{"id":369,"date":"2015-04-11T03:00:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-11T02:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/?p=369"},"modified":"2017-02-02T10:50:50","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T09:50:50","slug":"small-hooks-%e2%80%93-big-hooks-what-do-you-reckon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/small-hooks-%e2%80%93-big-hooks-what-do-you-reckon\/","title":{"rendered":"Small or big carp hooks&#8230; which are more effective?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nSince running a fishery and being involved with Angling Lines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/index.php\">Carp Fishing Holidays<\/a>, I see a large number of UK carpers during any given year. One aspect of current UK fishing seems to be the use of small hooks. Now by small I mean N\u00b0 8\u2019s and below. Now I\u2019ve always been a fan of big hooks, based on the premise we are after big fish, and I have seen a good number of anglers lose fish by using what is, to my mind, insufficient\u00a0tackle for French fishing. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many anglers coming over the channel for their first taste of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/venues\/\" target=\"_blank\">carp fishing in France<\/a>\u00a0will not have had a chance to land fish over 30lb, so may be unaware of the power, strength and mouth size of some of these specimens.\u00a0So what are the pros and cons of these two opposed strategies?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Small Hooks Pros:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Sharper, therefore better penetration.<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Lighter so less detectable to the fish when they suck in the bait. They should then theoretically go into the mouth more easily and be less likely to be rejected.<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Their size is more adapted to smaller baits, which at times have an advantage of large baits.<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A smaller hook and bait can assist long distance casting and aid with point 1) of hook sharpness and hooking fish at range.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Small Hooks Cons:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Finer wire = less strength. On a big fish they open far easier. To me the major shortcoming of a small hook.<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Smaller gape hooks a smaller flesh area on a big fish. Fish of 30lb plus have big mouths\u2026<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Smaller hooks really mean using smaller baits. Personally I prefer 18mm and 20mm boilies. In this case my hook choice would be size 6 to size 2.<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0These hooks are not adapted for snag fishing.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-22354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2015\/04\/drennan-super-specialist-barbel-hooks-sizes-4-6-8-10-12-210603281-500x500.jpg\" alt=\"what size carp hooks should i use\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2015\/04\/drennan-super-specialist-barbel-hooks-sizes-4-6-8-10-12-210603281-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2015\/04\/drennan-super-specialist-barbel-hooks-sizes-4-6-8-10-12-210603281-500x500-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2015\/04\/drennan-super-specialist-barbel-hooks-sizes-4-6-8-10-12-210603281-500x500-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Large Hooks Pros:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Thicker wire = higher strength. On these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/Laroussi\/\" target=\"_blank\">big French carp<\/a>\u00a0lakes especially on waters like the Orient, which is very weedy, or the River Seine which is very snaggy, you really do need the strongest hooks possible to land these fish. Fine wire hooks just aren\u2019t man enough for the job. I certainly wouldn\u2019t want a size 8 in the mouth of a large carp in these situations.<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Bigger hooks are better adapted to larger baits. I have often found a larger bait will select the bigger fish. Double baits, and snowman rigs on a size 4 hook are often harder for a carp to eject than a single 10mm bait on a size 8 hook.<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I fell too it\u2019s a confidence factor that is important. If you are terrified your hook hold is tiny, you may be unwilling to excerpt the kind of pressure necessary to turn a fish from a snag.<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0To my mind these hooks are better adapted to big fish situations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Large Hooks Cons:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Well thicker wire will give a less sharp hook\u2026 Ok in the past I agree with this, but modern chemically sharpened hooks in any size are sticky sharp, so I don\u2019t think this is and issue.<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0They are heavier and therefore less discrete and easier to detect by the fish. Well again I\u2019m not sure that if you rig and set up is right this should be an issue. A buoyant or snowman hookbait set up can be balanced critically to allow the hook\u2019s weight to be cancelled out.<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Not adapted for smaller baits. Here I would agree, but this takes it for granted that you\u2019ll want to use small baits.. Again personally I prefer larger boiles so for me it is not a problem.<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0They cut down on casting distance. Well yes here I suppose when used in conjunction with a correctly sized boilie the do. But if you are fishing at distance and there is any snag or weed then the smaller size of the hook could negate the benefit of hitting the distance as you\u2019ll not be able to land the fish.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2008\/08\/photo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-373 alignright\" style=\"margin: 5px;\" title=\"photo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/2008\/08\/photo-300x295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"295\" \/><\/a>To sum up then, I can accept that the use of smaller finer tackle will ultimately get you more takes and possible get you to hook more fish. I suppose then you are playing averages\u2026 Can I get away with this to land the fish? You\u2019ll have to accept that losing more fish is part of the equation. I personally can\u2019t accept that anglers should build losing a certain number of carp into their game plan. I want to land everything I hook, so I build my game plan to do just that. As I\u2019m targeting big carp, I want everyone I hook to give me the best chance possible to land it. This is why I have always been in the \u2018big hooks\u2019camp.<br \/>\nOh! and my favourite hook of all time? The Drennan Continental Boilie hook Size 4. A classic hook pattern. Strong and sharp and has never let me down.<br \/>\nIf you have an opinion on this matter please feel free to leave your comment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/venues\/\"><br \/>\nFrench Carp Fishing\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since running a fishery and being involved with Angling Lines Carp Fishing Holidays, I see a large number of UK carpers during any given year. One aspect of current UK fishing seems to be the use of small hooks. Now by small I mean N\u00b0 8\u2019s and below. Now I\u2019ve always been a fan of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,890],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglinglines.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}