Looking for Mustad 7724 Pike Hooks....

[klclapper]

Having a hard time finding the # 10's, 12's & 14's. Contacted Mustad and no response back. Anyone know where I can find these online or a dealer who sells these sizes? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tks.

Kelli Clapper

[JP Z]

Kelli,

As far as I can tell they only make it in 1,2,4,10 at least those were the only sizes on the Mustad page.

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Tight Lines,

JP Z

[ScottO]

Not trying to start a big argument, but why are you looking for them? The "swedish" style hooks are known killers and make it much more difficult to get a good release on pike. They frequently catch pike either in the gullet or tear out gill rakers.

You are much better off with a quick-strike rig or even a single treble. When I fish dead bait I use a single large treble hooked right behind the smelts head. I have a much better hook up ratio, and the pike are nearly always hooked in the lip rather than the gullet. When you get a flag you set the hook immediately.

ScottO

[klclapper]

ScottO-

I've used and my family has used these hooks for many, many years w/ either smelt or houlagans. FYI- I've released many northern after being caught w/ a swedish hook. The catch is knowing how and when to set the hook and how to properly remove the hooks. Last year I was able to release a nice 11lb & 13lb northern that I caught in the spring that were both caught on one of these #10 "killer" hooks with no problem. Both were hooked in their lip. I don't know that I agree w/ the whole pike killer theory but to each his own.
We primarily use them when we tip-up fish in Michigan in certain lakes and also when we fish w/ dead bait up in northern MN each spring fishing on shore or off of docks.

[MN Mike]

Klclapper,

Drop me a email, I can probably set you up with some.

Mike

mike @ minkota.com

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Frozen Bait

[Bob Horn]

I used circle hooks and they worked great. Fish On

[Guest]

Hi
I was on hsolist and did a search on Mustad & Circle Hooks and found quite a few up for auction...not sure what price you were looking at though. I can't post links here either, can I? DOH!!

FB

[Lunker]

Scott, at the same time we must remember that a treble hook is illegal unless on a lure.

[ScottO]

A treble is not illegal in WI (my home state) or in MI. My rigs would actually be legal in MN too, as they have a spinner blade on them.

The WI DNR did a study in 1994 on swedish hooks and even proposed banning them. Unfortunately they did not. Here is the study abstract and author details, etc.

Hooking Mortality of Northern Pike Angled through Ice
DuBois, R.B., Margenau, T.L., Stewart, R.S., Cunningham, P.K., andP.W. Pasmussen. 1994. Hooking mortality of northern pike angled through the ice. North American Journal of Fish Management 14:769-775.

Abstract.—Short-term (48-h) hooking mortality was examined for 185 northern pike Esox lucius angled through ice on baited still lines from three Wisconsin lakes. Mortality from capture with size-4 treble hooks baited with live fish was negligible (< 1%); however, mortality associated with pike hooks (also known as Swedish hooks) baited with rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax was substantial (33%). Additionally, mortality was greater for deeply hooked fish, and for fish exposed to short handling times. Pike hooks were associated with a higher percentage of deeply hooked fish than were treble hooks, but hooking location alone did not fully explain the difference in mortality between hook types. Of fish that bled at capture, 84% survived. The length of time that northern pike were allowed to run with the bait plus the time associated with hooking and landing the fish was unrelated to either mortality or hooking location. The use of pike hooks may not be compatible with management of northern pike fisheries if minimum size limits or catch-and-release regulations are used to attain management objectives.

ScottO

[This message has been edited by ScottO (edited 12-30-2003).]

[This message has been edited by ScottO (edited 12-30-2003).]