Hooked

We are all guilty of it...fishing with dull hooks. I believe more fish are lost due to dull hooks than all of the other reasons combined. I went through my tackle box recently and I must admit that most of the hooks needed some work. The surprising thing is that it took very little time to bring the hooks back into fish catching condition.

You may be wondering what constitutes a sharp hook. It's simple, if the hook tip does not immediately bite into your fingernail, it is not sharp. Getting the hook sharp is a pretty simple process. All it takes is a few swipes along the bevel of the point with a file or hook sharpener. It doesn't take much. Remember, there is not a lot of metal there to deal with. Too much filing and you may ruin the hook.

A habit that you should acquire is to sharpen your hooks while fishing. This is the part most fisherman forget. There are times when I'm fishing a river that I will sharpen the hook every time before casting back out. Depending on the conditions you are fishing in you may have to do the same thing. At least check the hook quickly. If it doesn't bite your nail give it a quick swipe of the file. You never know, the next cast may be the fish of a lifetime.