Fishing Victoria Forum

Just wanting Member's opinions on a theory I have been using lately.
Have found that after I have caught several fish, "generally off the rocks", that I start missing bites.
One day I decided to change my hooks after I missed a few bites to see if that maybe the hooks weren't sharp enough anymore.
Sure enough, back in business.
I use chemically sharpened Mustad's so I am not skimping on quality.
Funny thing is, the hooks I am replacing actually still seem sharp and fit for purpose.
Even though the hooks I am replacing seem ok, could catching three or four fish take the edge of them?
Not to mention that they are being used in a highly abrasive environment.
Interested in people's experiences.
Regards Al.

Missing bites as in the rod buckled but didn't get a hookup on its own? Or no hookup when you strike?

I'm assuming you were bait fishing.

A lot of possibilities. From small fish nibbling, or they're slightly spooked after their mate got caught, or yes, blunt hook. Most fish has tough hard bony jaw that you need to set the hook properly.

Did you try holding the rod while getting nibbles?
If not, try that, so you can strike and set the hook.

The hook's sharp point gets blunt, especially if put in a pack with other stuff (other hooks, sinker, etc) and use in saltwater.
I keep a hook sharpener and use it every now and then, especially when bait fishing without holding the rod relying on the fish to hook itself on a sharp hook (e.g. circle hook for snapper). Not so much when lure fishing where I always in contact with the hook and can set it firmly.

Seb85 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 8:53 am

Missing bites as in the rod buckled but didn't get a hookup on its own? Or no hookup when you strike?

I'm assuming you were bait fishing.

A lot of possibilities. From small fish nibbling, or they're slightly spooked after their mate got caught, or yes, blunt hook. Most fish has tough hard bony jaw that you need to set the hook properly.

Did you try holding the rod while getting nibbles?
If not, try that, so you can strike and set the hook.

The hook's sharp point gets blunt, especially if put in a pack with other stuff (other hooks, sinker, etc) and use in saltwater.
I keep a hook sharpener and use it every now and then, especially when bait fishing without holding the rod relying on the fish to hook itself on a sharp hook (e.g. circle hook for snapper). Not so much when lure fishing where I always in contact with the hook and can set it firmly.

Generally I hold the rod whilst I am fishing, not a fan of leaving the rod in a holder unless the action is slow. Yup, bait fishing, I leave the hooks in their original packaging, just seems strange that after i have caught a few fish when I strike, struggle to hook up, change hooks back in business.
If I was using cheap hooks could understand why.

Try going down a couple of hook sizes as well and see if it improves your bait loss to hookup ratio.

Al03 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 9:02 am

Generally I hold the rod whilst I am fishing, not a fan of leaving the rod in a holder unless the action is slow. Yup, bait fishing, I leave the hooks in their original packaging, just seems strange that after i have caught a few fish when I strike, struggle to hook up, change hooks back in business.
If I was using cheap hooks could understand why.

They do get blunt after few use, especially if the hookups been on the bony part of the jaw.
Try hook sharpener and see if it resolves the issue. Otherwise, could just be smaller fish nibbling the bait and not committed to take the whole lot. If that's the case, what Dougie said, go down size the hook so they'll be more confident to take.

If you think the problem is a dull hook, maybe try adding a small hook sharpening stone to your tackle box rather than continuing to keep swapping the hooks.

Think a hook sharpener is on the cards. Have as suggested, already gone down in hook size thinking that it may help the situation.
I was under the impression, "wrongly it seems", that you couldn't sharpen a chemical hook.
Just has me bamboozled that generally a hook will last me all day in a boat with multiple hook ups and on the rocks they don't last nearly as long.
Appreciate everyone's help.
Regards Al.

Al03 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 9:53 am

Think a hook sharpener is on the cards. Have as suggested, already gone down in hook size thinking that it may help the situation.
I was under the impression, "wrongly it seems", that you couldn't sharpen a chemical hook.
Just has me bamboozled that generally a hook will last me all day in a boat with multiple hook ups and on the rocks they don't last nearly as long.
Appreciate everyone's help.
Regards Al.

Could also be the hook got knocked around the rock and blunt it. Not necessarily the fish.
Sharpen the hook will make hook loose the coating thing and may get corroded btw. When it does, don't put it back with other hooks, may spread the corrosion.

Seb85 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:01 am

Al03 wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 9:53 am

Think a hook sharpener is on the cards. Have as suggested, already gone down in hook size thinking that it may help the situation.
I was under the impression, "wrongly it seems", that you couldn't sharpen a chemical hook.
Just has me bamboozled that generally a hook will last me all day in a boat with multiple hook ups and on the rocks they don't last nearly as long.
Appreciate everyone's help.
Regards Al.

Could also be the hook got knocked around the rock and blunt it. Not necessarily the fish.
Sharpen the hook will make hook loose the coating thing and may get corroded btw. When it does, don't put it back with other hooks, may spread the corrosion.

Yup, that was my other theory, hook was getting blunted by the rocks upon retrieval of rig etc. Whenever I use a hook in the salt, once the session is finished I throw it out rather than return to tackle box and cross contaminate my other gear.

I find this to to be an very interesting topic.

For bread and butter fish, i tend to keep the same rig basically until it breaks unless i visibly see a problem with it. Even to the point of using the same rig for multiple trips. I generally also use good quality hooks, but at the same time my normal flathead rig is a double paternoster with 2 Neptune brand droppers which are very cheap. A packet of 10 or 12 is only about $5). I dont think i have ever regularly missed a hookup using these rigs, even when the hooks are fairly banged up. They use red hooks, but all the red colouring gets scraped off after a while. And i have caught pinkies and even gummies as a bycatch while targetting flathead on these cheap rigs.

As ive said before.. if you are chasing big snapper or some other game fish i can see dull hooks being an issue, but for general fishing ive never really had an issue.

But, as you guys have mentioned.. maybe fishing off the rocks has a much bigger impact on your hooks compared to fishing from a boat over sand and weeds.