Red hooks

[BrianSnat]

Red hooks seem to be all the rage these days, at least judging from the amount of shelf space they get in the tackle stores.

Do you prefer red or the uncolored hooks for fishing plastics and bait?

Do you think red really makes a difference?

[hmongkidBee]

I don't think it makes a difference but my brother has outfished me with red hooks on paddletail swimbaits.  I think it makes the baits look like they're bleeding or something, but that's just my opinion.

[Nice_Bass]

Not at all.  From what I have read, a fishes brain cannot decipher the connection between I see red, therefore it must be blood.  I do believe that it may give something just a bit different than the usual presentation, so in pressured waters, it could be beneficial.  I also have red that they can decipher different colors, so giving it a shot would not be a bad idea if you want to give a solid color soft plastic just a bit of variation.

[Raul]

Red hooks seem to be all the rage these days

Uhhh, what "rage".  :-?

, at least judging from the amount of shelf space they get in the tackle stores.

Uhh, maybe cuz regular hooks are sold out and the only ones left are red you might think so, actually, several times I 've encountered this problem in several stores, no regular colored hooks but a lot of red leftovers which btw I 've found to be chaeper and a lot more times on sale than regular colored hooks. So lately I 've been forced to purchase red hooks, which after a while loose their color and end up pretty shiny.

, Do you prefer red or the uncolored hooks for fishing plastics and bait?

It makes no difference to me, as long as the hook is sharp and good quality I don 't care what color it is.

, Do you think red really makes a difference?

Nope, no difference at all.

Now, if you think/beleive/hope red hooks are going to make you catch more fish I 'm the first one to tell you should use them.

[BrianSnat]

Uhh, maybe cuz regular hooks are sold out and the only ones left are red you might think so, actually, several times I 've encountered this problem in several stores, no regular colored hooks but a lot of red leftovers which btw I 've found to be chaeper and a lot more times on sale than regular colored hooks. So lately I 've been forced to purchase red hooks, which after a while loose their color and end up pretty shiny.

Well the local Wal Mart and local bait and tackle shop devote about 2/3 of their pegs to red hooks. Red hooks are available in more sizes and styles.  It's not like all the pegs with plain hooks are empty and there is nothing left but red.

A basic retail principal is to devote more shelf space to big sellers, so it's safe to assume they are selling more red hooks than plain, at least in this area.

Since 5-6 years ago I didn't even see red hooks and now they outsell plain ones, I'd call that a rage.

[soccplayer07]

i prefer red hooks. whether it's truly more effective or i just plain have more confidence when I fish them...who knows!

[Pikesnogle]

I am a scuba diver and while learning to dive they teach you about the color spectrum. You start to loose the color red around 20 feet of water, it starts to look black or a deep blue. I don't know if this has something to do with it, but I guess it's plausible. Who knows?

[Senkoman12]

I am a scuba diver and while learning to dive they teach you about the color spectrum. You start to loose the color red around 20 feet of water, it starts to look black or a deep blue. I don't know if this has something to do with it, but I guess it's plausible. Who knows?

ive always wondered about the disappearing of red below a certian depth like the red line is suppose to disappear underwater but like you stated it just changes color and becomes more visible and btw i use both red and regular hooks they are same price so whatever i pick up is what im getting

[NateFollmer]

I used to think color didn't matter, but then I watched Dave Mercer use a Rapala with 1 red hook and 1 regular hook. The fish hit the red hook just about every time. Honestly, I'll use whatever hook I have, but I think the red does have some effect on fish. Maybe they are like bulls and it makes them mad I like buying those Luck 'E' Strike worm boxes that come with hooks that are the same color as the worms, blue hooks just look neat HA

[gobig]

I used to think color didn't matter, but then I watched Dave Mercer use a Rapala with 1 red hook and 1 regular hook. The fish hit the red hook just about every time. Honestly, I'll use whatever hook I have, but I think the red does have some effect on fish.

I kinda had the same experience. I have started to add them as a front hook on my swimbaits and I have been thinking about doing it to some of my cranks and jerk baits. I need to play with this idea more. If it makes the fish take the bait deeper at all it may be worth it.

[dave]

Yes, once the red peels off and it is all shiny underneath.

[dodgeguy]

at that point i change it and put a nice sharp one on.

[RoLo]

I've never intentionally used any red hooks,

but I've gotten clumsy a few times and ended up with a red hook 

Roger

[FishingBuds]

me and my son always fish different colors, he maybe one color on red hook and me another color on a dark hook, we do this until we find out whats working then we adapt. We have some jerk baits that we switched up to red hooks on them.

we keep both color hooks, more of the red

[snuffy33]

Do you think red really makes a difference?

Nope.

[Ojurb]

i dont know if its me or what, but in my home lake, lures with some red in it seem to be the trick, the 2 biggest producers in my lake are watermelon red worms, been having luck lately with some zoom red with black core worms, i also have a crank bait that has a red belly and that gets hit a lot ( just put red treble hooks on it got a fish on the first cast), also have a spinner bait that is white yellow and red  and that is the biggest producer out of my spinnerbaits.

however the pond behind my house the fish seem to like purple and blue , caught some of watermelon candy, and junebug worms, lately have had success with a blue silver tube bait rigger as a floater.

so maybe it does make a difference, i doubt it, but i know that when i hit the lake i gotta have red, for the pond blue based colors are key

[DocRabbit]

I used to think color didn't matter, but then I watched Dave Mercer use a Rapala with 1 red hook and 1 regular hook. The fish hit the red hook just about every time. Honestly, I'll use whatever hook I have, but I think the red does have some effect on fish. Maybe they are like bulls and it makes them mad I like buying those Luck 'E' Strike worm boxes that come with hooks that are the same color as the worms, blue hooks just look neat HA

I didn't know fish hit hooks =p

it was probably the position of the hooks rather than the color eg: the fish were short striking and the red hook was on the tail

[Crestliner2008]

I have never heard of anyone complaining that they were not catching fish because they were using red hooks. So, I guess it can't hurt.

Besides, using a bit of red on any bait combination has been proven effective. Look at how many red head/white body lures have been (and still are today) produced.

[BrianSnat]

I was fishing with a friend yesterday.  We were using identically rigged pumpkin Yum dingers.

I boated 8 bass, all in the 2-3 lb range and hooked up and lost 3 others. Friend boated 3 bass, all under 2 lbs and had 2 other hookups where he lost the fish (one was very big and snapped his line).

The only difference was that I was using a red hook and he was using plain metal. 

Maybe it was just luck or maybe the hook made a difference.  It wasn't an intentional experiment but maybe next time we'll do it again to see what happens.  I'm sure my friend would want the red hook next time though.

[roadwarrior]

Red hooks seem to be all the rage these days...

That was 4 or 5 years ago. I experimented extensively

and came to the conclusion the red hooks were

nothing more than a marketing ploy. I noticed

ABSOLUTELY no difference.

8-)

[TheHammer84]

I was fishing with a friend yesterday. We were using identically rigged pumpkin Yum dingers.

I boated 8 bass, all in the 2-3 lb range and hooked up and lost 3 others. Friend boated 3 bass, all under 2 lbs and had 2 other hookups where he lost the fish (one was very big and snapped his line).

The only difference was that I was using a red hook and he was using plain metal.

Maybe it was just luck or maybe the hook made a difference. It wasn't an intentional experiment but maybe next time we'll do it again to see what happens. I'm sure my friend would want the red hook next time though.

It definitely does appear to play some factor, not sure how much and some days it probably plays no factor. Since I always put new trebles on my cranks anyway, I like to run 1 set of red up front on my crankbaits (since when I've seen a fish bleeding, it's always been from the gills) and just run the standard colors on the tail.

[Stasher1]

Red hooks seem to be all the rage these days...

That was 4 or 5 years ago. I experimented extensively

and came to the conclusion the red hooks were

nothing more than a marketing ploy. I noticed

ABSOLUTELY no difference.

8-)

x2

I have a bunch of red hooks, but only because they were bought on clearance. I don't think they've ever increased my catch rate, but I don't believe they've had a negative effect on it either.

[Redhed]

no, red is a marketing gimmick imo... actually i catch less with red hooks.

[Dockhead]

The only difference was that I was using a red hook and he was using plain metal.

Impossible to say that was the only difference. Even if you had the exact same line and exact same reel and exact same rod, you could not work the Dinger in exactly the same manner.

A second or 2 difference in moving the bait could be a big deal.

Not to mention you are throwing to different spots (sometimes only slightly different - maybe an inch or three - but it could also make a difference).

I'm sure people can think of some other differences, although for a casual experiment, it is what it is.

Personally, I don't think the single red hooks seem to be the same as a plain hook quality wise. Could they be made a little different in order to get the red to "stick" better?

I don't use them because they simply don't seem to be as good.

And of course, there is one other potential reason you outfished your buddy. He could have been holding his mouth wrong.    ;D

[MichBassMan]

No; in fact at least to me, it seems like the red hooks are not as sharp as regular hooks. At least the Gamys seem that way.