[ausseron]

I am a new poster to this forum and I recently retired. I love fishing and I know that I have still got a lot to learn. My question is "How do you keep your hooks sharp?" Do you file as you stand by the river or replace with a new one.

 

[stsfisher]

since i only use gammy hooks which are very hard to sharpen i will replace all hooks with a new one.

 

[Tube]

i a small file with a grove down the center, every time I get hung up I give the hook a couple of swipes and it's good to go!

;D

 

[Merc]

Generally, I use a file-like thing to keep my hooks sharp. Gammies are nice because they are very sharp to begin with and I find that I end up replacing the hook (tip gets bent, hook snapped in half or straightened out) before the hook dulls. But for the odd time it does dull, I just sharpen it (what's 7 seconds of your day? ;D) and then keep fishing.

 

[HOOK]

if your short floating you shouldnt be getting hung up at all which would mean only hooking fish would dull your hook. this should take a very long time. I myself use a file because even gammies are sometimes not as sharp as i want. I like them so sharp that when you do the nail test the dont just scratch the nail they want to stick in. eace:

 

[Lastcar]

This year on stillwaters I decided to be more diligent in my prep and qaulity of my rigs. It paid off huge.

Every time I would change flies I would run the fly across my file. As time wore on I became a little complacent, the difference was obvious. Sharp hooks led to an almost 100% hook up ratio. Dull hooks led to the same number of takes but far fewer fish to the boat.

For the amount of time it takes, using the small file on the lake or river is immensly worth the time IMO.

 

[Merc]

if your short floating you shouldnt be getting hung up at all which would mean only hooking fish would dull your hook. this should take a very long time. I myself use a file because even gammies are sometimes not as sharp as i want. I like them so sharp that when you do the nail test the dont just scratch the nail they want to stick in. eace:

Must be nice to never hit snags in the river. I'd love to fish where you fish. And I guess if you never use spoons no need for a file.

 

[ausseron]

Thanks for all your hints. I guess I am doing the right thing. I think "Lastcar" hit the nail on the head. Complacency leads to lost fish. After all It is better if you are the one that releases the fish and not the other way around.

Tight lines.

 

[HOOK]

of course i hit snags LOL what i was talking about is having your hook getting dulled down by running it on rocks. and with a sharp hook if you hit a snag (tree branch or something) you usually get stuck and have to break off resulting in a new hook.

 

[ribolovac]

Hi ausseron,like the guys said above you shouldn't be snagging the bottom often, even dou it happens anyways, you are right when you are reeling in, often the hook picks up a couple of rocks in the shalow part of the water.I use a method that might sound ridicouls at the begging but I recomend everybody to try and see it for himself that it works.On the shore find a smooth flat rock and when you feel that that the tip of your hook is been hit or slightly bent freely use the rock as a file give it a few swipes and chech the hook should be sharp again,I worn you, only if the tip is slightly bent,if its a bad one recomend you change the hook,and this method of sharpening I would repeat about 3-5 times and switch the hook,becouase I think it a hook is very important part of the presentation.The rock that you use must be smooth and flat.Hope this woorks for you and you catch a lot of steel this season,good luck out there :thumbup:

​

 

[deepskydarrell]

To get a really closer look at what you're accomplishing when sharpening, unscrew your binocular eyepiece from your binos and look through the eyepiece backwards, holding the hook close to the eye lens. Try a few swipes with the file and then look again to see what took place. That's how I trained myself how to sharpen my hooks.

DSD.

 

[Float Fisher]

A sharpening stone works the best.

 

[firstlight]

Whats with the shouldnt snag stuff?
If you are fishing anywhere near the bottom,you WILL snag from time to time.
I use Gammies too but if i snag something or if the hook is getting dull then i will file it.
Unfortunately they can only be sharpened very little before they should be replaced.

Maybe some of us are fishing in a swimming pool or bath-tub?

 

[Sea Chaser]

I keep a portable dremel in my tacklebox for such occasions (great on a boat....but I'd rather pack extra hooks on foot :cheers

 

[trout80]

I keep a small file with me always,like lastcar said it makes a big diff.I do the nail check every now & then if it doesn't stick in easy I give it a couple swipes.

 

[bunnta]

damn i just replace them all the time. after about 2-5 fishes that been hooked, its time for a new hook. i don't know, filing them in the winter time can be a real pain in the ass. i can see it being done during the summer. but like anyone, wouldn't u have a bunch of pre-tied lines and hooks ready to go to save your downtime of not having the line in the river?

 

[trout80]

I find it is faster to give a hook a couple of swipes with a file, than to change hooks even pretied ones.