Do you sharpen your hook?

[oldbarboy]

Just wondering if you touch your trebles up with a diamond file or something similar at the end of the day? Or is there no need to do this with the hooks of today?

Trev

[forsterfisho]

Nah, I just change them out when they get really blunt or bent...which is after many, many fish

[Graeme76]

Absolutely, the money I save on buying trebles adds up to an extra lure or two each month. I don't worry about sharpening them for the first half a dozen or so uses but after that every lure that gets used in a session gets a touch up once I get home. It doesn't take long before the hooks dull off & it's amazing what a difference a 30 second touch up makes.

[joelozzy]

I've touched up my jigheads in the past. Trebles I tend to replace if the lure is working. The old thumbnail test often proves that a 10 second touch up can seriously sharpen a dull hook.

I'd just like to ask you guys what the best way to use the diamond file is though. Only draw the hook one way or rub both ways?

[CHUNQX]

My trebles rust or corrode before it gets a chance to get blunt so out they go...
When I did sharpen hooks before, I used a diamond file and only filed one way and that is away from the sharp point. I don't think filing it both ways will help. In fact I think it will make it worse. Same with sharpening knife blades. A typical water stone has 2 sides. One is the rough side and the other is the fine (less rough) side. When you sharpen a knife, you use the rough side to cut the edge. That one you can rub both ways because you're really wanting to create the edge (thinning of the blade). Then when the edge is created, you use the fine side to create the sharp point and that is rubbed only one way.

[redfinfisho]

none of my lures ever get rust because after I finish fishing I just get all the lures I used fill up the sink a bit with luke warm water and throw them in and let the drip dry all the salt dissolves and no rust i might have to buy a diamond file I usually change blnt hooks but if the tip is bent i try use pliers to straighten it but i think a diamond file sounds like a smart idea

[Alexc123]

I havent bothered to do it to any of mine yet,but a little touch up every so often cant hurt if done right, i still need to learn how. Same thing with knives,they get dull with use,a quick touch up with a steel or diamond stone/steel etc and they are razor sharp again.

What diamond stones are recommended,is there ones small enough for the hooks we use or is it a fiddly process with larger ones? I already have the small flat eze-lap ones as well as their small rod type model which i think has a groove in one side is there anything better and more suitable?

[Graeme76]

There's the Eze-Lap diamond hone pen, which I think is the rod one your talking about. I had one years ago but it was a PITA to sharpen hooks with. You need a flat surface to sharpen a hook, anything with a groove is totally useless. Seriously just get a nail file, they work a treat. I just buy the little nail grooming kits from the two dollar shop & use the file from that, keep the nail clippers to, they're good for trimming line tags, the rest of the kit can go in the bin.

If you look very closely at most hook points you will see that they are actually made up of 3 flat faces that meet up to make the point. Basically the two sides & the outer face. File the two sides first & then the outer face last. Do not attempt to sharpen the inside of the point, as in the part of the point that faces back towards the shank, that will shorten the point quickly & will destroy the hook. All sharpening movements must be from the barb towards the point, never point down to barb. Just like a knife you need to make sure that each stroke with the file is on the same angle as the previous stoke. You do not need the file tilted too far over the tip to make the hook blunt, you should be drawing the file almost perfectly parralel to the shank. There are various videos & articles on hook sharpening if you google them, they are probably easier to understand then my ravings. If you get a large hook & have a close look at that though, you will see the three faces I'm talking about & the angle that they need to be sharpened on. Just apply what you see on a big hook to the smaller hooks & you'll be on the right track.

[Green Hornet]

I use a EZE-LAP diamond hone & stone. Its a small flat file about 18mm wide.
For small hooks the fine grit one is ideal.
To sharpen trebels I lay the file across the outside of two hook points and just rub sideways across the points.
After filing the three sides of the treble this way it leaves a sharp, triangular point.