Tough hooks for smaller but stronger fish (blackfish, leatherjacket etc)

[sashkello]

Hi All!

Well, thanks to all the advice I've received here I'm getting pretty good recently at catching luderick and just yesterday landed my first black drummer on same setup as well! One thing which keeps happening to me though is that these relatively average sized fish do manage to destroy my hooks. Lost the biggest luderick so far when it unhooked itself and wiggled back in water off the rocks... The small baitholder hook simply bent to 90 degree angle... Then yesterday lost another drummer when lifting it out, and turned out the hook simply broke in the middle. It was a rather thick-looking octopus hook. Also, I was targeting leatherjackets some time ago and these things bend hooks out of shape all the time, and I had to replace them repeatedly (no lost fish though, yay!).

The common thing about all these species is that they do require relatively small hooks (my hookup rate definitely plummeted when I tried a bigger one), but fight (or in case of leatherjackets bite) quite hard. Thin baitholder or longshank hooks I got in bulk for cheap aren't doing their job properly.

So, what do you guys use? Type of hook / brand? Maybe I should make sure it's made of particular material or something like that?

Cheers!

[james Cutler]

Do you use a net ? You have to buy well known brand hooks. Cheapies are useless. Use 8 or 10 for luderick.

[sashkello]

2 minutes ago, james Cutler said:

Do you use a net ? You have to buy well known brand hooks. Cheapies are useless. Use 8 or 10 for luderick.

In many places I'd need a very long net to reach from the rocks...

What brands do you recommend? The broken octopus hook was from Pryml as far as I remember, I thought they were alright. Relatively cheap though.

[james Cutler]

i us Owner for Luderick. Other than that for other fishing always use circle hooks. Gamakatsu, Mustard or BKK.

[afa]

Mustard needle sneck green panfish hooks. They're super sharp and very hard. Perfect for luderick, any baitfish and leatherjackets

Edited Monday at 03:19 AM by afa

[Green Hornet]

As far as strong hooks for luderick and drummer go it’s hard to beat Gamakatsu Panfish.  
Your line will break before you straighten one of these bad boys, plus they are super sharp and an added bonus is you can get them in green to blend in with your bait.

For ‘jackets, just those red, long shanked hooks that most brands produce will do the job. The long shanks are a must to prevent bite offs.

[big Neil]

I really like the thinness and strength of the Daiichi range of hooks/   bn

[Ryder]

Like Neil, I’m a Daiichi fan. Size 6 2171 black or 2174 green.

[sashkello]

Great advice, everyone! I'm gonna buy a few different ones to see which ones I end up liking! So if there are any more suggestions, keep them coming.

[wazatherfisherman]

Hi Sashkello both the Panfish and Daichi's are great choices, ALWAYS use quality hooks.

If you want to use Mustad brand for Luderick, all the following 'old' patterns work well. Sneck 8070 and 3331, French 540 and 542, Suicide 92554, sizes 6,7,8 for the rocks, 8,9,10 for inside. For jacket's Mustad 4540/1/2 size 4 for the rocks, 6,8 inside. Mustad 92608 size 6,8 are more expensive but won't rust and are extra strong. For Drummer Mustad 92554 and 542 are both extra strong, size 2/0 for both species.

If you can bend or break the hooks you have now, well, I'd throw them out.

[Pafisho08]

I agree with others that the Gamakatsu Panfish hooks size 6 or 8 are the go and  have never failed me  for yrs .  

 

[Little_Flatty]

As for nets, there are various telescopic ISO nets available which extend to 5.5m. I have two: a lightweight 3m one I imported from japan for light lure work and a 5.5m one for the next time I head north and fish off a tropical jetty. Not cheap, but will get you out of trouble when you really need the help.

[Burger]

Another Daiichi fan here, I primarily use 2171b in a size 8. I go up to a 6 if catching bigger fish.

I’m not a big fan of the green version, they lose the coating pretty quick and go shiny like ‘stainless steel’.

My landing net is a ‘normal’ Wilson net that I bolt onto a painters extension pole. It goes out to about 15 feet.

Edited Tuesday at 06:34 AM by Burger

[DerekD]

That is a second on the Gamakatsu Panfish hooks. I generally get them in size #6 and #8 for my luderick fishing.

For leather jackets I've been using the longer shank Mustad hooks for years (not that I chase them often).

[linewetter]

I am also a fan of the Gamakatsu Panfish hooks, got put on them by @DerekD a while back and they have held up to big runs made by bigger fish and have not bent on me despite their small size.  They're also available in a bulk pack of around 50 from one of the local Sydney tackle shops - that was a big draw for me too.

Edited Thursday at 08:33 AM by linewetter