Fish Hook
A fish hook or fishhook is a device for capturing fish either by impaling them in the mouth or, considerably more rarely, by snagging the body of the fish. Fish hooks have been employed for centuries simply by anglers to catch clean 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 usually attached to some form of line or perhaps lure which connects the caught fish to the angler. There is an enormous variety of seafood hooks in the world of fishing. Sizes, designs, shapes, and components are all variable depending on the expected purpose of the fish catch. Fish hooks are manufactured to get a range of purposes from standard fishing to extremely limited and specialized applications. Fish hooks are designed to hold various kinds of artificial, processed, dead or live baits (bait fishing); to act as the building blocks 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 has been made by man for many centuries. The world's oldest seafood hooks (they were made via sea snails shells) were 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, 1000 and 16, 000 years old,|4| and New 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 having a hook? Fish hooks had been crafted from all sorts of materials which includes wood, animal|5| and human bone, car horn, shells, stone, bronze, iron, and up to present day resources. In many cases, hooks were created from multiple materials to power the strength and positive characteristics of each material. Norwegians mainly because late as the 1952s still used juniper solid wood to craft Burbot hooks.|6| Quality metal hooks began to make their appearance in Europe in the 17th century and hook producing became a task for professionnals.
Typically referred to parts of a fish hook are: its level, the sharp end that penetrates the fish's oral cavity or flesh; the barb, the projection extending in reverse from the point, that protect the fish from unhooking; a persons vision, 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 eye; and the gap, the distance amongst the shank and the point. Oftentimes, hooks are described through the use of these various parts of the filling device, for example: wide gape, long shank, hollow point or out turned eye.
Fashionable hooks are manufactured from either high-carbon steel, steel alloyed with vanadium, or stainless steel, depending on application. Most quality fish hooks are covered with a few form of corrosion-resistant surface coating. Corrosion resistance is required not merely when hooks are used, particularly in saltwater, but while they are kept. Additionally , coatings are placed on color and/or provide aesthetic value to the hook. At the very least, hooks designed for freshwater employ are coated with a obvious lacquer, but hooks are coated with gold, dime, Teflon, tin and different hues.
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 fit and healthy, 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 delicate dry fly hook is manufactured out of thin wire with a tapered eye because weight may be the overriding factor. Whereas Carlisle or Aberdeen light line bait hooks make use of slender wire to reduce injury to live bait but the eyes are not really tapered because weight can be not an issue. Many factors develop hook design, including corrosion resistance, weight, strength, connecting efficiency, and whether the fishing hook is being used for specific types of bait, on different types of lures or for different types of flies. For each hook type, there are ranges of satisfactory sizes. For all types of hooks, sizes range from 32 (the smallest) to 20/0 (the largest).
Hook forms and names are simply 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 discovered by their general purpose or have contained in their name, one or more of their physical characteristics. Some companies just give their hooks style numbers and describe the general purpose and characteristics. To illustrate:
Eagle Claw: 139 is known as a Snelled Baitholder, Offset, Straight down Eye, Two Slices, Method Wire
Lazer Sharp: L2004EL is a Circle Sea, Extensive Gap, Non-Offset, Ringed Eyesight, Light Wire
Mustad Version: 92155 is a Beak Baitholder hook
Mustad Model: 91715D is an O'Shaughnessy Jig Hook, 90 degree angle
TMC Model 300: Streamer D/E, 6XL, Heavy wire, Forged, Bronze
TMC Model 200R: Nymph & Dry Journey Straight eye, 3XL, Normal wire, Semidropped point, Cast, Bronze
The shape of the catch shank can vary widely coming from merely straight to all sorts of figure, kinks, bends and offsets. These different shapes contribute in some cases to better hook penetration, fly imitations or bait holding ability. Many hooks intended to hold dead or artificial baits have chopped shanks which create barbs for better baiting holding ability. Jig hooks are created to have lead weight carved onto the hook shank. Hook descriptions may also involve shank length as regular, extra long, 2XL, brief, etc . and wire size such as fine wire, extra heavy, 2X heavy, and so forth
Hooks are designed as either solitary hooks-a single eye, shank and point; double hooks-a single eye merged with two shanks and points; or triple-a single eyes merged with three shanks and three evenly spread points. Double hooks happen to be formed from a single little bit of wire and may or may not have their shanks brazed together intended for strength. Treble hooks will be formed by adding a single eyeless hook to a double hook and brazing all three shanks together. Double hooks are used on some artificial lures and are a traditional fly lift for Atlantic Salmon lures, but are otherwise fairly odd. Treble hooks are used in all sorts of artificial lures as well as for a wide variety of bait applications.
The hook point is probably the essential part00 of the hook. It is the stage that must penetrate fish flesh and secure the seafood. The profile of the lift point and its length affect how well the point goes trhough. The barb influences how long the point penetrates, how much pressure is required to penetrate and inevitably the holding power of the hook. Hook points are mechanically (ground) or chemically sharpened. Some hooks will be barbless. Historically, many old fish hooks were barbless, but today a barbless catch is used to make hook removal and fish release not as much stressful on the fish. Filling device points are also described relative to their offset from the fishing hook shank. A kirbed filling device point is offset to the left, a straight point has no balance out and a reversed stage is offset to the best.
Care needs to be taken once handling hooks as they can 'hook' the user. If a hook goes in deep enough under the barb, pulling the lift out will tear the flesh. There are three approaches to remove a hook. Is by cutting the flesh to remove it. The second is to slice the eye of the hook away and then push the remainder from the hook through the flesh and the third is to place pressure on the shank towards the flesh which pulls the barb into the now oval ditch then push the filling device out the way it came in.
