red hooks

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wd40

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Joined
Sep 19, 2006
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27
are red hooks effective? i recently found some red rust paint & painted all my hooks red.
 
From what I've heard, they're definetly effective, I think fish are prone to the color red just like humans are, its one of those colors that gets attention and makes fish wanna strike almost exactly like a bull seeing red (take the clownhead xrap or red daredevil spoon) are very productive lures. I've also noticed hook manufacturers catching onto this, and have been starting to paint most of their hooks red. I think "red" especially works well in shallow waters the, but remember it can also turn into a darkish blue the further down (deeper water) you are fishing with the lure .

I'm especially liking these VMC SureSet red hooks (bought them at BPS), with & without dressing (feathers), I then put a set of them on one of my x-raps (white/olive pattern) can't wait to test them out sometime soon before it gets too cold, or wait till this coming spring and see if it really helps with the pike !! :) I'll take a pic of that lure later on so you can seee what I'm talking about
 
excellent.
actually, the red paint doesn't seem to be very bright on my hooks, so i don't know whether the bass could see the redness. but i guess it's a win-win situation here. if the bass can't see the hook, it makes the lure more realistic. if the bass can see it, it would think that it's blood & should trigger strikes.
 
As a kid, I remember watching a fishing show back in the 80's.

I'll never forget it... The host (charlie white?) adapted a camera to film underwater. This was before underwater cameras were in the main-stream.

His experiment was to judge whether or not the "small red plastic tabs" on the back of the spoon made any difference... In case you're wondering what the heck is a "small red plastic tab", they are placed on the o-ring that has the hook attached to it. An example of one can be seen here:

1103.jpg


See that little red tab by the hook?

Anyway, he submerged the camera in a rainbow trout hatchery pond, and jigged two spoons, one with the red tab, and an identical spoon without the red tab.

The results were unbelievable!

Fish after fish hammered the spoon with the red tab, and almost no fish would hit the spoon without the red tab.

The fish would examine the spoon without the red tab, but then lose interest and swim away.

The fish would hit the lure with the red tab every single time!

So does this mean that red hooks would be more effective than regular hooks? I think so.
 
I watched a show where the were tailing lures with the red tabs. "They" say that it makes the lure appear to be an injured fish..blood is red..makes sense to me!
I have been buying red #4 hooks for steelhead for a few years now!
 
I have experimented with red hooks many times in the past for bass, and it didnt seem to have any visible effect. Maybe it's different with other species?

However I had a Jitterbug that just slayed bass, and thinking I'd add a bit more attraction, I painted the hooks red on it. Well I'll be darned, that lure hasn't caught a bass since i painted the hooks. Weird, but maybe just coincidence!
 
I've tried colouring the hooks with red permanent marker looks like chrome red after. Didn't get much bites. Do you think the smell of the marker can effect the fish?
 
Hard to tell,but I would say yes. I scent my baits regardless. Home made garlic scent works good for some fish, not sure about bass though...see what they sell in stores for Bass scent and make your own.

Garlic scent is really easy. Get either store bought "gormet garlic" its a bottle of minced garlic...or get fresh garlic cloves and mince them yourself.
Small container with regular veg. oil and mix in the garlic. Leave in the fridge for the next trip!
Dip your bait in the garlic/oil mixture and your off!

**scent the bait to attract the fish or just to mask any human smells,like marker?.... either way it works!
 
Garlic is a excellent scent, the bass luv it !! :) I also like using shad scent for largies, and crawfish for smallies, they go absolutely nuts for it sometimes.
 
Snypa said:
I'm especially liking these VMC SureSet red hooks (bought them at BPS), with & without dressing (feathers), I then put a set of them on one of my x-raps (white/olive pattern) can't wait to test them out sometime soon before it gets too cold, or wait till this coming spring and see if it really helps with the pike !! :) I'll take a pic of that lure later on so you can seee what I'm talking about

newpics1014yj4.jpg
 
Yeah I tried the vmc sureset hooks out at the Wards island last month :) I actually didn't catch any fish that particular time, but it looked good in the water, although it did add a little bit of a wobble to the lure.
 
Re:

Snypa said:
Snypa said:
I'm especially liking these VMC SureSet red hooks (bought them at BPS), with & without dressing (feathers), I then put a set of them on one of my x-raps (white/olive pattern) can't wait to test them out sometime soon before it gets too cold, or wait till this coming spring and see if it really helps with the pike !! :shock: I'll take a pic of that lure later on so you can seee what I'm talking about

newpics1014yj4.jpg

Hey snypa did you need to dress the back hook yourself or were you able to buy the SureSet hooks with the feathers already attached?
 
wd40 said:
are red hooks effective? i recently found some red rust paint & painted all my hooks red.
red hooks are deadly for salmon.i was guy using just red hook and catching big salmon in the creek in fall.
 
These sure set hooks do they work better then regular trebles? Also what number hooks did you get I have the same x-rap lure and would like to try and mod the lure to see if it makes a difference.
 
i hear that the fish like the red. Ive talked to pros at shows and seen shows on tv and ive heard red hooks and red in general are effective colors. About the hooks on snypa's lure i know you also get a better chance of actually hooking the fish on those hooks then on regular hooks.
 
never tried using red hooks before. i have some, but they've never been used. i guess i shall try them this summer :?:
 
I guess it's time to get some of those red split rings as well and do some moding on the lures and then comeback with an update after the season....or during :?:
 
red is only visible to a certain depth, after that, they blend in with the rest of the environment and turn darkish/blueish.
this was first noted in marine fish. many people wondered why they ahve these gorgeous colours that are so pleasant on the eyes and so attractive. wouldn't they ultimately get the attention of predators? they did the studies and showed that bright colours like red disappear in deeper waters!

also, bleeding fish is a complete joke to me as well. as we've all noticed, in water, if there is a bleeding fish, you will only notice it if the fish still, and there is no current. you can see how fast the blood diffuses into the water and disappears. especially on smaller fish (lure sized) you never even really see the blood in teh water, it just gets into the water and disperses quickly. In my experience, only pike seem to have blood that clots quickly and is visisble in the water.
 

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