Fish Hook Selection Guide for Freshwater Fishing

Choosing the right fish hook for freshwater fishing is especially important for optimal success. For bass anglers, there are many companies making all kinds of different hooks. Many of these are geared towards fishing soft plastic worms, creature baits, swimbaits, grubs and stickbaits. I have been fishing for bass for several years and have amassed a decent amount of knowledge on hook selection. Try out these tips when shopping for your fish hooks for the first time, be it online, at Wal-Mart, Bass Pro Shops, Big 5 or other tackle stores.

I'll be reviewing three hook selections here, generic from Wal-Mart, Eagle Claw, and, finally, the popular Gamatkatsu fish hooks.

For anglers just beginning to fish and needing to stock up on several hook sizes, I would recommend heading over to your local Wal-Mart and buying bronze All-Purpose Baitholder hooks. These usually run 99 cents for a pack of 20, and come in several popular sizes. They are quite cheap, reasonably sharp, and do not break too easily. Of course, they are at the lower end of quality for fish hooks, but they will hook and hold most freshwater fish fairly well. They work great for adding worms, grubs, bread and other types of bait, but also can be used (the larger sizes) for rigging artificial soft plastic lures. However, Eagle Claw and Gamatkatsu make considerably better offset shank hooks for such lure rigging.

Gamatkatsu makes a wonderful offset shank worm hook that seems to work excellently for bass fishing. They are incredibly sharp and come in several sizes. I prefer the 1/0 size for most of my largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing. They really are quite laser sharp, something anglers must be cautious about when handling them or unhooking fish. Almost all fishing stores, even Wal-Mart, carry these hooks. However, they have one huge drawback, and that is the price for them. A pack of 8 usually costs around $4, not cheap at all, especially if you lose several when fishing in thick logs, lily pads, or other bass cover.

Finally, we come to Eagle Claw. Eagle Claw makes a huge array of hooks, including the super popular egg hooks (great for trout fishing, or for fish with very small mouths). However, for most basic hooks, I would recommend just buying the generics at Wal-Mart, not Eagle Claw. I will buy Eagle Claw hooks instead of Gamatkatsu when it comes to largemouth bass offset shank worm hooks. Eagle Claw sells several sizes for this, including the great 1/0 size I prefer, and their hooks are also quite sharp. I think Gamatkatsu hooks may be slightly sharper than the Eagle Claw hooks, but I do not think the difference is that much. The price difference is fairly considerable too, with a pack of 8 Eagle Claw offset shank worm hooks for plastic worm fishing costing just around $2. So, for me, Eagle Claw works fine for my bass angler needs. If I was tournament fishing, I might pay a little extra and go with the Gamatkatsu hooks, but for recreational anglers Eagle Claw should be sufficient. Tight lines!