Thread: Anyone seen these hooks ?

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

I use quite big ones on snapper quite often land based and from boat no sinker just blood knot about 20 feet of 60lb trace and tie hook on - I got a packet of very small kahles from a shop closing down mustad brand real good on maomao and when bait fishing for mackrel - as many have said dont strike just let rod load up

@Barry the hunter
I tend to go bigger rather than smaller with hooks. Doing so I know my bait is often wasted feeding small and pesky Snapper but when the bigger Snapper turn up the biger hooks win every time IMO.
I'm always boat fishing ( my mates boat as I don't own one ) and we have to use sinkers on our lines. We tried unweighted lines but unsuccessfully. Foremost issue is bloody seabirds waiting to snag cast baits. Unweighted baits sink slowly allowing time for birds to dive and grab baits. We've had the unpleasant task of unhooking shags, seagulls and others several times and don't want to do so again. The other but lesser issue with slow sinking baits is, when Kahawai are around, they can grab the baits before they sink to the Snapper zone below. It's some fun though as Kahawai fight fabulously but my mate especially would rather eat Snapper over anything else so sinkers are standard rig with our rods.
Striking is sometimes right, and sometimes not. Part of the mind game when Snapper are playing with the bait is determining when to play dead or strike hard. The temptation to strike is always high but if you think it's a big Snapper testing the bait it often pays to just let it run off a bit of line first. Those highly strung big boys can easily scare away with sudden resistance on the line.