Hook Sizes

[Seth]

What size of hooks do people like to use when fishing with leeches, minnows, and crawlers? and info would be great.

[flagsup]

#4 for leeches&crawlers,#2 with minnows,gamakatsu hooks by choice,little more money but very sharp.are we thinkin bout open water already?

[Grant]

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#4 for leeches&crawlers,#2 with minnows,gamakatsu hooks by choice,little more money but very sharp.are we thinkin bout open water already?

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heck yes~ Ice is fun, but i'll take open water given the choice.

[deja vu]

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What size of hooks do people like to use when fishing with leeches, minnows, and crawlers?

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Short-shanked hooks end up deeper in the fish's mouths, and are more difficult to remove without killing the fish than are long-shanked hooks. A number of catch-and-release and slot limit studies have confirmed that short-shanked hooks kill more fish than long-shanked hooks of the same size. And long-shanked hooks are definitely much easier to carefully remove if you intend to release the fish...

Long-shanked hooks also help to properly align the sharp point of the hook, when you strike a biting fish. This is especially true when using fine leader material...

I'm primarily a walleye fisherman, although I occasionally fish for crappies. I use the largest hook size I can get away with... Sometimes I carefully bend the point outward with smaller sized hooks to increase the gap and improve hooking odds.

When ice fishing, I tend to use Eagle Claw Model 202EL extra light wire Aberdeen pattern hooks exclusively. I believe that these fine wire hooks keep my minnow alive and active longer in extremely cold water.

In the winter, I use #1/0 size hooks for large (4+") minnows, #2 hooks for large crappie minnows, and #6 for the very smallest minnows.

Fishing for walleyes during open water periods, I prefer the #1/0 size discontinued Mustad Sneck kirbed hooks. Extensive tests by walleye fisherman on Rainy Lake during the late 1940s and 1950s confirmed that this hook style was superior to the larger Carlisle hooks then furnished on the famous Prescott spinners. Sneck style hooks are still available with some difficulty from Mustad Australia.

Good luck.

[Team Otter]

Typically #2 or #4 across the board.

[10,000 Casts]

#6 with leetches and crawler harnesses, if the leetch is to big for a #6 then it is too big

depending on the minnow,

fatheads / smaller shiners - 6

Shiners / redtails - 4

Big Shiners and Sucker minnows - 2

[LoonASea]

This past summer season I have used circle hooks almost exclusivly and used one size bigger then normal when using them ,,,I think I had fewer bites but my hooking percentage went up and I would have to say 90% were hooked in the corner of the mouth for easy hook removal ,,,I plan to tie up more circle hooks this coming open water season

Randoid

[Walleye71]

Seth,

I have always liked the Lindner Policy of using what you can get away with. I always try to use a #8 Gammy for leeches, sometimes maybe an #6.

I like the #4 Gammy on my crawler harnesses.

#4 Gammys for minnows if I can, sometimes a #2. Depends on the size of the minnow.