I like to throw a lot of beavers, creatures, bullet craws, etc... and have gone back and forth with hooks over the years. I was wondering what you guys prefer? If flippin thick weeds I'm always using a straight shank, but when throwing it towards a weed edge or dragging it thru weeds I'm torn as to which hook to throw. I usually modify my EWG's just a bit by opening up the gap just a hair so the hook point doesn't point right at the line tie like they do out of the package.
My flippin hooks are Strike King and my EWG's are Gamagatsu.
For the thinner grass I still like EWGs. I poke the hook all the way out then bring it back in and barely skin hook it. When a fish grabs it I dont have to hammer him to hook him and youll still be hooking up on soft bites. Just my two cents.
I've been using mostly round bend hooks for quite a few years now for anything on the bottom / vertical, particularly weeds. If I'm fishing more horizontal I still sometimes use wide gaps / R-bends / J-bends.
Quite a few of the pros have gone back to round bend hooks for flipping and pitching, and much of their creature and soft plastics. They usually say the get a better hook penetration path. A number of them are using snell knots too because they say it flips the hook point into the bass' jaw. I need to try that some but you need hooks with a closed eye to minimize line issues.
The Strike King flippin hooks have a closed hook tie loop. I'm not very good at tying the snell knot, especially when the hook has that plastic bait keeper on it.
I know most of the local "sticks" around here (Ben Nielson, Don Watts, and many others...) use straight shank hooks with the snell knot. I should probably learn to tie it better eh?
i like the mustad denny brauer grip-pin flipping hooks. solid bait keeper. I also use a simple snell, its very easy to tie. I bought a bag of 50 5/0 RI BMF hooks that i get into most of the time though. I prefer the bait keeper on the mustads but the BMFs are wider gap and a better all around hook.
the only time i use an ewg anymore is for flukes.
Mustad Denny Brauer hooks with a snell for me too!
How light a line will you anglers still tie snell knots?
I guess I don't understand the benefit of a snell knot. Are we talking the same snell knot that you use to make crawler harnesses?
I tie a simplified version. If you look on YouTube there are several variations. Without a knot on the eyelet, the hook kicks out to the side when its pulled tight to the weight. Seems to hook up better.
For line weigh I'll go down to 12# floro
Snelling hooks is really fast. Learned how while working at Cabelas. You can tie up a crawler harness in just seconds. Interesting that the hook has that kick out when set. May have to give that a try.
I always use a straight shank flipping hook if im pitching a beaver or something like that around. Ill use a regular san diego jam if i am using flouro though. Anytime on braid I will snell. Had some issues snelling with flouro.
Are the issues with hooks that don't have a solid eye? I was wondering about that with heavy rod situations where the Fluorocarbon might get cut against the opening in the hook eye.
I have forgotten to ask some of the pros that. They are often talking about braid for this but some have specifically mentioned to make sure you use a hook with a solid eye. I'm thinking the ones who don't pretty much always use braid but I will try to remember to check on that next time I run into any of them. I'm sure some of the anglers on here can comment on that some more too.