Sizing of hooks

[mikench]

Not a new topic but I spent an hour or so the other day looking through my various hooks to nylon hooklengths both bought and made and dividing them between my stuff for the canal and other venues. I wanted to check on those in sizes 16,18 and 20. I was amazed to find that to the naked eye, well mine at any rate, that the size stated on the packet bore little relation to the actual size. I have packs of 14 and 16 that are as small as 18 and vice versa. I have some 12's that look like a 14. I have some 14's which are as big as some 12's. Rhetorical question of the morning is why don't we have uniform sizing of hooks. I shall rely on what they look like from now on rather than what it says on the packet.

I can't usually cope with 22's or, heaven forbid, 24's but I might think again in the light of the above.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

The short answer Mike is that we used to have a "standard" The Redditch Hook Scale . . .

Redditch was a needle making town that developed into making fishing hooks in the late 18 and early 29th centuries.
For many years it really was the "standard" but as soon a other countries began hook making the standards soon were superseded by local size charts.

 

[Ray Roberts]

It’s a stupid situation. I bought these yesterday, the Kamasan hooks are about the right size but the Korum hooks are about the size of an old size twelve.

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[tigger]

I think drennan, mustard, browning and kamasan (drennan) are all pretty much similar in their actual sizes.
Variations of shape of the same sizes of hook....long shanked, wide gape, chrystal bend etc make a difference between the same sized hooks also.

Most of the other brands such as korum, guru, fox etc seem to be on the larger size, at least the ones i've used aand seen. Maybe the reason is because they are more carp orientated?

I tend to stick to the former brands, of which I have confidence in.

 

[Mark Wintle]

The short answer Mike is that we used to have a "standard" The Redditch Hook Scale . . .

Redditch was a needle making town that developed into making fishing hooks in the late 18 and early 29th centuries.
For man years it really was the "standard" but as soon a other countries began hook making the standards soon were superseded by local size charts.

The needle makers moved to Redditch after the Great Fire of London.

The sizes are a real lottery nowadays; sometime for a pattern one size is about right but another size is much bigger so you get a weird gap in sizes, so it goes for instance- quoted size with actual in brackets - 20 (20), 18 (16) 16 (14) 14 (12) etc..

When I dig out some of the hooks I used in the early 90s it really does seem the past is a foreign country - I found some Mustad 90340 in size 25 the other day - they're tiny! All over the country there are thousands of packets of these obsolete hooks in drawers.

 

[steve2]

When I dig out some of the hooks I used in the early 90s it really does seem the past is a foreign country - I found some Mustad 90340 in size 25 the other day - they're tiny! All over the country there are thousands of packets of these obsolete hooks in drawers.

I have hundreds of hooks in packets that I have never and will never use. I now have no need for real size 20,22 and 24 hooks.
Never have understood wide gap hooks, surely the wider the gap the larger the hook size, but it seems not. Or is it just a way round commercial fishery hook size restrictions.

 

[108831]

Without doubt Steve,commercial fisheries that are match fished put restrictions on hook sizes,usually 12 or 14's at biggest...
As for hooks made by manufacturers such as Drennan and Kamasan,they both have variations through different patterns,my old favourite Carbon Chub is visibly smaller than the Superspade,at least a size,many other patterns are the same,lets be truthful here,for commercial fishing it makes little difference,it does however when your scratching a weight together on squatt,pinkie or bloodworm,in winter I would hesitate to use a 22 on single or double maggot,whats the point if i'm using a gaff???

 

[Paste paul]

The short answer Mike is that we used to have a "standard" The Redditch Hook Scale . . .

Redditch was a needle making town that developed into making fishing hooks in the late 18 and early 29th centuries.
For many years it really was the "standard" but as soon a other countries began hook making the standards soon were superseded by local size charts.

Nice reply

 

[Paste paul]

It’s a stupid situation. I bought these yesterday, the Kamasan hooks are about the right size but the Korum hooks are about the size of an old size twelve.

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Those korum hooks are mega strong though pal ?

 

[markcw]

The short answer Mike is that we used to have a "standard" The Redditch Hook Scale . . .

Redditch was a needle making town that developed into making fishing hooks in the late 18 and early 29th centuries.
For many years it really was the "standard" but as soon a other countries began hook making the standards soon were superseded by local size charts.

Are we time travelling Peter ,?
The late 18th and early 29th centuries ?
Can you give me the next few months lottery numbers please. ?

 

[rayner]

Forget the number on packets and rely on your eyes, I have a feeling the oversize hooks are to combat commercial fishery rules, then again I'm probably wrong, I have sceptical thoughts running through my head more and more the older I get.

 

[mikench]

I have ordered a few packs of size 20 hooks to see how they compare to each other and to others in the smaller sizes. It’s something to do.

 

[rayner]

Have a look at Colmic hooks, Mike, B957 a bronze hook with a round bend that I use for maggot or hemp.
For bread punch or pinkie I use B2000 a silver hook, this has a long shank with a crystal bend.

 

[108831]

My biggest issue is the size of the spades on hooks,many patterns of size 18/20 hooks won't/cant be tied to 0.12mm as the spade isn't big enough....what use is that???

 

[mikench]

I'll have a look at the Colmic range but I've reverted back to hooks to nylon.

 

[Molehill]

Like others I remember when a hook size conjured up in my mind the size of the hook, no more.
There are so many makes and designs that the size numbers are pretty much irrelevant and of no use at all if ordering blind.
Most of my hooks now are stored without their sizes for reference and I simply look and pick the size that suits the bait.

 

[Richox12]

There is no such thing as a std size. What would you use to compare & measure ? Gape width ? Shank Length ? Bend ? Point length ?? When people say a hook is too big by comparison or too small by comparison what is the criteria ? What is the comparison ?

You'll get small spades (width) on small hooks because the wire, generally, is thin and so there is only so much metal to forge without the spades becoming so thin that they snap

 

[mikench]

Even using your eyes to judge isn't easy . Here are 4 size 18 hooks all spade end and the 4th being a hook to nylon.

Different shapes, length of shank and width of gape. I take far too much tackle with me but a micrometer isn't part of it.

 

[Richox12]

To be fair those 4 are nowhere near as radical as some I have seen. But what is that hook to nylon ? The point is awful. It looks 'cut' and angled outwards.

 

[mikench]

It’s a caperlan and is unused.