I was hammered last time this subject came up so I probably should leave it alone however as the forums a bit quiet ...
In my opinion the advantages of spades over eyes are overstated. The advantages given are generally along the lines of it gives better presentation as the knots are smaller and neater, the hook is lighter and the line comes off straight from the shank.
However, in the smaller sizes in which they are generally being used the actual difference between a spade or eye in say size 20 is microscopic. I find it very difficult to imagine say a small Perch or Roach being put off taking a maggot on a size 20 eye but gobbling it down without hesitation on a spade…imo that’s just not happening.
Take the point about the extra weight of an eyed hook making the bait fall unnaturally, again we are talking such small amounts that the weight & relative stiffness of the hook link line your using will probably make more difference to how your bait is falling than any minuscule difference in the weight of the hook.
As for the smaller neater knot on a spade leading to better presentation, apart from the fact you can attach an eyed hook with a spade end knot if you want, we are again talking about tiny amounts so I go back to the example of a small fish turning down the maggot on a size 20 attached to say 1lb line because the knot is microscopically larger, again I just can’t see it....
What about the line coming off the hook shank straighter with a spade? That’s another commonly quote « advantage » as it supposedly helps the bait to fall more naturally , well I would counter that if you look at a pouchful of maggots or casters sinking none of them are straight, they are all over the place at all angles so I can’t see that making any real difference either.
Another point people commonly quote is that spades are better for small delicate baits. I would agree…however I think that’s more a function of the fact its difficult to get eyed hooks in the really tiny fine wire sizes. I suspect (guessing) this is probably more down to it being easier & cheaper to manufacture a spade end in tiny fine wire than to try and create a neat eye. The result being that people don’t have the choice and have to pick spades for delicate baits. If more eyed hooks where available in those fine sizes and gauges of wire then I suspect we would see more people using them without any real impact on results.
Where I can just about see a possible advantage of a spade is using a bait such as a caster with say a size 18 or 16 hook…it would be marginally easier to bury the hook in a caster with a spade than an eye but again we are talking fractions here.
The underlying point is that I think there are a lot of imagined advantages of spaces that have become almost universally accepted as being « right » without any real empirical evidence to prove it.
For that reason unless someone has some side by side tests done over an extended period and wants to share those results proving there is some meaningful advantage in using spades then imo everyone is just guessing & I cant see how the hype about spades -if I can put it like that- is really justifed.
Rest assured, you will not be hammered here for giving an honest opinion.
I am grateful for any input as I have no experience using spade end Hooks. I have also never used pre tied hook lengths before (other than carp rigs when younger) so it will be interesting to try some pre tied spade end hooks and compare with my normal method of eyed hooks tied straight to mainline.
90% of my previous float fishing was marginal tench fishing against pads so it was 5-6" waggler on 6lb line shotted shirt button style with a hook on the mainline. (Just how I was taught).
I did however fish lighter on the pole and noticed small roach and rudd would swarm the maggot thrown in but the larger ones would sit deep and be cautious. I noticed this whilst fishing 6-10 ft out with water clarity of around 6ft deep.
I noticed my hook bait would fall a lot faster than the free offerings and would go untouched. I could see the larger roach and rudd sat on the edge of the pads but they wouldn't touch the bait. This is why I assumed it may be the weight of the hook that may be the problem as I was told spade were better but no explanation why.
In reality it could have been a number of things. Float, shot, line dia etc....