Gamakatsu G-Point trebles

Got some of these on impulse when I ordered a few packets of Owners to top up my rig bins. Got to say they're seriously, seriously sharp straight out of the packet, nice round bend pattern with a whisker barb.

My two slight reservations are that the barb's perhaps a bit too shy and the eyes seem a little bigger than the Owners I've been using for the last couple of seasons.  At £2.99 for five, they're in the same price bracket - I wonder why people who make premium hooks don't at least package them in even numbers, so you get enough to make two or three traces.

I can see me using these on smaller sea deads. When I get round to catching on them, I'll let you know how they fare. 

A seriously useful bit of kit for pike fishing

If you haven't got one of these, go buy one. It really will help you catch more pike over the course of a winter, it's really that simple.

I always carry a sharpening stone in my pocket to make sure the hooks are sharp, because blunt hooks can cost you fish. I inspect them every cast when I'm bait fishing, because it's surprising how often you can blunt them without noticing until you bump a fish off because they fail to go in on the strike.

Gravel pits are particularly bad when it comes to getting a point dinged on a stone or piece of flint. Sod's law that'll be the one that fails to gain a hold in a pike's bony mouth, when one picks your bait up. Hooks on lures need sharpening regularly too - not just every few weeks, if they start to go rusty.

I got the carborundum stone from a tool shop. It cost me two quid four or five seasons ago and it still does the job, despite getting a little bit grooved. The pocket file alongside it in the picture below cost around the same from Tesco. It's got a finer groove in it, which is ideal for touching up the points on smaller hooks on bait fishing traces.

Both stone and file are used in a similar way. Just grasp the hook firmly by the shank, between thumb and forefinger of you left hand (if you're right-handed...) and stroke the stone along the point, working from the bend to the point.

Don't try working the hook along the stone, as - speaking from bitter experience - it's an easy way to end up with a hook point in your finger.

Once you get the hang of if, you can sharpen the hooks on a bait trace or a lure in a few seconds. And those few seconds just might make all the difference between a good hook-hold and a fish that stays on, to one that comes adrift.

Owner trebles for pike fishing reviewed

People talk a lot about these trebles, which are probably as good as anything else you can get your hands on at the moment. The main debate is whether the ST36 pattern (pictured left...) is strong enough, or whether the ST41(on the right...)  is a more reliable hook.

Both are seriously sharp, with a whisker barb. Having tried both, the slightly finer 36 gets my vote - not for reasons of strength, although I've never had one straighten on a fish, but because I've got more confidence in a hook with a straight needle point, than the curved points on the 46s.

When the points blunt - as all hooks do sooner or later - I find it much easier to touch up the straight ones with a sharpening stone than the curved variety. I tend to use the black ones, which currently cost upwards of £4 for seven. Mates tell me the red ones are just as good.

Hooks usually outlive the wire, so when a trace becomes kinked, I cut the hooks off and re-use them. I always used barbed hooks, because I lost too many fish when I used barbless. Most of the time, I use size fours, but will happily go up to twos for larger baits.

Both have a smaller barb than a lot of other hooks. So they come out easier. In fact despite the fact they're barbed, I still land fish and find the hooks in the net from time to time - or lose the odd one that throws the bait, taking the hooks with it.

There's not much else you can say about a hook, other than it's obviously the thing that connects you to the fish. For these reason alone, it pays not to skimp on them.