Article by Dale Timmons
Sometimes those of us in this business, especially when you have been immersed in one subject for as long as I have, simply take things for granted. We automatically think our readers understand all of the terminology we use, for example. A couple of weeks ago I was writing about offset and non-offset hooks, since the latter are required in tournaments that target billfish. Then someone asked me, “What does that mean, exactly?”
If you hold a fish hook by its shank, which is basically the longest side with the eye on the end, and look straight down on it, the point and barb on a non-offset hook will be exactly aligned with, or parallel to, the shank. On an offset hook, the point will be bent off to one side or the other (18 to 20 degrees, according to Mustad). If the point is bent towards the left, it is called a “reversed” hook. If it goes off to the right, the point is said to be “kirbed”, a term you don’t hear much anymore. Put more simply, if you lay a non-offset hook on a table with the eye hanging over the edge, it will lay perfectly flat. On an offset hook, the point or the bend will be up off the table, depending on how you place the hook.
Basically, the reason for offsetting a hook is that it will hook a fish more easily than a straight, non-offset hook will. Unfortunately, in this age of catch-and-release, it will also more easily “gut hook” a fish if it is swallowed. Even a circle hook, which is designed to hook a fish in the corner of the mouth rather than in its stomach, will sometimes gut hook a fish if it is offset and swallowed. This is the reason for the federal regulation requiring only non-offset circle hooks in billfish tournaments. Regulations also require the use of non-offset circle hooks when bottom fishing along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
It may be a little harder to hook a fish on a non-offset circle hook, but once it has done its thing and wrapped around the jawbone in the corner of the mouth, it rarely comes loose. I think it is also inherently stronger than an offset hook, since it hasn’t already been “bent.” Most of the major manufacturers, such as Mustad, Owner, Eagle Claw and Gamakatsu, have now come out with non-offset circle hooks, and the packages are often marked as “Tournament Approved,” or something similar. The use of non-offset circle hooks for marlin fishing is a good thing, and it may save the lives of a lot of billfish.
That being said, I will also say that I use both offset and non-offset circle hooks, as well as J-hooks for some applications, depending on what I am fishing for and how I am fishing. I am not one of the “circle hook mafia” who thinks you will go to hell for using anything other than a non-offset circle hook.
The fishhook is one of man’s oldest inventions. It is a simple, pure design that basically does one thing very well. My wife (and most folks who know me well) will tell you that I have a “thing” for fishhooks, especially good ones. Fishhooks pretty much stayed the same for years and years, but we are kind of living in the “golden age” of hooks right now, and manufacturers are coming out with new designs and materials all the time. Some of the new circle hooks with chemically sharpened points, different wire weights and other high tech design features are simply deadly. Of course, the prices have skyrocketed as well. I can’t believe how much some of these hooks cost, or that I, and many others, are paying the prices. I was in a tackle store last week and saw a package of two big circle hooks (I think they were 16/0 or 18/0) that cost something like $21.00! But then again, why spend hundreds, thousands, or even in some cases millions of dollars on tackle, rods and reels, boats and other gear and use a cheap hook? After all, that little piece of steel is your only direct link to what may be the fish of a lifetime...
Speaking of hooks, Suzanne and I spent a day on the beach at Assateague last week. We were fishing for kingfish, and caught half a dozen or so, along with some nice croakers and even a legal gray trout (weakfish), which surprised me quite a bit (yes, I let it go). Anyway, at one point Suzanne was bringing in a small fish, either a king or a croaker, when something grabbed it and took off, heading east. She struggled for a few minutes, then handed me the rod. I couldn’t feel any head shakes and decided it was a big shark, so I put my hand on the spool and pointed the rod straight at the fish, thinking I would break it off. Well, it did break off, but I still had my rig and sinker. Oddly enough, what had broken was the hook, which snapped just below the point. It was a #2 light wire octopus circle hook, a little different than the #1 octopus J-hooks I usually use, but I definitely thought it was stronger than the 30 lb. hook leader or my 20 lb. braid main line…
I was on one of the docks recently, when I heard a couple of mates and a young captain laughing at another mate who didn’t rig baits in a manner that suited them. It was apparently more entertaining for them to make fun of the younger, less experienced mate than to show him how to properly rig the bait. I kept my mouth shut (surprise!), but it started me thinking—none of us are born knowing everything…we all have to learn from someone else. And in most cases, the folks who help you are the ones you remember the most, not the hotshot who completely ignored you. I remember the gentleman who first showed me how to snell a hook, for instance, and I remember the old pro who taught me how to throw a cast net. The list goes on and on. The point is that those of us who have spent a lifetime trying to absorb knowledge about fish and fishing techniques in order to get better at “hooking up” should be happy to pass on what we have learned rather than keeping it all a secret. A young man recently asked me to show him how to tie my Deadly Double flounder rig, and when I did so, he jokingly said I was “giving away my trade secrets.” Maybe so, but what difference does it make? When I’m dead and gone, I’d like to think that he might remember me for showing him something more vividly than what he actually caught on the rig (unless it was a 10-pound doormat, of course)…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
