New hooks can boost catch rate

Have you had one of those days when the fish are hitting your bait but you just can't seem to land one? Chances are the near misses have a lot to do with your terminal tackle, especially the hook at the end of your line.

If so, perhaps one of the new hooks I found at the recent International Convention of Allied Sportsfishing Trades show in Las Vegas can improve your catch rate.

While untold numbers and varieties of hooks were displayed on the show floor, two caught my eye: the semi-barbless hook by Maruto Hooks and the "world's first rotating treble hook" by Basstar Bait Company.

Barbless hooks have been available on the market for more than a few years. The idea behind them is to make releasing a fish much easier than it is with a traditional barbed hook. But for many anglers, that ease of release has them concerned about losing fish before they can bring them to the boats or nets.

"What we have done is create a barbless hook that has little notches in the inner side (of the hook) where the traditional barb would be," Mike Richards of Maruto Hooks said. "These notches actually lock into the bone or flesh of the fish and hold them on at a more successful rate than a purely barbless hook would. So it increases not only the hookups, but it increases the catch rate."

A close examination of the semi-barbless hook reveals five notches etched into the metal on the inside of the hook between the bend and the point. The notches are designed to create friction between the hook's metal surface and the lip of a fish, not unlike the ridges of a tread pattern on a tennis shoe and the gym floor or deck of a boat. As long as you are fighting a fish, those ridges hold the fish and keep it from throwing the hook, Richards explained. To release the fish, all you have to do is reduce the pressure on the hook.

The treble hook is Maruto's first semi-barbless offering and is available in sizes from 8 to 1/0. A fly-fishing variation also is available. Worm and circle hooks are in the development stage.

The second new hook design that showed promise is the Spintech hook by Basstar. Spintech hooks look like any other treble hooks you have dangling from your favorite lures, but these, as their name implies, spin 360 degrees and do so without binding. The three barbs are fastened to a tube through which the straight hook shank passes. That tube, in turn, spins around the shank or "line tie pin."

With traditional fixed-position hooks, a fish can spin and twist until the split ring and hook lock up and no longer can turn. At this point, a fish can apply continued pressure and eventually throw the hook. With the Spintech design, a fish can twist and turn all it wants, but with the hooks spinning around an axis, the split ring never will lock up. Perhaps these might be good additions on the big swimbait or plug you use on Lake Mead stripers. Current size selections include numbers 6, 4, 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0 and 3/0, with more on the way.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.