INDIANANGLER

Chaps, any idea if this hook would be sharp and strong enough for big mahseer?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

Thanks.

Rustam

HI RUSTAM,
THE BEST HOOKS I HAVE USED FOR BIG FISH ARE EITHER CIRCLE HOOKS, EAGLE CLAW OR OWNER HOOKS. I DO NOT KNOW IF THEY ARE AVAILABLE IN YOUR AREA.
HENRY GONSALVES

Thanks Henry but I am on the lookout for a cheaper but dependable alternative to the Owners....if possible.

Will give those Eagle Claws a try.

Circle hooks don't seem to be used for mahseer.

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

Those hooks look OK. I'm not too sure if they'll hold up against a big mahseer?
I've used similar hooks in the past and have had one straighten that resulted in a lost fish, actually Bops will know which ones..... Got them from him after he returned from Belgium. Not sure if they were Mustad but. Sorry I haven't been of much help....

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Yup those were Mustad.

Bops

Hey Rusty,

Shape-wise, this hook looks good. The point is beak-type ie in-curved but only slightly. When set on the fish, the hook point thus 'draws in', almost in line with the leader. This means there's less tendency for the hook to straighten out, me thinks.

The wire looks a bit thin, but they claim that it's 30% stronger. That can mean anything. Essentially, a hook needs to be hard enough such that it doesn't straighten easily, but not too hard such that it will break easily!

Bottomline is, need to taste the pudding!

One more thing; it the point kirbed ie offset? I believe that this is vital for good hooking of the fish, especially for static bait fishing.

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Thanks for the replies.

Anyway, had already placed the order a couple of days back but left out these hooks.

Decided to try these and hope they are strong enough.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

Rustam

Not sure about the Mustad's but I just took delivery of some of the "live bait" hooks shown here http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog. ... get=browse

I'll be astonished if ANYTHING can bend or break them. They're also scary sharp.

Thanks, Ken. I'll see if Cabelas have them - for reasons best known to them, Bass Pro does not accept international credit cards from India.

That's almost a Dollar per hook. Ouch!

Rustam

"That's almost a Dollar per hook. Ouch! "

It is but assuming you dry them properly and re-use them, how many are you realisticly going to get through ?

Ken, from what I have seen to date, the chaps seem to loose about one per day to snags.

Having said that, I'd rather cough up the dollar per hook and know that it wasn't the hook that failed.

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

all three hooks displayed in the links of this thread have been in use during my last trip to Cauvery a few weeks ago. I caught most of the fish on the Mustad pattern and all fish I had hooked properly came out without any problem. But: I only managed to hook into smaller ones up to 14 pound. So I can't give a guaranty that they would resist the strength of a big one. My friend Andreas managed a 25 pound fish while using the Gamakatzu pattern (life bait B). I tried the Gamakatzu Circle Octopus as well, but the 7/0 size I had with me really seemed to be too big for the size of fish that was running those days. Generally I think that nowadays there are many different hooks that should work well for mahseer.
The guides are all married to Owner, but personally I very much dislike these hooks. A fresh Owner just from the packet is a great weapon for Mahseer, but I find it very difficult to get them sharp again. All hooks used at Cauvery -or for such/similar kind of fishing- need to be treated with a sharpener several times a day. For the Owner I have the feeling that you never manage to get close to the original sharpness again when treating them with sharpening devices. Also I witnessed a Owner hook breaking during fighting a good fish.
Changing of hooks/expense of some of the models: Nearly all of the patterns suitable for mahseer are expensive. As you don’t want to lose the fish of a lifetime I think you just have to invest this money.
Personally I also refuse to use the hooks for a longer period as 2 or 3 days, even if they’re still sharp or can still be sharpened without problems. I feel that some fish that have been lost because of broken hooks could have been a safe capture if the hooks in use wouldn’t have been that old. I feel that all the rocks inside and outside the water do some damage to every hook after some time. What is happening under water after your ragi is gone? Is the hook lying motionless on the ground or is getting pushed from stone to stone by the current? Most metal parts of a crab or chilwa baited hook are exposed and get pushed to stones again. In my opinion this could and should do harm to our hooks –even if no damage is visible on the surface- so I try to replace my hooks from time to time.
Dirk



Here you maybe can see the very safe hookhold of those Mustad hooks.

Hi Dirk and thanks for your views on the subject.

If you could only have one type, which one would it be?

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

in regards of hooks for mahseer fishing I'm not yet able to quote my alltime favourite. Sorry, but therefore my experience -just three trips till date- is still to limited. Generally for European coarse fishing I'm a fan of hooks with a shorter shanks.

However as stated before there are several hooks that should have the strength to work well for mahseer. Personally I think I'll never get to familar with the Owner cutting point pattern. The shape is great, but I dislike hooks that loose their sharpness fast and even more I dislike these hooks if I'm not able to resharpen them properly.

Dirk

Mustad hooks are good............most of my hooks are Mustad................some of these hooks are chemicaly sharpened......so I think it has to have some advantage...


Tim