Choose the right hook by Craig McGill

Some anglers might find it strange that I consider line and hooks to be the most important items of tackle, but think of where we would be without them.

You can catch fish simply on a hook and a piece of line. At minimum, a handline spool would be handy for managing the line but you could get away without it.

A high-tech rod certainly is an advantage but without line and a hook, it's useless. Well, not totally useless - you could strip all the runners off and use it as a spear!

We'll restrict ourselves in this story to the wonderful world of hooks.

Because Mustad hooks are the biggest sellers in Australia (and probably the world), I'm going to use their individual model names to describe each style of hook. That way, the most people will be familiar with what I am talking about.

Although there many other very good brands of hooks on the market, I've used Mustad for over 20 years and they have become my first choice in hooks for charter and personal use.

WHICH ONE?

There are thousands of different patterns of hooks - so how do we determine which ones are suitable for our specific needs?

For starters not everyone has specific needs and many of us are not targeting a specific species.

Most fishing grounds hold a variety of species and it is quite feasible to set at least a couple of baits for whatever comes along.

The choice of a general-purpose hook is not easy but if I had to nail it down to just one, I would have to choose a Baitholder pattern like the Mustad 9555 series.

The main reason is its ability to accommodate all types of baits due to the barbed shank. It is perfect for most dead baits and although not ideal for live baits, it will do the job.

When you decide to chase a specific species then it is time to take a closer look at what type of hook best suits the job.

TARGET SPECIES

Firstly, you must have a basic understanding of the nature of the fish you are chasing.

I suppose the most important features are the size and the type of mouth of the fish. Take blackfish and leatherjackets, for example.

Blackfish have very small, toothless mouths whereas leatherjackets have very small but very toothy mouths. So while they both require a small hook, consideration must be given to the toothy one.

For the blackfish I'd use about a No 8 or No 6 Mustad Needle Sneck in green, which fits in nicely with the green weed bait. But these are short-shanked hooks and if you used them on leatherjackets, although they would be the right size, you would get bitten off a lot.

So for the leatherjackets, a hook in roughly the same size but with a long shank would be ideal. I'd go for the Mustad Bloodworm 313 pattern.

So, as you can see, understanding the characteristics of the target species is crucial to hook selection.

BAIT TYPE

You should also consider the type of bait you are going to use.

If you are using strips of squid for kingies or jewfish, bait presentation is very important.

It is critical that the bait stays straight on the hook and does not bunch up on the hook bend. If it does, it