Holding up a blunt pencil, TJ Stallings of TTI/Blakemore asked me, "Would you want the doctor to give you a shot with a needle that looks like this?" Then he picked up a hook made of thin-gauge wire. "Or this?"
Knowing the obvious answer, Stallings went on to explain that any sane person would opt to get stuck with the thinnest possible needle because a small-diameter point penetrates more easily and inflicts less pain. While a fish's sensitivity to pain remains a subject of debate, the "penetrates more easily" part gets every angler's attention when we talk about hooks.
The secret to making effective hooks goes beyond simply using thin-gauge wire, of course. Big-game anglers, for example, must rely on beefy hooks to hold strong fish. Just as manufacturers offer many different hook sizes and styles, they also have various ways of making their points.
Cut and Cutting
Mustad applies the most simple hook-point technology to its Classic series. "Our Classic has a cut point - not to be confused with cutting point," says Mustad sales manager, Jeff Pierce. Examine the tip of a nail to get a rough but considerably more blunt idea of how the magnified image of a cut-point hook might look. "A machine cuts the wire at an angle to form the hook point," Pierce says. "It's not super sharp, but it's effective, reliable and very affordable."
Mustad, VMC and many other companies can offer cut-point hooks at low prices because of the streamlined and inexpensive production process. Don't fall for the misconception that cheap means inferior though. This widely used, traditional point type ensures adequate performance and penetration.
Manufacturers often add a step to give cut-point hooks a better edge. "Look at a 10/0 hook," says Pierce. "That's a substantial piece of steel to bury in a fish's jaw! Every little thing we can do to improve penetration makes a huge difference, which is why Mustad puts Knife Edge points on many of our hooks destined for use in the big-game arena."
The Knife Edge begins as a Classic (cut) point; then an additional process files two sides of the barb to form a keen edge that facilitates penetration. "The sharp edge helps the point enter, but it doesn't actually cut its way in," Pierce explains.
To make Cone Cut points, VMC forms a three-sided cut point and hones just the tip into a sharp cone. The smooth, conical tip promotes quick hook-sets by gaining quick entry and leading the rest of the point to a firm hold on a fish. The company's Pyramid Cone point employs a similar strategy, with a conical tip on a four-sided point.
Owner hooks' patented Cutting Point technology features a needle-sharp point ahead of a triple-edged cutting design. Rather than having to force its way into a fish's jaw, the point cuts a path for the rest of the hook to follow. As an analogy, compare using a letter opener to slice an envelope instead of ripping it with the tip of a pen.
When TTI/Blakemore asked a surgical- needle manufacturer to test the penetrating ability of different brands of hooks (all hooks tested had the same diameter), the results showed a distinct advantage for cutting-point models. More specifically, an XPoint hook required only 50 grams of force to bury the barb, while it took 350 grams of force to achieve the same penetration with a needle-point hook. XPoints - thin-wire hooks designed for fishing soft-plastic baits - wield four microcutting edges, similar to a miniature broadhead arrow, that perforate a fish's mouth with ease. "The people at the needle company saw that a cutting point penetrates more cleanly and quickly than a conical point," Stallings says. "Shortly after those tests, they began designing surgical needles similar to our XPoint hooks!"
