Fish Hook
A fish hook or fishhook is a device for catching fish either by impaling them in the mouth or, extra rarely, by snagging the body of the fish. Fish hooks have been employed for centuries simply by anglers to catch fresh and saltwater fish. In 2005, the fish catch was chosen by Forbes as one of the top twenty equipment in the history of man.|1| Fish hooks are typically attached to some form of line or lure which connects the caught fish to the fisherman. There is an enormous variety of fish hooks in the world of fishing. Sizes, designs, shapes, and components are all variable depending on the designed purpose of the fish hook. Fish hooks are manufactured for a range of purposes from standard fishing to extremely limited and specialized applications. Fish hooks are designed to hold different kinds of artificial, processed, useless or live baits (bait fishing); to act as the inspiration for artificial representations of fish prey (fly fishing); or to be attached to or integrated into other devices that represent fish prey (lure fishing).
The fish hook or similar device is made by man for many centuries. The world's oldest fish hooks (they were made by sea snails shells) had been discovered in Sakitari Cave in Okinawa Island dated between 22, 380 and twenty two, 770 years old.|2||3| They are older than the fish hooks from the Jerimalai cave in East Timor dated between 23, 000 and 16, 000 years of age,|4| and Fresh Ireland in Papua New Guinea dated 20, 500 to 18, 000 years old.|2|
An early written reference to a fish hook is found with regards to the Leviathan in the Book of Job 41: 1; Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? Fish hooks have already been crafted from all sorts of materials including wood, animal|5| and human bone, car horn, shells, stone, bronze, flat iron, and up to present day resources. In many cases, hooks were made out of multiple materials to influence the strength and positive attributes of each material. Norwegians mainly because late as the fifties still used juniper solid wood to craft Burbot hooks.|6| Quality metal hooks began to make the look of them in Europe in the seventeenth century and hook making became a task for experts.
Frequently referred to parts of a seafood hook are: its point, the sharp end that penetrates the fish's oral cavity or flesh; the barb, the projection extending back from the point, that obtains the fish from unhooking; the eye, the loop in the end of the hook that is connected to the fishing line or lure; the bend and shank, that portion of the hook that connects the point and the vision; and the gap, the distance amongst the shank and the point. Most of the time, hooks are described by utilizing these various parts of the fishing hook, for example: wide gape, lengthy shank, hollow point or out turned eye.
Contemporary hooks are manufactured from either high-carbon steel, steel alloyed with vanadium, or stainless steel, according to application. Most quality fish hooks are covered which includes form of corrosion-resistant surface layer. Corrosion resistance is required not simply when hooks are used, especially in saltwater, but while they are placed. Additionally , coatings are placed on color and/or provide artistic value to the hook. At the very least, hooks designed for freshwater employ are coated with a very clear lacquer, but hooks also are coated with gold, dime, Teflon, tin and different colors.
There are a large number of different types of seafood hooks. At the macro level, there are bait hooks, fly hooks and lure hooks. Within these broad groups there are wide varieties of filling device types designed for different applications. Hook types differ in form, materials, points and barbs, and eye type, and ultimately in their intended app. When individual hook types are designed the specific characteristics of every of these hook components will be optimized relative to the hook's intended purpose. For example , a fragile dry fly hook is made from thin wire with a tapered eye because weight is the overriding factor. Whereas Carlisle or Aberdeen light cable bait hooks make use of skinny wire to reduce injury to live bait but the eyes are not really tapered because weight is definitely not an issue. Many factors bring about hook design, including corrosion resistance, weight, strength, connecting efficiency, and whether the catch is being used for specific types of bait, on various kinds of lures or for different types of flies. For each hook type, there are ranges of suitable sizes. For all types of hooks, sizes range from thirty-two (the smallest) to 20/0 (the largest).
Hook styles and names are mainly because varied as fish themselves. In some cases hooks are discovered by a traditional or historic name, e. g. Aberdeen, Limerick or O'Shaughnessy. In other cases, hooks are merely diagnosed by their general purpose or have built into their name, one or more with their physical characteristics. Some producers just give their hooks style numbers and describe the general purpose and characteristics. Such as:
Eagle Claw: 139 can be described as Snelled Baitholder, Offset, Straight down Eye, Two Slices, Method Wire
Lazer Sharp: L2004EL is a Circle Sea, Large Gap, Non-Offset, Ringed Vision, Light Wire
Mustad Style: 92155 is a Beak Baitholder hook
Mustad Model: 91715D is an O'Shaughnessy Lure Hook, 90 degree angle
TMC Model 300: Streamer D/E, 6XL, Heavy wire, Agreed to, Bronze
TMC Model 200R: Nymph & Dry Fly Straight eye, 3XL, Normal wire, Semidropped point, Signed, Bronze
The shape of the hook shank can vary widely coming from merely straight to all sorts of curves, kinks, bends and offsets. These different shapes play a role in some cases to better hook transmission, fly imitations or lure holding ability. Many hooks intended to hold dead or artificial baits have sliced up shanks which create barbs for better baiting keeping ability. Jig hooks are created to have lead weight molded onto the hook shank. Hook descriptions may also incorporate shank length as normal, extra long, 2XL, short, etc . and wire size such as fine wire, extra heavy, 2X heavy, etc .
Hooks are designed as either single hooks-a single eye, shank and point; double hooks-a single eye merged with two shanks and factors; or triple-a single eyesight merged with three shanks and three evenly spaced points. Double hooks will be formed from a single little bit of wire and may or may not have their shanks brazed together to get strength. Treble hooks happen to be formed by adding a single eyeless hook to a double fishing hook and brazing all three shanks together. Double hooks are being used on some artificial fishing bait and are a traditional fly hook for Atlantic Salmon jigs, but are otherwise fairly unusual. Treble hooks are used upon all sorts of artificial lures along with a wide variety of bait applications.
The hook point is probably the most important part of the hook. It is the stage that must penetrate fish flesh and secure the fish. The profile of the lift point and its length effect how well the point permeates. The barb influences what lengths the point penetrates, how much pressure is required to penetrate and inevitably the holding power of the hook. Hook points happen to be mechanically (ground) or chemically sharpened. Some hooks happen to be barbless. Historically, many early fish hooks were barbless, but today a barbless filling device is used to make hook removal and fish release much less stressful on the fish. Catch points are also described relative to their offset from the hook shank. A kirbed lift point is offset to the left, a straight point has no balance out and a reversed level is offset to the ideal.
Care needs to be taken when ever handling hooks as they can 'hook' the user. If a filling device goes in deep enough below the barb, pulling the filling device out will tear the flesh. There are three ways to remove a hook. The foremost is by cutting the drag to remove it. The second is to cut the eye of the hook off and then push the remainder from the hook through the flesh as well as the third is to place pressure on the shank towards the drag which pulls the barb into the now oval gap then push the fishing hook out the way it came in.
