How not to straigten a Jighead....

[Dave W]

I've been hearing more and more about Jigheads that straighten and want to share some thoughts...

Next time you land a few fish, have a good look at where the hook has penetrated the mouth - corner, lip, cheek, etc....

You'll generally find that the hook has penetrated well, with the weight of the fish being held on the curve of the hook.

If you are lucky enough to land one where the hook point is stuck in the flatter area of the teeth, look very closely..... plenty of times the hook will not penetrate fully, many times not even up past the barb.

In this situation, all the weight of the fish is on the point of the hook, providing maximum leverage to open the hook up.

How often do you net a fish, and then the jig mysteriously comes out.... Was it just pinned into the hard teeth area, and then fell out when the tension was removed?

Just some points to ponder I have no solution really, but almost all hooks will straighten under the conditions described.

Any thoughts??

[peter bear]

also the person might be a bit over anxious with the pliers to get the hook out and bend it at the same time.

[pw-bream]

Something I've noticed with the Mustad Aberdeen hooks in my home-made heads, as well as the Squidgy heads is that having snagged and partly opened up a hook, when you straighten it there is a tendency for the hook to bend along the straight shank section, rather than the bend to close back up to the original shape. I think this might then leave the hook more easily able to be opened up again on a fish. The long shank is softer and more easily bent and straightened than the tighter curve of the bend which is probably work hardened to some extent by the original bending.

I agree with PW-Bream. The Mustab Aberdeens (even the pre-bent Jig Hooks) are most suspect on the shank. I've bent them at the shank far more than at the bend.
Some of us WA boys are not all that happy with these particular hooks and are sourcing different brands.
HTH

Dave

[Bear]

Are they on home mades Dave ro what brand?

I've been using them and haven't had a prob yet.

My personal view is that if you are bending jigs your fishing with your drag too heavy.

When a bream puts his head down and goes if he can't pull line off your reel something has to give......

[Bear]

Same way we bend trebles

[Stevo]

Yes i totally agree, if your bending hooks drag pressure is too high, i have never bent a hook on a fish, only when snagged up.

I use eagle claw and mustads for 2 years, never lost a fish from straightened hooks. You have to remember you are using light wire hooks, and when you have a near locked drag something has to give!

Stevo

[dan_WA]

same here
I dread the day (sounds weird !) that I get a big hookup, 'cos I'm pretty conservative on my drag, so would probably get wound around a pylon before the fish even contemplated turning his head. But at the same time, I've landed some solid fish with a light drag and the only time I have ever had a hook (or other terminal gear) fail is from a snag

Im using home mades (jig mould). I have bent them with light drag settings. I was out with GeoffP and Steve the other day. Hooked up to a very nice fish only to drop him right near the boat. The hook was only slightly bent. I believe it was only hooked in the teeth and not the lips. The fish made a few nice long runs. The reason I bring this to your attention is that I copped two hours of crap from Steve and Geoff coz they reckon the reason I lst it was that I was fishing a "girls drag setting". It was light, but the hook still bent. Im with DaveW on the idea that they quite often bend when they are hooked in the teeth.
I dropped another big fish later that day in almost identical fashion. Both were dropped while the rod was loaded and the line under pressure. Very weird...as I can assure you I was using a light drag setting.

Dave

[corey]

To aviod bendinding hooks is to catch smaller bream.....easy.
This is somthing i have perfected on the weekend.

[Aquaholic]

Still haven't experienced a fish straightening a jighead, and I've pulled a few 40+ out of some pretty horrible places. I have however straightened trebles on fish when one hook digs in past the barb and the other two hooks more or less act as a lever against the hook pinning the fish when they catch on other parts of the fish. I thought that the bend of the hook would be the first place it would straighten since during the hook making process, this is the area which has been subject to the most stress, hence making it the weekest section. But having said that, what about the eye of the hook? DohDohDohDoh, I'm just confusing myself even more. Does a hook start off as a piece of straight metal and then bent into shape NFI.
I'd say that locking up on a fish to pull it out of tight country when the fish is just pinned as Dave W has described would definately put enough pressure on the bend to have it act as a lever. Rule of physics - for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction, therefore :- fish pulling one way + angler pulling the other = hell I don't know, I just want to go fishing,

Cheers,
Aqua H.

[Fisherman Josh]

G'day guys,
Hey kingpin i went otu for a session with Geoff and salty the day after you lost your fish and mate i wouldnt worry about the hokks those fishing were hitting em funny swimming towards the boat.At first i thought hey yeah this is a hook problem but then i went out to the usual to give them a real test on bigger fish.
Ended up with a 1.3kg ,1.1kg and four others ranging from 300 -850 or so i had to give these fish some hell hey and the hooks didnt fail me (thankfully). Yeah i think we all have bad luck and theres nothing you can do if its hooked ona tooth or something because its an unnatural pull on the hook and something has to give. Hope this helps a bit.
Josh

Yeah I agree with you there Josh.
We all noticed that the fish were hitting in a strange way.
I do believe that a Gama Hook which is a thinner gauge, sharper and stronger hook probably would have held those fish. Either way...I'm still using those jigs till i get better jig hooks. They aren't that bad...they landed me a 1.73kg fish from 5m under BarrackSt. Cant complain there!!!
Cheers
Dave

[Mossops Morgan]

Guys,
I have used many different jigheads over the past couple of years from all different suppliers and manufacturers(freebies are one of the advantages of working in a tackle shop) and have found some absolutely terrible ones (no names mentioned) and some awesome ones as well! I recently have had the pleasure of being involved with some making of jigheads with a manufacturer and tried to nut out alot of the problems with weak hooks. What we came up with was building a jighead to suit the situation you are fishing in. We made all your normal weights 1/20-1/6 and hook sizes 2-1/0 but we give the option of having a light or heavy wire hook!. So say you were fishing Forster and you were fishing on the flats with no structure around and there was no need to fish a firmer drag and you want max penetration you would use say a size 2 light wire Gamakatsu 1/16. You get your limit and want to go and catch some upgrades in or beside the racks, washboards and you have to really tighten that drag up you change your jighead over to a 1 heavy wire 1/16 Gamakatsu and your set there is no way you have to worry about straightening
the hook and when you give em a heap and know it will hang on!. This new range of jigheads is called Tackle Tactics Tournament Series Jighead and is well worth a look as it is a definite must in any bream anglers arsenal!.

Jay(MOSSOPS)Morgan