Red Hooks

[Topwater98]

I found some Gamakatsu hooks for fairly cheep. They are red colored. I haven't used red hooks before. What are the advantages/disadvantages of red hooks? Thanks for any help.

[Mike L]

Some guys swear by them, some dont.

Ive tried them also but I really can't say I've caught a fish because of them.

Mike

[Stumphunter]

I have a story  or scenario for ya that happened one day..I bought a bunch of Strike King Red Eyed Shad, 2 of each color...I went fishing back in the spring and tied on a Bleeding gizzard shad. I then noticed one had red hook, and the other did not, So i tied one of each on, same size and color except for the hook color. And fished each one pretty equally at each spot. (Trying to do a little research myself) I would say on that day i caught a 4 to 1 ratio, more being on the red hooks. My partner was using one that had the black hooks. Wasn't long before he was asking if i had another one with the red hooks.  I assumed that the red hooks made the bait look as tho it was bleeding triggering that extra few bites. It was a great day regardless. I can't 100% say red hooks make a difference all the time but it did that day...

[Washout]

I carry mostly red hooks, but most of my time is fishing soft plastics. It may be even more noticeable on a hard bait.

[Ginosocalbass]

I use redhooks for Crawfish crankbaits, namely Traps.     thats about were it stops for me, but I am an open book on this one.

[Sam]

The theory is that a red hook looks like open gills or blood to a bass.

The color red on the bass eye color chart is relatively good from red to green but weak in the blues and violets according to Dr. Keith Jones of Berkley in his book, page 161.

This means the bass appear to see in the red and green zones best.

With that said, on page 181 Dr. Jones pens ...bass showed slightly less inclination to strike red and orange lures but otherwise displayed little variation in color preference.

To further mess with your mind, Dr. Jones writes on page 180 that a splash of red on a the throat of a crankbait might signify blood and therefore a wounded easy meal. Red on a lure may be like waving a red flag in the face of a bull driving the bass crazy.

With that said, it boils down to personal preference.

So go out and buy some Nails Be Hard in Orange and red to color your crankbaits plus clear nail polish to put over the color.

I like to switch out the front hooks of my top water poppers with #4 red treble hooks. Does it help with strikes? No idea. Is it a confidence builder? Yep.

So give it a try. Can't hurt your fishing.

[Topwater98]

The hooks are red 5/0 worm hooks.

[Sam]

Use them. Can't hurt.

Try red trailer hooks, too.

Now go out and hit the water before the sun comes up.

[Raul]

The advantage is that you found good quality hooks for a low price and that's all.

[TheSmilingSwordsman]

I use red hooks as well as grey/black colored hooks.

All of my odd numbered hooks, 1/0, 3/0, 5/0, are red. My even numbered hooks, 2/0, 4/0, and 6/0 are grey.

It's just a way for me to organize and quickly identify hooks in my tackle box. I'm not sure that it saves me much time but it looks pretty cool.

[HardcoreBassin]

I use red 5/0 Gam hooks whenever I am fishing a soft fluke.  My "go-to" is a weightless texas rigged pearl white zoom fluke minnow with a red 5/0 Gam hook.  I havent done any side-by-side comparison of red hook to standard hook, but I do catch a lot of fish on that rig.

[NJBasstard]

Using different colors for different sizes is a good way of being organized, but other than that I don't think hook color makes much of a difference. I use both and tie on whatever color I pick up & have never noticed a difference in catching fish.

[gramps50]

Was reading KVD's Secrets of a Champion, he changes the front hook on many of his hard plastics to read depending on color, water color, and the sky.

[Slade House]

I swore by red hooks for the past 8 months, then recently , d**n i couldn't get bit texas rigging a d-bomb with a red gamu EWG hook.  then i switched to a flipping hook, and low and behold , much more hookups.  the thing about using an EWG hook for soft plastics is that it creates a much bigger profile, and i think using a flipping hook in black is just a much better choice because it looks a hell of alot more natural and is more compact.  also if you're fishing deeper water it doesn't really matter too much since the red color will fade quickly the deeper you go. 

[Bluebasser86]

I don't know if they help any but I can't imagine they hurt anything. I have confidence in them and that certainly makes you fish better. 

[primetime]

I have been messing around with Red hooks, snaps for topwaters, swivels, and all kinds of accessories since I was a kid and that includes color. I have read books, always did science projects in college around fishing and some theory regarding fishing..main interest was always line color and diameter and red hooks vs nickel vs silver...also did alot of research on why some fish follow and strike and why some do not and what makes fish strike...

 

After all this research, reading, field testing-best part, I have no idea on any of it, except I believe only 1 thing to be 100% TRUE ALL OF THE TIME.....

 

CONFIDENCE IS KEY AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT RED LINE IS THE BEST THEN YOU WILL PROBABLY CATCH MORE FISH WITH RED LINE SINCE YOU WILL BE FISHING AT 100% CONCENTRATION....

 

WITH RED HOOKS, I ONCE SAW A CRAIGS LIST ADD FOR A LARGE BOX OF BASS LURES FOR SALE, OVER 2000 LURES FROM A COMPETITIVE BASS ANGLER IN FLORIDA WHO PASSED AWAY....

 

I MADE SURE TO ARRIVE EARLY AND I ENDED UP WITH A NICE ASSORTMENT OF REBEL CRANKS, TIMBER TIGERS, FAT RAPS, RIVER RUNTS, RAPALA, BAGLEYS, AND ALL THE TOP LURES FROM 70'S TO 80'S,AND EVERY LURE HAD AT LEAST 1 MODIFICATION.....RED TREBLE HOOK IN FRONT ONLY, OR RED AND WHITE MYLAR FLASH ON THE REAR TREBLE ESPECIALLY ON TOPWATERS....

 

AS FOR SNAPS, I THINK THEY ARE FINE IF SMALL AND CLARITY IS SMALL, AND I RARELY USE RED HOOKS WITH SOFT BAITS ONLY BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO CHANGE WHAT I ALREADY LIKE WHICH IS A DARK HOOK.....

 

I READ MANY OF THE BERKLEY STUDIES WITH A GRAIN OF SALT SINCE PURE FISHING IS LOOKING TO SELL TACKLE, BUT SOME STUDIES DONE AT IOWA SHOW THAT RED MAY VANISH FIRST IN CLEAR WATER, BUT IN GREEN OR TANIC WATER, IT WILL VANISH LATER, AND I REMEMBER THAT IN SEVERAL STUDIES, YELLOW WORMS WERE HIT 60% MORE THAN ANY OTHER COLOR IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS, AND MOST FISH PREFRED A PROFILE OF 4.5" AND THICKNESS OF A SENKO....I HAVE TESTED THE YELLOW WORM THEORY, AND YELLOW SWIRLS ESPECIALLY WITH BROWN ARE AWESOME, AND SO IS PLACING SOME YELLOW ON THE BELLY OF A 4" TOPWATER LIKE THE MEDIUM SPOOK OR CHUG BUG..

 

HOPE THAT HELPS, AND I CAN SAY THAT I BELIEVE 100% BRAIDED LINE IN CLEAR WATER WILL ALMOST ALWAYS COST YOU FISH COMPARED TO CLEAR LINE IN SIMILAR DIAMETER IF FISHING A SLOW PRESENTATION....IF FLIPPING 2 OZ PUNCH RIGS, I THINK YOU COULD USE ANY COLORS YOU LIKE SINCE THE FISH IS GRABBING THE BAIT AS IT PENTRATES THE CANOPY WITHOUT MUCH THINKING, ALTHOUGH DARK COLORS ARE BETTER FOR SURE....AND MORE APPENDAGES, ONES THAT FLOAT LIKE ON THE DAMIKI BAITS..JUST KIDDING, I AM YET TO FISH WITH ANYONE WHO DOES THE SAME THINGS AS OTHERS FOR ALL TECHNIQUES OR MOST, AND DEBATES WILL NEVER CHANGE ANYONE'S MIND, AND STUDIES HAVE TOO MANY VARIABLES TO CONTROL TO BE 100% NOT BIASED OR LEGIT IMO...GOOD RAMBLE, FEEL BETTER NOW.