Philip, what style of carp fishing do you use Super Specialist hooks and what size of fish do you expect to catch?
I ask as though they're great hooks, I only use them for smaller species; bream, tench, chub and barbel etc
---------- Post added at 21:49 ---------- Previous post was at 21:46 ----------
Very much so, to bloody many too choose from!
I use them for just about all my Carp fishing on both lakes and rivers...so anything from bolt/hair rigs to bait stuck direct on hook float fishing.
I am in a fortunate position that I am able to fish venues which hold some very large fish. The river produced them to over 80 pounds in the past. Fish half that size are still a realistic target.
I generally use sizes 8 through to 2 for Carping. I can recall a size 8 opening up on one occasion and also I think a size 16 on a Barbel on one occasion but I'd have to go back to my diaries to be sure. I heard some bad things about the size 2s but I have used them allot and never had a problem.
Keep in mind I tend to «*play*» my fish rather than try and rip its head off. Perhaps there are better options for for out and out brute force snag fishing.
Overall I think the DSS are a good balance between strength and subtlety. I am aware of the various pros and cons of different shaped gapes, points, in or out turned eyes, offsets & so on but I believe that at the end of the day our rigs are so naff at hooking anyway it really does not make that much difference and picking a hook with a straight eye and a straight point like a DSS is a good compromise
If I could make one change it would be to have them without the offset but again its not a big deal.
Best of all is the cost. I dont know how others can charge 3, 4 or 5 times as much. With the DSS you dont think twice about changing it.