Poll: Bending Hook Points OUT

[elnutsmalljaws]

A buddy of mine who shall remain nameless, but it rhymes with BONEFISH, is convinced that by bending out the hookpoints is better than tbe way they come in a pack. He takes a perfectly new Gamakatsu hook out of the pack and bends the point out. Then when he fished a texas rig he pushes the point all tbe way thru the worm in a texpose fashion. Then wonders why he gets hung up more often

The questionis. How many of you bend your hookpoints?

[elnutsmalljaws]

NOT ME!

[MagikSmallie]

Never had a reason to, my hook up to land ratio with t-rigged plastics is very, very high!

[bplgocards]

Never heard of anyone doing that Elnut.

[Bonefish]

NOT ME!

I do. XPS Super Locks should be renamed XPS Super Lucks.

[zx150]

I saw a pro do it once on TV can't remember who it was.

[Big T @ E.C.]

Greg hackney and john crews does it. Just a slight bend to the side, to make the point off center. I do it,
in case the hook winds up laying on it's side, in the fishes mouth, the bend will help it go either up, in the
roof of the mouth, or down in jaw. I think it helps on off-set hooks, probably not need on straight shank hooks. And remember, i base this on no scientific evidence what-so-ever!!!1 tr

[DJD]

I do not and in fact if the point angle opens up due to a hangup I'll bend it back as best I can to stock condition. My hookup ratio is very high as well with soft plastics. I would think one would hang up alot more by changing that angle and having it point out differently. Sounds like Bonefish needs to try a Gammy !!! BTW.... I have bent a jig hook open on some models in the past.

[Bonefish]

I do. XPS Super Locks should be renamed XPS Super Lucks.

Here is my reasoning. On wide-gap hooks the eye of the hook is at the leve of the point, and if you place a weight or bead above the eye, the point placement and weight/bead can clear a path out of the fish's mouth without any hook-up. What you are depending upon is that the fish will inhale the bait in and upon closing his mouth his lip presses down on the "gap" between the eye and and point. But how many times do you jerk on the bait and the bait comes out of the mouth because the fish does not clamp down on the bait. If you bend the point slightly above the eye, you can still place the point well inside the plastic to prevent hang-ups, or if you bend the hook slightly sideways, you have again increased your chances of the point entering the fish's mouth. This is why I call them Super Lucks, and that is why I prefer an offset hook or straight shank over the wide-gap hook.

[mhall]

You will get hung up twice as much that way, not necessary but to each his own..

[elnutsmalljaws]

You will get hung up twice as much that way, not necessary but to each his own..

Bonefish was in the boat with me and Vaun Cummins for 2 days and hung up EASILY 8 times more than i did and spent more time rigging up than fishing. I love Bonefish to death and we have spent many hours talking fishing at UK Hospital, with me being a patient and he working there, but he is way off in his thinking here. As far as the pros bending them to the side, that still keeps the bend angle in tact. Bone bends his hookpoint out. He was so sure that he issued a challenge for the last day on the water which consisted of some ratio of fish caught to hang ups to fish lost during the fight. Bottom line after about 2 hours and he was down about 15 fish and had broke off 4 times he threw in the towel and the next day called me looking for the exact item number as he was ordering tbe hooks i was using. The more out you bend the hookpoint the worse off it is. I will use this analogy, had you rather try to catch a fish with a safety pin tied on or a needle? Bone failed to mention the 7 plus pounder he lost on his bent out hook. If he had left the hook alone maybe he catches that monster but she jumped and spit it at him. Vaun and myself were laughing that the fish knew which of the 3 lines in the water to hit

[Bonefish]

Bonefish was in the boat with me and Vaun Cummins for 2 days and hung up EASILY 8 times more than i did and spent more time rigging up than fishing. I love Bonefish to death and we have spent many hours talking fishing at UK Hospital, with me being a patient and he working there, but he is way off in his thinking here. As far as the pros bending them to the side, that still keeps the bend angle in tact. Bone bends his hookpoint out. He was so sure that he issued a challenge for the last day on the water which consisted of some ratio of fish caught to hang ups to fish lost during the fight. Bottom line after about 2 hours and he was down about 15 fish and had broke off 4 times he threw in the towel and the next day called me looking for the exact item number as he was ordering tbe hooks i was using. The more out you bend the hookpoint the worse off it is. I will use this analogy, had you rather try to catch a fish with a safety pin tied on or a needle? Bone failed to mention the 7 plus pounder he lost on his bent out hook. If he had left the hook alone maybe he catches that monster but she jumped and spit it at him. Vaun and myself were laughing that the fish knew which of the 3 lines in the water to hit

I am sure my theory will be tested again with better results since Woody would not allow me to cover my hook tip.