saltwater/freshwater

[Twofingerz 0]

In the latest issue of American Angler there are a couple of freshwater patterns detailed that use stainless steel saltwater hooks in their materials list.

Maybe its just me but that does not sound like the most prudent thing to do. My thinking is that it is going to take a longer time for a stainless hook to "rust out" if lost in a fish.

 

Am i alone in thinking this is not the correct thing to do?

 

I am sure an appropriate non-stainless hook could be substituted with a little research.

 

Is there some kind of ethics or environmentally conscious way to handle a situation like that?

 

Should stainless be used in freshwater?

 

 

Thoughts and opinions.

 

Two

[stevebasson 0]

Iv'e always had my doubts about the claims of the hook "rusting out". For some reason if you google the subject there is suprisingly little, or maybe that should be not suprisingly little subject research in the angling community. What research there is seems to suggest that hooks don't rust out in a few days. Inspite of a life long catch and release mentality, I have always had a deep down notion that any fish gut hooked won't last long with the hook left in it. Back to your question as it relates to this, stainless steel would not seem to be a good choice, if gut hooking was a concern.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Is there some kind of ethics or environmentally conscious way to handle a situation like that?

 

Tough question! I feel we each have to deal with it as individuals as best we can. Fishing, like it or not will involve the loss of some fish, that's the way it is.

 

I tie for both freshwater & salt, and use a variety of hooks. Some are bronzed, some are nickel or black nickel, some plated with corrosion resistant materials, some are stainless. I try to use what I feel is the best choice for the environment I'll be fishing in & for the type of fish. I don't have a problem with using stainless in tidalwaters for largemouth bass, or even striped bass where the fish are generally small. But, I usually don't use stainless except on bonefish or other "flats" type flies, as stainless is not as strong or as sharp as carbon steel hooks in the larger sizes. I would rather have the hook rust, than sacrifice these other qualities. I would not have an issue using stainless in freshwater, but don't, for the same reasons.

 

As far as losing fish or gut hooking, it's going to happen. The only way to prevent it is don't fish. If it's a big concern for you, then use circle hooks, which will greatly reduce the gut hooking, and use heavier leaders/tippets to reduce break off's. Debarbing all your hooks will also help, including circle hooks. But, it will still happen.

 

If it happens, I would rather gut hook a fish with a stainless hook. No, it's likely it won't rust quickly, but it's more likely that the finish on other hooks, as it deteriorates will do more damage to the fish than the hook rusting. This is especially true with corrosion resistant platings.

 

If I gut hook a fish, and it's legal, I'll keep it, otherwise it gets returned to the water. If I lose a fish to a break off, I don't worry about it, but I do make all efforts to reduce it happening again. I feel that's the best I can do.

[Twofingerz 0]

i was leaning more towards the oft written fishing reports that mention "i caught 5 but had 4 break off" as opposed to the gut hooked. 4 fish out there with stainless stuck in there jaw was more of what i was driving at.

 

to be honest i am a warmwater fisher and have not fished the local streams for trout, although at the shop they are always encouraging me to get out there and just do it. in the style of fishing i do, i do not use skinny tapered leaders or fine tippets and consequently dont have many break offs. my leaders tend to be oversize, and when i am pike fishing i use Tyger Wire.

 

personally i dont see many freshwater pattern recipes that call for a stainless hook like the ones in the aforementioned article so perhaps it really isnt that big of a deal afterall. maybe it really is a non-issue.

 

thank you both for your input.

 

Two

[tidewaterfly 0]

I don't have such issues too often either, and I'm also primarily a warmwater & tidewater angler. I rarely get the opportunity to fish for trout. I would guess that someone who regularly fishes for certain species, like pike, tarpon, snook, muskies, etc, might have more break offs than we would. I've broken bass off, mostly when they get into snags, but not many. I also use wire leaders when needed.

[redietz 0]

to be honest i am a warmwater fisher and have not fished the local streams for trout, although at the shop they are always encouraging me to get out there and just do it. in the style of fishing i do, i do not use skinny tapered leaders or fine tippets and consequently dont have many break offs. my leaders tend to be oversize, and when i am pike fishing i use Tyger Wire.

 

I do fish for trout a lot and seldom break off a fish. Those that I do are generally on 7x, and I'm fishing size 20 or smaller flies. I suspect these don't stay in the fish very long even without "rusting out." I sure I've never broken off a trout on any size hook that they even make in stainless.

 

I also suspect that many of those "hooked 5 but broke off 4" stories involve the hook working loose, rather than actually breaking the tippet.

 

I doubt that stainless would make much of a difference one way or the other as to mortality. That being said, I wouldn't use them just because I don't like the way they look.

[Philly 0]

Many of the smaller bait fish patterns in my salt water and warmwater boxes are interchangeable. So I have some tied on stainless in my freshwater box at times, mainly on the Gamakatsu SC15. I also so have some bronze hooks in my saltwater box. The main issue is the style of hook used to tie the fly and the style used for the bait fish patterns I like wasn't available until recently in a fresh water hook. I've now found a Gamakatsu hook that seems to be the fresh water equivalent of the SC15, so I tie my patterns on it for fresh water.

I can count the number of times I've gut hooked a fish on fly with one hand, so it hasn't been that much of an issue for me. A couple were trout and they went into the frying pan. The others were bass, and I cut the line and released them.

 

[JakeGerardKud 0]

In my opinion stainless or traditional hooks don't make any difference in freshwater. I pinch the barbs on ALL of my hooks. Nymphs, dries and streamers except #18 and smaller. There are very few times where I have gut hooked fish while fly fishing. And if I do...so be it. It happens. It's inevitable.