Eternal strive for Improvement (circle hooks)

[gstours]

  The circle hook is a common sight on halibut fishing boats, and sport boats alike. I have tried a lot of them, and in different sizes, configurations. the following is what I tried to do for a primer for those that have too much time on their hands.

the hook shown above is marketed as a forged 18/0 size and could be used for halibut, or large cats, or sharks.. it is relatively cheap in price and seems very sturdy as shown, has a black forged color....and it was fairly soft, barely held a filed point, and blunt, but large, cheap, and available.. SSSSo I reshaped it by grinding the sides tapering to a long point, see picture below.

the difference was well received by the fish, got better hook ups, the long taper seems to sink in better with out so much pressure by the angler, sure some come off, but overall it seemed like an improvement......After shaping the hook I heated the point cherry red then quenched it in motor oil this gave the hardness to the tip. a file sorta skips over, and does not bite in.  I will be showing more later on this subject.

[alantani]

i think we need to organize a charter!!!!! 

[Wintu]

  I would like to be on the call list..

[mike155]

Very nice fish.I also like what u  did with the hooks.

[Shark Hunter]

Gary,
That hook looks a lot like some I use. Its from Catch All tackle. An 18/0 Reverse Offset. They are very sharp out of the box though, and I file down the barb some to make dehooking easier.

[Tightlines667]

The other thing to keep in mind when discussing different hook options is that forged and hardened SS hooks have the advantage of holding a good sharp point, but are more brittle and are prone to breaking (as opposed to bending) under heavy load.  These guys can usually be recognized by a darker metallic  grey coloration.  The typically softer non-forged variety tend to actually hold up better under heavy pressure, though sometimes you need a comparably larger diameter hook to achieve the same rating, and they can/should be sharpened by hand regularily.  It seems to me that one of these softer hooks in a larger diameter with a hardened tip would provide the best of both worlds.

Just a few thoughts.

[gstours]

Thanks for looking and the response.   Yes You are right when mentioning that a softer metal will bend instead of break......I harden only the very tip from the point back to about the barb. heat creeps down that far. but the heat is played only in the point if the tip.  after quenching I now anneal ti a light light straw color and air cool.  after cooling the final shaping is done.....
At first my trials were  not too good, as the tip was brittle,  and I lost some big fish to the tip breaking off,  all you got was a hard line burning short run.....Just enough to get you really excited.......and you have to change the rig and rebait.......It does give you a peek at another missed opportunity..........then its back to the drawing board........oh welll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  I like the hardness of the hardened tip,  a compromise need to be reached AND there is nothing wrong with the other major hook manufacturers products and they too have perfected their design,  I just like to mess with stuff...............and learn??gst