Eyed or spade?

[Regalis]

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[Regalis]

Good stuff.

I notice one of the patterns you went for seems to be the Guru LWG barbless, the interesting thing is that appears to be one of the patterns of hooks available in sizes down to at least 20 in both spade and eye versions.. Both also appear to have the same wire gauge too. I think anyway.

This means an unbiased comparison could be made between the exact same hook in eyed & spade should you wish by getting the eyed version as well and fishing both of them e.g fish 2 rods or swapping the hook in the session etc etc to see if you notice any difference. Obviously we probably cannot determine much over just 1 session but it could be interesting/fun to try never the less.

As you started the thread asking which is best I would imagine you are going to be unbiased in their apprasial as well.

A picture as they say paints a thousand words. It would be interesting to see how the fish react to the difference between these. Its also worth noting that the photo below has no scale so we dont know what size or magnifycation is going on here. Obviously the actual physical difference becomes smaller & smaller as the hooks size goes down ;

View attachment 18459

I will be buying some eyed hooks too so I will have to see how they compare. I have to say though.... I do like the way those spades hang! ?

 

[Philip]

Yes whipped knots do look nice.

It would actually be great for you to give the two a go because as I say I think as you started the thread asking which is best your going to be pretty fair about it plus its a bit of fun too.

 

[Regalis]

I w

Yes whipped knots do look nice.

It would actually be great for you to give the two a go because as I say I think as you started the thread asking which is best your going to be pretty fair about it plus its a bit of fun too.

I'll be buying more soon and fishing when it warms up. Not sure I would be able to tie anything smaller than a 16 spade. I got fat fingers

 

[Philip]

Use eyed ...as you have more choice of knots you might be able to find one that you can tie in the cold with fat fingers below size 16.

...you have just highlighted one advantage of eyes over spades btw..

 

[Regalis]

Use eyed ...as you have more choice of knots so might be able to find one that you can tie in the cold with fat fingers below size 16.

...you have just highlighted one advantage of eyes over spades btw..

I will have to look for some 20s. The smallest I seen on the Drennan display were 18s and they looked ridiculously small. The 4lb line is like cotton....

I laughed when I peeled the line off in the car. Could have used my hair! ?

 

[sam vimes]

Here's another option that available as both eyed and spade versions of the exact same pattern. Might be telling that there are no sizes less than 16 and that the eyed variant might appear more popular. I can heartily recommend the hooks, though I use the spade version. If I commonly used hooks bigger than a 14, I'd have no qualms about using the eyed version.

https://www.bobcotackle.co.uk/shop/browning-sphere-beast-eyed-barbless-hooks

https://www.bobcotackle.co.uk/shop/browning-sphere-beast-spade-barbless-hooks

 

[wetthrough]

Guru LWG

20s eyed 0.326 spade 0.325
18s Eyed 0.371 spade 0.353
16s Eyed 0.386 spade 0.370
14s Eyed 0.429 spade 0.436

Measured across the bend.

 

[wetthrough]

I will have to look for some 20s.

The Guru 20s are quite big compared to Drennan 20s, more like 18s

 

[Philip]

Guru LWG

20s eyed 0.326 spade 0.325
18s Eyed 0.371 spade 0.353
16s Eyed 0.386 spade 0.370
14s Eyed 0.429 spade 0.436

Measured across the bend.

Ah shame there seems to be a small difference then, thats a pity so it wont be an -exact-..like for like comparison. Mind you the difference is getting microscopic in the smallest size.

 

[Regalis]

Spade end hooks, line ø rather than bs, loaded wagglers.....

What have I become..... ?

 

[nottskev]

Guru LWG

20s eyed 0.326 spade 0.325
18s Eyed 0.371 spade 0.353
16s Eyed 0.386 spade 0.370
14s Eyed 0.429 spade 0.436

Measured across the bend.

Did you weigh them, Gordon, if that's even possible? By batch, if impossible individually? I imagine weight would have as much bearing on how a hook affects how small baits behave, leaving aside any effect of different knots.

 

[wetthrough]

No, didn't weigh them. I can and will tomorrow, I've put them all away now. I might not have ten of each though so will just have to weight what I can.
Numbers in parentheses are number weighed.

14 eyed 0.0235 (12) spade 0.0214 (10)
16 eyed 0.0166 (8) spade 0.0159 (16)
18 eyed 0.0141 (10) spade 0.0118 (5)
20 eyed .00977 (9) spade 0.009 (5)

grams

 

[wetthrough]

What have I become..... ?

A retailers dream come true

 

[Philip]

I can and will tomorrow, I've put them all away now. I might not have ten of each though so will just have to weight what I can.

Not sure how practical it is Gordon but if you have the facility to do it what would be interesting as well…could you weigh a few maggots at the same time ?

I am being serious btw. It would be interesting to see if any difference in the hook weight of size 20 in spade or eyed is less than the difference in weight of a bigger or smaller maggot.

Its a shame we dont seem to have anything less than a size 20 …as the size goes down the difference of course becomes even more tiny.

 

[nottskev]

Cheers, Gordon. Here's a point about the claim that knots through an eye must be better than knots whipped below a spade.

Take a very fine wire hook, like Kamasan B511. On the market for years, a favourite of eg anglers fishing hemp on the drop for roach.

In practice, even with very fine lines, if you overload this set up, either the hook will open up or the hooklength break a distance from the hook.
I've had both happen, as have most. But I can't remember the whipping knot itself failing. Conclusion? That knot is already more than strong enough for the hook and line, and no need to fret over it. You need to judge what is a good enough knot with reference to the things that are being knotted.

 

[Regalis]

A retailers dream come true

My bass and Pollock lure collection already shows this.... ?

I got a free hot chocolate from mcdonalds this morning from one of the guys at AD.... they see me a lot

 

[rob48]

Cheers, Gordon. Here's a point about the claim that knots through an eye must be better than knots whipped below a spade.

Take a very fine wire hook, like Kamasan B511. On the market for years, a favourite of eg anglers fishing hemp on the drop for roach.

In practice, even with very fine lines, if you overload this set up, either the hook will open up or the hooklength break a distance from the hook.
I've had both happen, as have most. But I can't remember the whipping knot itself failing. Conclusion? That knot is already more than strong enough for the hook and line, and no need to fret over it. You need to judge what is a good enough knot with reference to the things that are being knotted.

Agree with this.
I've had many occasions where having struck into a snag the hook has eventually opened out and pulled free, and even times when a saturated small branch has been dragged into the side, without the knot failing. This actually confirms what I said earlier about whipping type knots becoming tighter and stronger as more pressure is applied to them, and shows that they are certainly strong enough to realize the function required of them.

 

[wetthrough]

and line, and no need to fret over it. You need to judge what is a good enough knot with reference to the things that are being knotted.

Agreed that they need to be balanced. I've snapped a 20s Guru LWG eyed testing it with 3.3lb Supplex Fluoro. Not an indication that it would happen in use as they're pulled against a steel pin but suggests that 3.3lb line is sailing a bit close to the wind on a 20s LWG.

 

[wetthrough]

Cheers, Gordon. Here's a point about the claim that knots through an eye must be better than knots whipped below a spade.

Weighed 30 (how sad is this?) 0.0812g each but they won't weigh that under water.