Where To Find These Hooks

[redxdu]

Hey guys,

 

I think I already know the answer to these questions, but I'm going to ask anyways.

 

Does anyone know anything about Gamakatsu making the hooks that Strike King uses in their Hack Attack jigs available to to public?  I think a few other brands use those too (Dirty jigs, Outkast, etc.)  I would love to pour some poison tails with them, but as far as I know they're only available to the the big boys.

 

Second, does anyone know where I could buy these Gami spring lock hooks in bulk?  I would also like to throw that spring thing away and make poison tail and swim jigs out of these, but it's tough to justify when you have to buy them in a 3 pack for over a dollar a piece.  When are some of these hook makers going to realize that we're starving for more options in a 30 degree bend hook?

[shastaron]

You can order the spring locks separately from your preferred vendor and added to the hook of your choice.

[cadman]

red,

   Unfortunately this happens a lot. Also on the Gami 30 degree, many manufacturer have custom hooks made, to separate the big boys from us small tackle makers. This puts them at an advantage because they can make something unique. If you want to make a jig like theirs, it won't happen because they have exclusive right to the hook.  I don't agree with this, but in some ways if everything was available to us, we would be able to make it for a lot less than they are selling it for, putting them out of business. Also I'm not a fan of copying someone elses jigs. I catch a lot of fish on the ones I make. On the flipside, if you make a lot of jigs, you can have any hook made for you. Usual run is 10,000 + hooks. Now I do have some 30 degree Gamis that fit the Poison Tail mold. If you are paying slightly over $1.00 for 3 Gami hooks that is a good deal. Most Gamis go for 45 to 55 cents each, not including shipping. Look at the cost of Trokars?????

 

As far as the spring lock and hooks, I don't know where you can buy them in bulk. I'm sure you know you can take the clip off. As mentioned above, the clip ( 15 cents) a Gami hook about (55 cents) which equals $2.10 for 3 and you are paying slightly over a $1.00 for 3, not bad. If you use a lot of these, take the clips off and trade them with someone that uses them. This is just my opinion.

 

PS: The 91768 hooks that fits the Poison Tail Mold are not cheap either.

Edited November 24, 2013 by cadman

[smalljaw]

The Hack attack hook, from what I heard, is actually a 2 piece hook, how true that is I don't know but a friend brought some over and I really don't see what is so special about that jig. For a good 30 degree hook you can get the Mustad 32886 or the Eagle Claw 3886 laser sharp black platinum, both are strong and sharp. I think Cadman misunderstood what you meant by the hooks being in a 3 pack at more than a dollar each, you meant that the price of the 3 pack makes each hook over 1 dollar, not the pack, and for those type of worm hooks you aren't going to find them in bulk. I have a hard time finding the 25 and 50 packs of offset worm hooks let alone a twist lock model. I will leave with this, don't think for a minute the 30 degree hooks available to us aren't good or the others are superior, ask anyone who throws a Poison Tail with a 32886 hook in 3/8oz and up, you can count on the hook sticking the fish and getting it out and with the head style of the Poison Tail you can switch trailers and use it as a swim jig, the head design with the 30 degree hook allow it to swim upright perfectly.

[cadman]

Smalljaw,

     You are correct, I didn't read it carefully and it didn't sink in. Yes he did say over a $1 each.

 

 

Red,

    I will have to agree with smalljaw on the round bend 32886  Mustad hook and also the Black Platinum Eagle Claw counterpart. Both hooks are super  sharp, very strong and I have never had any complaints about them. I am not a big Gami fan, so I use Mustad and Eagle Claw and sell a ton of jigs like this with no problems. You should try them, and I'm sure you will be surprised.

[CarverGLX]

Have you considered heating and bending a 60*? Do this all the time with a lighter. It's about a 18-20 count for me (probably 12 or so seconds). Does make the hook weaker but it's in a poured head.... Never broken one. It is aggravating that 30* hooks aren't offered but bending hooks is a good option.

[redxdu]

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

I have used the 91768bln wide gap Mustads for the two years that I've been building jigs and they've been great for me, especially in the 3/0 and 4/0 sizes.  I tried some 3/4 and 1 oz jigs in 5/0 and 6/0 and had a little trouble, but I think that's because there is simply so much length to those big hooks that there is no way to avoid some amount of flex.  These hooks are longer than necessary anyways.  You say the Eagle Claws are just as good? 

 

The only reason that I'm trying to find some thicker hooks is because the small circle of friends that I sell my jigs to all have it stuck in their heads that they need an excessively thick hook for everything they do and if at all possible it should be a Gami.  I personally have had great luck with every hook brand that I have tried so far (except Trokar), but these guys are stubborn and stuck in their ways.  I might start telling them that the regular gap Mustads are Gamis.  They're no experts, they'll never know the difference.

 

Cadman, what causes you to not be a big Gami fan?  Have you had troubles with them before? 

 

CarverGLX, how do you go about bending your hooks?  Clamp them down in a vice and then go after them with a pliers or a vice grip?  I may give that a shot just out of curiosity.  Lord knows I'll have the spare time to work on it.  Our lakes are iced up for the next 5 months.

[smalljaw]

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

I have used the 91768bln wide gap Mustads for the two years that I've been building jigs and they've been great for me, especially in the 3/0 and 4/0 sizes.  I tried some 3/4 and 1 oz jigs in 5/0 and 6/0 and had a little trouble, but I think that's because there is simply so much length to those big hooks that there is no way to avoid some amount of flex.  These hooks are longer than necessary anyways.  You say the Eagle Claws are just as good? 

 

The only reason that I'm trying to find some thicker hooks is because the small circle of friends that I sell my jigs to all have it stuck in their heads that they need an excessively thick hook for everything they do and if at all possible it should be a Gami.  I personally have had great luck with every hook brand that I have tried so far (except Trokar), but these guys are stubborn and stuck in their ways.  I might start telling them that the regular gap Mustads are Gamis.  They're no experts, they'll never know the difference.

 

Cadman, what causes you to not be a big Gami fan?  Have you had troubles with them before? 

 

CarverGLX, how do you go about bending your hooks?  Clamp them down in a vice and then go after them with a pliers or a vice grip?  I may give that a shot just out of curiosity.  Lord knows I'll have the spare time to work on it.  Our lakes are iced up for the next 5 months.

 

Gamakatsu, Owner, and Trokar all have cutting points, every hook made is sharp, the difference people feel is the cutting points. The reason I don't like cutting points on jigs and spinnerbaits is because they have a tendency to cut large holes in a fishes mouth when they come up and head shake, I was testing the Gammy spinnerbait hooks and I was losing fish and didn't know why until I lipped a fish at the side of the boat and as soon as slack was in my line the bait fell right out from the big hole that was left. Mustad, Eagle Claw, and VMC use needle points which Mustad calls the ultra point and VMC calls the cone cut, and EC calls needle point, they have sharpm strong points designed to penetrate by puncturing rather than cutting so they only leave a small hole that is why I prefer them. As for your friends, they listen to hype, I've been doing this for 17 years, guys that don't make tackle can't tell one hook from the other but they think they can, and I'll give you an example. A customer of mine always wanted Gamakatsu hooks in his jigs, so I would use the 2014 but then Eagle Claw came out with the black platinum series so I got a hundred of the L111BP jig hooks to try out, I was impressed both in the shop and on the water, so I made this customer a jig that I gave him for free, I told him it was a new Gammy hook that just came out and I wanted him to try it, he called me after a couple of weeks and told me to make all his jigs with that hook, it was awesome, he couldn't believe they could make their hooks better. Then I told him the hooks was the new Eagle Claw Black Platinum series and he didn't speak to me for a year, he was hurt and he was emabarrased that he thought he knew what a good hook was and he could not believe Eagle Claw made a hook like that, and you know why? Because he was TOLD they were lousy hooks and to be honest the Eagle Claws of old weren't bad but far from great. Now, they retooled and have introduced their laser sharp black platinum hooks and they are extremely good, I've been replacing my Mustads, which I really like with the Eagle Claw as I don't find any drop in performance and they cost less, for over 2 years now I have not had a bad hook or a failure. The hook you want to use for the Poison Tail is either the Mustad 32886 or the Eagle Claw 3886, both of these are big round bend hooks. If they aren't big enough then get the Snootie jig and make it with the Owner 5304 Deep Throat jig hook, that is what I use for my 1/2oz flipping jig, the wedge head design allows it to come through cover better than any jig I ever fished with and that hook is sharp, strong and the deep throat design holds, any fish hooked on that doesn't get off!!!

[cadman]

red,

    Here is my take on hooks, you may or may not agree with me on this and that is fine. Smalljaw and I talk quite a bit about hooks and hook points over the years.  Since I make several thousand jigs every year for my customers, I've seen it all, not to say that I have all the answers. Your best bet for the money is a Mustad hook they are the bread and butter of almost every custom jig maker. Then about a year or so ago Eagle Claw (EC) retooled many of their hooks and went with black Platinum hooks. These are not your grandpas old bronze hooks, even though I have used the older style bronze hooks and as long as you let the hooks dry completely they will not rust. Back to the black platinum hooks, these hooks that EC now makes (made in the USA) are extremely sharp and strong. Best of all they usually are less expensive than Mustads. So custom jig builders now have two good options. I have never had the new EC hooks fail on me and have never had anyone else complain about them either. So with that said, enter Gami, Owner and Trokar. On the Gami, I don't personally use them because at one point the Gamis after a time in the water, the hook points would roll over. Maybe I had a bad batch of hooks, I don't know. I do love my Owner hooks especially the 5304 hook. These are the deep throat hooks that I fish exclusively with my Snootie jig. I have never had a problem with these hooks. However I have heard of guys breaking these hooks as they were too brittle. Finally the great new Trokar hooks. I can't give you any current feedback on these , because I just bought the molds to pour these and have not fished them yet.  Yet I've heard many guys say that they are unhappy with the hook for the price of a $1 each.  All said and done, I believe that someone will be unhappy about some hook. Whether manufacturer quality is bad or just in general.  Also there are guys that will only use a certain hook. I have my die hard Gami hook customers that will not buy anything else. Even if Gami raised their prices to $1 each. So to each his own. If Gamis only work for you and that's all you have confidence in then by all means fish Gamis. The whole point is to catch fish. If you can catch 5 lb bass on a safety pin who am I to disagree the proof is at the weigh-in.

      I on the other hand listen to people and try to experiment with other things. If I've never tried or bought the EC hooks, I would have never know how good of a hook it is and for the cost you can't beat it. Do yourself a favor, and try some EC if they fit your mold. Do a study like smalljaw did, and keep your mind open. Fish them and make you own decisions, also give some to your friends and don't tell them what hook is on the jig. Get their input. If you fish tournaments and are concerned, fish these on an off tournament day so you have time to concentrate and get the feel of the jig with the new hook.

 

That pretty much sums it up. Try some different things and if you don't like them you can always go back to your original hooks. BTW, Gami does not make a lot of hooks that fit the Do-It molds, so you will have to modify some molds.

Edited November 26, 2013 by cadman

[RAWJigs]

Hey Cadman, you have me interested in these black platinum eagle claws. Who has these in a ten pack so I can pour some of each head and experiment. I use Mustads right now but always open to change.

[smalljaw]

Hey Cadman, you have me interested in these black platinum eagle claws. Who has these in a ten pack so I can pour some of each head and experiment. I use Mustads right now but always open to change.

 

Lure Parts Online sells them in packs of 10.

[caster]

Hey I might have what you are looking for. I created a custom hook for jig's about five years ago for a swim jig that I make. Mustad produces the hook for me. I have it in 4/0 , 5/0, 6/0, 7/0 and 8/0. All sizes are forged for strength, This is a beast of a hook. The wire size on the 4/0 and 5/0 is 1.69 mm. The bend is close to a 91768. Let me know and I can send you samples of this hook.