hook sharpening

[floridadeckie]

when I sharpen my hooks, I prefer to make a short 4-sided point, similar to patudo. one thing to remember, dont drag the hook along the file with the tip gathering all the burrs. this will reduce its penetration power. whether you can see the burs or not, they are there. marty likes to pull away from from his body, I like to pull towards me. I can control the pressure and angle much better that way. I will put two flat sides on the outer edge of the tip, but only the tip and nothing further back. on the barb side, I will change the angle and sharpen the point all the way back to the edge of the barb. these steps allow the hook to penetrate and get good purchase with a minimum of drag pressure. then I take a big permanent marker and color anywhere I've filed. this reduces the amount of rust in the box, and also helps you see where a missed fish struck the hook and what you can improve. you can also color-code your hooks this way, improving your rigging efficiency

[whalebreath]

I like the chainsaw file rig for sharpening larger hooks and I flatten the point with few swipes on a flat file to create more of Shark's tooth on the hook point.

About sharpening aboard your boat always be careful of where those filings are falling-once they're in your gelcoat and start to rust....well there are products you can buy to take those rusty spots out but all you'll end up with is a few clean spots and lots of rusty ones (plus a sore back/knees from all that time on deck scrubbing.)