Being one of the harder game fish to catch, trout fishing requires high-quality hooks. They don’t like to bite anything out of the ordinary. Trout have smaller mouths than other common game fish, like bass and crappie, so using smaller hooks is essential. If trout keep stealing your bait, try downsizing your hook and bait. If you are fishing for large trout, use sizes 2 and 4 hooks. If you are fishing for smaller fish, use a smaller hook. The final factor to take into consideration is the trout size. If you use a larger hook, be ready to use a lot of bait. You want to make the hook invisible within the bait leaving the point out to stick into the trout when it is bit. The size of the bait/type of bait is also something to take into consideration. If the water is crystal clear, use sizes 10 and up. If the water is murky, use sizes 6 and 8.
Another factor to take into consideration is water clarity. There are three types of trout-brown, brook, and rainbow. There are four factors to take into consideration when fishing for trout. Now that you know how hook sizing works let’s look at the best hook size for trout. When reading these numbers aloud, they are read “number-aught.” For example, a 3/0 is read three aught. The larger the first number, the larger the hook. After size 1 hooks, hooks begin to be number 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, and so on. For example, a 32 is a teensy, tiny hook, and a 1 is a quite large hook. The lower the number, the bigger the hook. Sized in whole numbers, hooks range from 32-1.
The gauge of the wire helps understand the sizing of the hooks. The lower the gauge number, the thicker and heavier the wire.
The higher the gauge number, the thinner and lighter the wire. Made from bent wire, hooks are shaped and sharpened to a point. The hook sizing system is global, however. The first thing to know about hook sizing is that not all brands have universal sizing- a size 6 in one brand maybe like a size 8 in another brand. You can make your barbless hooks by snipping off the barb with pliers. You must maintain tension on the fishing line to keep the trout from slipping off. Barbless hooks make it easier to lose trout while you are trying to reel it in. These hooks are ideal if you are catching and releasing them. A benefit of using a treble hook is that one hook goes into the fish while the other two can be used as leverage to get the hook out.īoth treble hooks and single hooks come in barbless as well. Treble hooks cause more damage through foul hooking. If you plan to keep the trout to eat, you can use a treble hook. A treble hook is a hook with a single eye that has three shanks and points welded together. Using treble hooks is a possibility but can be more damaging to the trout. Generally, hits will increase, but trout can shake the hook off easier. Single hooks are the most popular for trout fishing. Single hooks also don’t get stuck in nets, clothes, and weeds. If you plan to catch and release use single hooks. The bend of the hook act as a hinge that allows fish to thrash around without falling off the hook. The straight hooks generally get stuck in the corner of the mouth, which is ideal. They are cost-effective, and the fish are easy to remove. A single hook can be used with a variety of baits, including Powerbait and worms. The benefits of using a single hook are numerous. Two standard hooks are used in trout fishing. The purpose of the barb is to keep the hook in the fish’s mouth. The barb is a sharp spike that is bent from the back of the hook point. The last part of the hook that is important in trout fishing is the barb. The bend is where the shank curves forcing the point forward. The eye is the circle where the fishing line is tied. For beginning trout anglers, the longer the shank, the more successful they will be catching trout. The shank is the length of the hook between the eye and bend. These parts include barb, threat/bite, bend, eye, shank, gape/gap, hook offset, and point. These hooks have the same construction with the same parts. However, there is no difference between trout hooks and other hooks available on the market. There are hooks on the market that are advertised as trout hooks.