Too many people talk the talk but don't walk the walk when it comes to using sharp hooks and a pile of fish get missed because of that. I am a complete fanatic about sharp hooks.
Hook Rule Number One on my boat is that unsharpened hooks are absolutely not allowed aboard. All sharpening is done either at the work bench up at the house or by me and the boys when we're at the dock. That's the best way that I know of for never putting anything but a deadly sharp hook out.
I do not fish double hooks ever, for anything. I have seen "One hook for the fish and one hook for the fisherman" too many times and never want to see it again, plus they snag and mutilate too many marlin for my taste, so no doubles on my boat, thank you.
If I am using Mustad 7731's, which I am getting away from because there is now an alternative made by a company that does not sell longliners, there's a shot of how I used to sharpen them. Just in case you didn't know, Mustad is not only the biggest longline hook seller in the world, they are the biggest longline supplier, period, including the fifty and hundred mile reels with automatic baiters and fish removers that can lay a longline at ten knots. No way am I going to support that company by buying their hooks! You do what you like, but that's where I stand.
The picture below is how I used to sharpen and stiffen the 7731's. I reduced the barb and sharpened the lower knife and filed another, very sharp one on the top of the hook. They had to be almost as sharp as the arrow heads that I used to sharpen back in my archery deer hunting days and we warn people not to mess around with them on the boat because they are flat-out dangerous! I finished them with a "chisel point". This was primarily for marlin, sharks, wahoos and dolphins.
I have always used conical points and circle hooks on tuna lures because of their soft mouths. The thresher lures and all of my others now use either the new Hays conical hooks or circle hooks. Yeah, yeah, I know, "Circle hooks in lures? Crazy Fred!" Same thing people said fifteen years ago when I started using circles in bait. You watch, they'll be standard in lures in a few years.)
This shot is a Moldcraft Wide Range with the stiffened "Scorpion" hook pulled into the head. I am from the school that believes that gamefish target the eye of lures and baits trolled at regular-to-fast speeds of 6-12 knots; not the actual eye itself, but they use it as a reference point to bite behind and get at the gills and heart areas, which kills and doesn't cripple a bait that another competitor might take from the crippler. I believe that high speed fish do go for the tail and so I run a stiffened tail gunner on those lures.
Next is one of our SuperBar chasebait switch rigs with a circle hook. Myself and several other charter captain buddies use nothing but circles in the bars that we fish and have for well over ten years. We have to catch fish for people who spend a lot of money to fish with us and believe me, we wouldn't fish the circles if they weren't simply the best hooks for the job. It is important to remove the barbs. This makes removing the hook way easier.
Finally, here's a look at one of those hooks that has let me say goodbye to the longliner's best friend, Mustad. It is a GREAT hook and is the only true big game hook that I do not sharpen.
The last shot is of the available sizes of the Hays Hooks. Great stuff!
Well, there you go as far as one man's preferences as far as hook sharpening is concerned. Hope it helps or at least is of interest.
