Is it worth the effort to sharpen your fishing hooks?

Dull hooks often result in fish stories about the big one that got away. Dull hooks are as useless as dull knives. To be clear; our lures don’t have hooks that are just ‘sharp enough,’ the hooks we use are among the sharpest hooks on the planet. The hooks that we use on our lures are not inexpensive and they are not cheap, but they are the first, last, and only hook you’ll ever want on your lures. A good fisherman always wants to be sure his hooks are in great condition and ready for action before he hits the water. To do this, start by inspecting your hooks and toss out any old or rusty ones.

They have historically grabbed a pair of needle-nosed pliers, straightened them back out and used them again. Only this time they fail sooner because we know cheap steal is made weaker the more it’s bent! In short, sharpened hooks can make a difference and undoubtedly produce more bites, but they won’t turn a bad season into an incredible one and you might find them difficult to use everywhere.

Most leave without the gear and tackle they sought, wondering what gives. Did the pandemic break overseas supply chains? Or are so many people getting into the sporting pursuits that retailers literally can’t keep their shelves stocked? The big muskie ate my fly a foot from the rod tip. I set the hook, the muskie shook its enormous head, the hook flew out, and I cursed so loud my ears rang.

Rotate the hook perpendicular to the file and hone the bottom edge flat, creating a cutting edge on each side, where the bottom meets the plane of the honed topsides. The point should have a triangular shape when it is finished. Everyone, from Manufacturers to Retailers, from Venture Capitalists to Wholesalers, told us the same thing. They said that our hook of choice was a specialty product, too cost prohibitive (that’s business jargon, and another way of saying ‘it’s too expensive’) to bring to market.

The most simple test of a hook’s sharpness is to rest the tip of the hook on the edge of your fingernail. If it digs in, your hook is good to cast. If you can slide it across your fingernail at all, the hook is not sharp. This should become part of your pre-cast ritual.

World Record Catches Likely to Stand Forever

First, always keep a hook sharpening tool in your boat, like a simple hook file. Occasionally throughout the day, check each treble hook on your bait to make sure each hook point is razor sharp. The hooks on a quality crankbait, like a Reaction Strike RSC2, come straight out of the pack razor sharp. But as you are bumping this crankbait off of rocks and wood throughout the day, occasionally it will get hung or stuck and cause the hook to become dull.

Pay attention the sharpness of your hooks. A little touch up and increase your catch rate. Other manufacturers have tried stainless steel.

You’ll notice one thing – regardless of the brand, and even the age of the hook, they are sharp. The primary reason for this is because those who fish for a living know that sharp hooks are critical. While a dull hook can “bounce” off the inside of a fishes jaw, a sharp hook penetrates quickly and thoroughly, ensuring that you are hooked up.

How to sharpen your hooks

Filing them down on three sides to a perfect point. There’s no doubt they have and will catch more and lose fewer fish the first time out. But what about the second, the third, the thirteenth time out. Next, turn the hook over, hold it in your other hand and file the other edge, remembering to push the file away from you. A few swipes along the base of the point should remove any burrs.

Take your hook file out and run it away from your body down the hook towards the point a few times until it’s sharp again. You can buy hook sharpeners especially made for fly fishing like the Diamond Hook Hone, which works well for everything from tiny trout flies to big saltwater patterns. You can also use a fine emery board, a fine ceramic or Arkansas stone knife sharpener, a fine diamond file, or in a pinch a piece of fine emery paper. Sharpening my hooks has been a real game changer for me.