What Kind Of Hooks Should I Use For Carp?

[Brett Strohl]

I think my friend and I might try some carp fishing b/c the rain has been so bad.  I was wondering what kind of hooks I should use?  I know carp's lips are more fleshy and I don't want to tear the fish up if I catch any.  

[KayakKid]

As fleshy as their mouths are, they are tough like human skin. As far as hooks go, I would suggest something like the size of a nickel and extremely heavy duty (their mouths are like the size of a half dollor). I have snapped off countless of those cheap eagle claw hooks with the bait holders on monster carp, that It makes sence to buy the more expensive hooks in turn for they last longer. Hope this helps and best of luck

[Brett Strohl]

I have no idea what size/shape?

[monkeyman3dee]

When bait fishing I always tend to use Circle Hooks, as they are self setting. Just reel in side sweep hook set and you're good to go. size 2 or 1 should be good. Leave some slack in your line, that way when you see you line start to go taught, you know you got a bite!

[MassBass]

You can use straight shank bait holder hooks. A size that you can thread 4-5 kernals of corn onto. Thats what I have been having success with. 

[scaleface]

I use octopus hooks most. I like to use a heavy weight and   tight line. Use  two or three pieces of whole kernel corn and place the rod in a holder that will keep the outfit secure. Just sit back and let the carp hook themselves. They will feel the weight and bolt. The octopus hook will get them most of the time .

[powerduster]

I have snapped off countless of those cheap eagle claw hooks with the bait holders on monster carp,

No kidding on the small baitholder eagle claws. I had them break on tiny bluegills when I was fishing for them for catfish bait.

[SchlottyD]

3/0 octopus circle is my favorite for carp, and after catching some big ones that is as small as I go.

[CeeJay]

I used to use good old aberdeens in small sizes (2-6) and never had the hook straighten, even on some pretty big fish.... all the way up to 20 pounds (I'll possibly stop referencing my PB 20 pound Carp soon, haha).  Mono line was no doubt one of the key reasons why those thin hooks held.

 

The original reason I used those aberdeens was simply because I could thread more corn on the shank, but then I started using hair rigs and discovered that the hook style doesn't really matter.  You could hair rig some corn attached to bait holders, circles, etc. 

In my opinion having line with some stretch, a lubed smooth drag on the reel, and a rod of 7 feet length or longer are more important when it comes to landing (as opposed to hooking) big Carp. 

[MassBass]

I have caught big fish on those little gold aberdeens to. Its very light so the fish can suck it up and its shiny gold that could attract them. I eventually straightened one trying to slow a running carp in strong current with heavy line and have not used one since.

[hawkoath]

I agree with KayakKid and Dink. I've had multiple breakoffs on trout when I first got back to fishing last year. Gamakatsu circle hooks. 

[Canyon explorer]

try a 2/0 Owner circle hook with corn covering all but the tip.

[*Hank]

Gama Baitholder.

[Joe H.]

try a 2/0 Owner circle hook with corn covering all but the tip.

X2. Winning combo for carp.

[Crestliner2008]

Definitely go with a quality circle hook. Size 1/0 or 2/0 (depending on the size of the carp you have in your waters) Inline octopus circle would be ideal. Gamakatsu makes the perfect one - very strong. JMO!

[CeeJay]

Definitely go with a quality circle hook. Size 1/0 or 2/0 (depending on the size of the carp you have in your waters) Inline octopus circle would be ideal. Gamakatsu makes the perfect one - very strong. JMO!

 

I accidentally purchased offset circle hooks, I should have read the label closer   ...I've read they aren't as good as the inline circles you mentioned.

[Crestliner2008]

I accidentally purchased offset circle hooks, I should have read the label closer   ...I've read they aren't as good as the inline circles you mentioned.

This is correct. Many manufacturers off-set their circle hooks, mainly to insure a more positive set. I do not know where this theory originated from, because I rarely loose fish using an inline. The off-set will sometimes lip hook fish, but in a high percentage of cases, it will gut hook them as well. Not something I'm interested in doing.

 

If your goal to lip hook a fish and not gut hook them, then the inline circle will perform best. I use nothing else and have caught a lot of fish, of many different species. They flat out work. I even crimp down the barb as I feel it is not necessary and doing so insures a quicker, safer release. Again, just my opinion.

[BASS fisherman]

I use the octopus hooks as well.  They work very well as mentioned above.  Occasionally I will buy the packs of snelled baitholder hooks from the store and use them when nightfishing to save time and it is easier to rig than tieing up a whole rig in the dark.  I do not like them as much as the octopus hooks though but have never had them break and I have caught some fairly large river carp on the snelled hooks.   

[BASS fisherman]

I recently searched "carp hooks" just to see what would pop up and I found a site called P&S tackle that sells a 25 pack of hooks for $2.01.  I bought a couple packs of size 4 and size 6, so Ill let you know how they work. 

[CeeJay]

I recently searched "carp hooks" just to see what would pop up and I found a site called P&S tackle that sells a 25 pack of hooks for $2.01.  I bought a couple packs of size 4 and size 6, so Ill let you know how they work. 

 

Cool definitely let us know what you think of the hooks.

[BASS fisherman]

I recently searched "carp hooks" just to see what would pop up and I found a site called P&S tackle that sells a 25 pack of hooks for $2.01.  I bought a couple packs of size 4 and size 6, so Ill let you know how they work. 

 

I received the hooks and just by looks alone you can tell they are cheaper hooks.  I do not exactly know how to describe it, but they just do not look well made.  Some of the eyes have a small gap where it meets the shank.  The barbs are not very big. Maybe that is a good thing to some anglers.  The hook finish almost looks painted on.  The wire they are made of feels flimsy and like it'd bend or straighten on a larger fish.  Definately $2.01 a pack hooks.  I have not caught any fish with them yet.  Tried the other day for a bit down on the Allegheny river. Gave up on the live bait and ended up catching a nice smallie on a DT6 shad crankbait.  I am going out this Friday nightfishing with a buddy so we should have atleast 12 of these hooks out at once so once I catch something I will update on how they performed. 

[BASS fisherman]

So here is my official review/report of the hooks. Just for the officials around BR, I paid for these hooks and am not sponsored by the website where I purchased them from, nor am I sponsored by the company that produced the hooks. 

The website is called P&S Fishing Tackle store.  The owners live in PA but are from a foreign land. The site has some funny spelling and word choice errors.  But the business I had with them was legit. I got what I paid for, and it only took like 3 days to arrive. 

 

First of all they are offset.  That can be changed with a pair of needlenose pliers. I will be doing this from now on as out of the 4 fish me and a buddy caught, 3 of them swallowed the hook.    After the 3rd one I un-offset(?) the rigged up hooks and lip hooked the last carp of the night.

 

I rigged up the hooks on a sliding sinker/ carolina rig with a 3/8 oz bullet weight, swivel, and around a 24" leader with 2 hooks.  One on the very end, and one about 12" up from the bottom. I would thread the corn through the sides onto the hook and all the way up and over the knot on the hook eye following down to the hook point.  The spot I was in was fairly weedy so I covered the point 98% of the way. 

 

The first fish was a yellow bullhead catfish that was only around 12" and because it was so small and gave us such a struggle to get the hook out, we did not weigh it, or take a picture. 

The second fish was a carp that weighed around 9lbs.  As the picture shows, it had fire shooting from its bottom and was very angry we had caught her. Sorry about the pic, it was not set up correctly, and frankly at the time I had more important things to worry about. We did get the camera issues sorted though.

 

The 3rd fish was a carp my friend caught that weighed around 8lbs. She spooled my friends reel to where he was down to the knot on the spool holding the fish on. She did it quick too! Probably took her 5 seconds to peel off that much line. My friend is not an avid fisherman but enjoys going occasionally.  He had no idea the fish had spooled him until I mentioned it and started frantically telling him to "reel!, reel!!". It was a good laugh later.  He was so close to loosing her.

 

 

The final fish of the night was also a carp.  She weighed around 15 or 16 lbs. She fought for over 15 minutes and made probably a dozen good runs. She is the largest fish I have ever caught.

 

 

 

The hooks performed really well except for the few deep hooked fish, and the ones I did get out did not straighten,bend, or warp at all.  They seemed to work well for the money.  You just have to make sure you are looking the hooks over to make sure the line tie is closed off.  Other than that Id say the hooks work well.

 

I have a feeling someone will ask so I may as well get it out now.  Yes we are wearing gloves while holding the fish.  It is for 2 reasons.  1st is because carp are fish and fish have slime coats to protect them.  It is part of their immune system in that it helps them to fight germs and bacteria.  The gloves help to stop the removeing of the slime coat when touching it with bare hands and also allowing the oils and acids from our skin to potentially harm the fish.  The 2nd reason is because I do not want to get the stinky carp slime coat on me.  They stank!  But I still love em!  Which reminds me, I need to scrub my net because it stinks like carp. 

[scaleface]

LMAO. That carp shooting fire out is cool. 

[ChrisWi]

I use a #6 octopus. Under a float with a 5.6 pound leader.