and have great hook-up success with everything from 6+ foot long sharks down to trigger fish. Broke as many as 3 in one day. HPT Graham was with us that day, 3rd to break was when a 45# cobia was gaffed. Got tons of them so I will continue to use them and consider those fish lost as their win.
We run braid, 15# of drag @ strike and will not up the drag or thumb the line on the rod handle until we see what’s on the hook. Brown or red gets a longer fight, gray & AJ’s get increased drag to bring things to a conclusion so we can continue fishing for food.
Venice fishing (chunking and live bait) I have had no problems ever with VMC wide gap circles.
Don’t get out with any top tier anglers so not sure if we’re doing it right. Freezer has a good showing though.
They are known to be a sharp hook, not strong, to make them that sharp I believe it breaks the metal down where shank starts to bend. Owner is far superior IMHO.
