Ewg Hooks

[ib_of_the_damned]

I want to start fishing soft plastics more, I have a wide assortment of hooks (1/0,2/0,3/0,4/0,5/0), but I want to start to downsize my tackle.

 

Could I get away with just using 1/0, 3/0, and 5/0 wide gaps? 

 

Soft plastics will be ranging from:

 

5" Senkos

Fat Ika's

3-5" Fluke style baits

3-5" Creatures/Craws

6-10" Ribbontails

4-6" Paddletail Swimbaits

 

 

And while I'm on the topic, the same goes for Offset Round Bend Hooks as well.

 

What are your opinions? Thanks.

[RanndomUndead]

tbh you could get away with just 1/0, though the ribbontails on 1/0 might prove tricky

[Ozark_Basser]

You can get away with 1/0 hooks or whatever size you feel comfortable with. Just make sure with whatever hook you are using, the hook gap has enough room to let the bait move down to keep the fish pinned. I just make sure the space between the hook point and the bend is about twice the width of the bait.

[ib_of_the_damned]

I understand the concept of the EWG's and the hook bend, I just wanted to know if those three sizes aforementioned would suffice for all the baits listed above. I'm not going to use a 1/0 for an Fat Ika... I was just trying to stay away from having so much terminal tackle. 

[Joedodge]

3/0-4/0 will do fine that's what I fish on all the above baits and have no issues even on lil fish

[Ozark_Basser]

I understand the concept of the EWG's and the hook bend, I just wanted to know if those three sizes aforementioned would suffice for all the baits listed above. I'm not going to use a 1/0 for an Fat Ika... I was just trying to stay away from having so much terminal tackle.

I hear ya. I'm just saying you can get away with a smaller hook and was just giving you a general idea of what is needed for rigging baits the way you are wanting to. If you are just wanting to know hook sizes to fit all of those baits "perfectly", a 3/0 and 4/0 will work fine except for the longer paddletails. A 5" or 6" paddletail will require a 5/0 or 6/0 hook. You don't want to go small on paddletails. With too small of a hook, you might not be able to rig them right and it would mess up the action.

[K_Mac]

Yes.

[Dogmatic]

90% of the time I'm using either a 4/0 or 5/0 ewg.

[junyer357]

I currently have 6 hooks i keep with no problem. I keep an ewg in 2/0,4/0,6/0 and an offset in 1/0,3/0,5/0. It keeps my baitmonkey at bay some, as well as keeps my selections and confusion (when putting hooks back after a change) to a minimum.

[MickD]

I don't think keeping your original selection on hand should be that troublesome, and you'll be in good shape for any reasonable size of lure. Just put your 1/0's with the 4/0's and the 2/0's with the 5/0's , will take no more room.  While I MIGHT make your suggested selection work, I know there will come the time when I'll wish I had another size.

[WIGuide]

You could probably get by with those sizes. Like MickD said though, there will probably be those times you wish you had another size. 

[Hyrule Bass]

hooks arent really that troublesome to carry. they come in small thin packs, id look elsewhere to cut back. i carry a variety of hooks in all shapes and sizes, i swear i got hooks i will never use probably. but i do love to fish for multiple species, and if i find i need a small thin wire hook im going to have it. if i find i need a large heavy wired hook, im going to have it. something in between im going to have it. well ok, i dont have every style of hook but i have a wide selection that goes beyond just bass fishing. if you really want to cut down on hooks id go 1/0, 2/0, and 4/0, but i wouldnt keep them in just EWG, get some straight shank hooks or regular worm hooks in the same sizes for thinner profiled baits. but dont be mad if the fish are being extremely picky and you dont have that one sized hook that gives your bait the exact rate of fall the picky fish want that day.

[jcoffman55]

Yes you can. Ironically, I find that when the bass are more finicky and are short striking my baits a bigger hook  gets the point further back on the bait and I'll actually catch more fish with it. I just find that the action of the bait sometimes suffers depending on the bait itself.