Different types of fishing hooks for carp – everything you need to know

Fishing hooks are arguably the most important item of tackle that you will ever use, because if that fails to take a hold in the mouth of a carp in the first place, then the rest of your tackle is irrelevant, as you are never going to have a hooked fish to play on it!

It is also the thing that most closely connects you to the fish, and also by far the most likely to fail, in terms of it potentially coming adrift and resulting in a hook pull – as opposed to the actual construction/manufacturing of the hook failing as it bends out or snaps.

By far the most common way to lose a carp is via a hook pull, and far more so than your line or hook link snapping or being cut off. Hook pulls are usually caused by the hook not going into the mouth of a fish in the way that it should do, and rig efficiency and using the right type of hook for the situation plays a big part in that and where the hook takes a hold – ideally you want it in the centre of the bottom lip.

The occasional hook pull can be down to bad luck, such as the fish having existing mouth damage, or it dislodging the hook in weed during the fight, but if it becomes a regular occurrence, then you need to look at both your rig and hook choices – it can often be as simple as just tweaking your set-up slightly, such as the length of the hook link; or you may need to consider a more suitable pattern for the situation or rig, or even just stepping up the gauge of the wire if you’re going to need to pile on the pressure. In most cases with hook pulls or even hook failures where it bends or snaps, it is down to the rig not having worked effectively enough to provide you with a good hook hold, rather than being a fault with the hook itself.

A hook is also the item of tackle that you will use most of, and will change the most often, so it is important to understand what is available and when to use a particular pattern, as well as having complete confidence in that hook – which only comes with actually going out and catching some fish on it.

Different shapes/patterns of carp fishing hooks

There is a vast array of different shaped hooks available, even just within the Korda range, and whilst this may seem confusing, these patterns all work in slightly different ways, or are best suited for certain rigs.

In the past, choice tended to be quite limited, certainly in terms of hooks designed specifically for carp fishing and which were strong and sharp enough for that purpose, and whilst some of those patterns, such as the Wide Gape, are timeless classics, others are far more recent additions and reflect the changes in the types of carp rigs that tend to be popular these days, as well as hook technology improvements.

This has seen some of the older patterns within the Korda range, such as the Wide Gape, Longshank X - that shape was originally based on a salmon hook – Kurv Shank and Kontinental, being joined by hooks like the Krank, Klor, Choddy, Spinner, and Straight Point.

When it comes to hooks, it is worth remembering that there is very little that is truly new in terms of shape, as there is only so much you can do with a hook, and although these patterns might not have been used in carp fishing before, they often have been in other types of fishing, or are slight variations on that which have been adapted to suit carp fishing rigs.

So don’t expect to find some sort of ‘wonder’ hook that is perfect for every situation, as such a thing doesn’t exist!

You will see from the Korda videos, such as Masterclass and Thinking Tackle, that our Team Korda anglers often vary the pattern that they are using, depending on the angling situation they are in and rig they’re using, and many of these hooks have been designed for a specific purpose or to solve a rig problem that the likes of Danny Fairbrass has personally encountered.

That could be needing a stronger hook; one that flips over more quickly without needing extra kickers or shrink tubing; a hook that is suitable with very stiff hook link materials, such as chods; or even the length of the shank or shape of the point.

That doesn’t mean that you have to use a different pattern every time you go fishing, and whilst one hook won’t do everything, you’ll probably also have noticed that some very successful anglers tend to stick with the same rig and hook pattern, unless they are in a situation where they really need to use something different for a particular reason, not just on a whim or because they fancy trying something new!

Tom Dove with his use of the Ronnie rig and Krank hook – a pattern which he came up with – and Darrell Peck and his widespread use of the Wide Gape over many years, on his combi multi rig, being two examples. Although they may not be rig technicians to the extent of Danny and will happily admit that, both are very quick to adapt to the angling situation, and will change hook pattern and set-up if they really need to.

Gauge of wire

The gauge of wire used to make carp hooks can vary greatly and is the main factor in determining the strength of a hook.

Extra strength via a thicker wire does however make the hook heavier, as well as more obtrusive and visible to the fish potentially, so there is always a pay off between having something that is strong enough, whilst at the same time being practical.

It is worth remembering that a thicker wire often tends to mean a larger barb (assuming you aren’t using barbelss) as well, relative to the hook size, and the two in combination will impede how easily the hook goes in and takes a hold – especially when it comes to getting it to go in past the barb.

That can mean that the initial hold that the hook takes in the mouth when the fish first pricks itself won’t be as secure.

Standard gauges of hook tend to have a good balance between strength and penetration, but there may be situations where you need to step up to something stronger to help prevent hook pulls as the hook opens up under lots of pressure – that can just be it temporarily springing open a bit during the fight, and enough for it to come out, rather than it coming back properly opened up and misshapen.

That tends to be the case in weedy lakes, where you are having to put a fair bit of pressure on extract the fish, or when hit-and-hold fishing to snags, and in these sorts of situations an X or even XX gauge of hook is usually the best option. The same goes when fishing for very large carp abroad, and especially on big public water.

The strength of a hook is of course also related to the size of it, within the same pattern, but whilst you might want something stronger on your rig, that doesn’t necessarily mean you also want a larger hook, so you could simply step up from something like a Wide Gape to a Wide Gape X, in the same size.

Forged hooks

You will likely have seen the term ‘forged’ being used with fishing hooks, and basically that is just the process that is used to make them stronger and more durable.

Forged hooks are better than cast ones, as the metal retains its natural grain, which is aligned in a way that adds strength, and it also gives them more durability and allows for a certain amount of flex without the wire snapping.

The forging process also allows the hook point to be sharpened better and thus achieves much sharper, and more durable, points than you could fins on cast hooks. Heavier forging tends to be used on the bend of the hook, which is a natural weak point otherwise, as this is where the most pressure is felt and the area which will bend or snap if there is any weakness.

All of the Korda range of hooks are forged, and feature heavy forging on the bend for additional strength and durability.

Beaked point versus straight point

One of the biggest differences between hook patterns is whether they have a straight point or a beaked point, and there is much debate between anglers as to which type is best.

The reality is that both have their pros and cons, and particularly so in different angling situations, and which you choose will come down to personal preference and confidence, to a large extent.

There is no doubt that a straight point is better for initially pricking a fish when it picks up your rig and tightens the hook link.

But the pay off with that is that once it does take an initial hold, it can also come out again easier than a beaked point and is also more prone to a hook pull during the fight.

So, you either have to choose something that will result in more hooked fish initially, or an alternative that might hook less but means a larger percentage of them stay on and are landed.

This is of course at a very basic level, as the overall shape of the hook, the type of rig it is used with and whether the hook is on the bottom or fished with a pop-up, and the angling situation all play a major part in this as well.

Other factors also come into play as well, such as nuisance species that might knock your hookbait around on the lake bed, causing the point to come into contact with gravel and in that scenario a straight point is more likely to be blunted or even turned over.

So that is why you will see so much debate on this topic, and why some anglers will swear by a straight point, whilst other prefer to use a beaked one. To the extent that some of the popular Korda patterns, such as the Wide Gape and Long Shank are now available in both straight point and beaked versions.

Angle of the eye

Another area where hook patterns can vary dramatically is in terms of the angle of the eye, and to the extent that some hooks have a straight eye, in line with the shank, whilst others will be in-turned, or even out-turned.

The angle of the eye, when it comes to an in-turned one, tends to determine how quickly the hook will flip over and potentially take a hold in the mouth, depending of course on the exact rig set-up used with it as well.

An aggressively in-turned eye, such as those found on the Korda Klor or the hooks in our Basix range – specifically designed so that you don’t need to add a kicker – will make the hook turn faster, but there is only so far you can go before it becomes a hindrance.

An in-turned eye, relative to the shank, closes up the effective gap of the hook, and if you go too far it can actually reduce the chance of the point being able to take a hold.

That will depend on the type of hook link material you are using as well, and how stiff it is, and anything stiffer, such as fluorocarbon like IQ2, will further exaggerate that in-turn and closed gape.

A really in-turned eye could even cause breakages with monofilament or fluorocarbon, due to the extreme angle that it exits the eye at and the type of pressure that puts on the material when playing a fish.

So, the type of hook link material, as well as the particular rig set-up, both need to be considered, and are why anglers prefer to use a straight eye hook along with some sort of kicker or shrink tubing extension, as that helps the hook flip over and take a hold, but can straighten during the fight and means there is no chance of the hook link sheering off due to pressure being applied at an extreme angle.

For certain set ups where a knotless knot is used with a very stiff material – especially something such as Korda Mouth Trap or Boom, and when using it for chod rigs or stiff hinges – you actually want an out-turned eye.

This is so that the very stiff material is able to exit in a way that ensures that it is basically acting as an extension of the shank. If you tried to knotless knot these same materials with a straight or in-turn eye, the stiffness of the hook link would make the hook sit at a horrible angle and would completely close the gape, vastly reducing the chances of getting a hook hold. The Korda range has Choddy and Krank Choddy hook patterns specifically for use with these hook link types, or even heavier IQ2 fluorocarbon.

Offset points

Another thing that you will often see mentioned when it comes to hooks is that the point is offset. This just basically means that the point is at a slight angle to the shank, rather than being in line with it.

Similar to ensuring that the gape of the hook is open enough that the point actually has a good chance of taking a hold, and offset point can do the same and not only help to initially prick the carp, but also helps it to wind its way in further when pressure is applied.

The downside of course is that the offset is only to one side, so if the hook tries to flip over in the other direction, then it has further to turn before it can take a hold.

Barbed versus barbless hook

The barbed versus barbless debate has always divided opinion within fishing, and largely comes down to personal preference, alongside fishery rules.

Some waters actually insist that you use barbed hooks, as the consensus is that they tend to do less damage to the mouth in terms of tearing through the flesh once they go in, and are more likely to stay in place, especially on waters where heavier pressure is being put on during the fight. Plus, anglers like the fact that once they go in they are less likely to fall out if your line gets any slack in it, such as a fish going into a weedbed.

The flipside to that is that once a barbed hook does go in it is harder for the fish to get rid of, such as in a situation where your line snaps, and it will be able to get rid of a rig with a barbless hook more easily. You will also find that a lot of waters where you are likely to get a real mixture of angling ability, such as some day ticket lakes, will have a barbless only rule as it means there is less chance of damage when the fish is being unhooked.

The Korda range includes both barbed and barbless versions of most of the patterns that we offer.

Hook size

One thing that has been noticeable in more recent years is how hook sizes have generally increased, in terms of what anglers are using and what works best on rigs such as the incredibly popular Ronnie or spinner.

In the past, most anglers would have been using a size 6 or 8, or maybe even a size 10 in the winter, yet these days the preference seems to be for a size 4, and often with a relatively small hook bait.

That does of course depend on the rig, and there are still plenty of anglers out there using smaller hooks on set-ups such as solid PVA bags.

In theory a smaller hook should penetrate much easier as it generally has a thinner wire and smaller barb, but that also means that it isn’t as strong, and unless it really buries into the mouth, it can also be prone to tearing out.

The Korda range offers a wide variety of hook sizes, from size 1 to 10, and with some intermediate sizes as well, depending on the pattern and what it is designed for – if you’re using an XX gauge hook you don’t really need a size 10; or if you’re floater fishing with the Mixa hooks, which go down to a size 12, you aren’t going to be using larger sizes.

Sharpened hooks - pros and cons

Some anglers have always sharpened their hooks, although it has become much more of a ‘thing’ in recent years and some well known anglers swear by it as a big edge.

There is no doubt that a sharpened hook should have more chance of finding an initial hook hold when a carp sucks in your rig, whether that be one that you’ve hand sharpened yourself – as anglers such as Darrell Peck like to do – or something like a Korda Kamakura which already comes with a specially sharpened point, straight out of the special box that they come in to protect them.

They also have the disadvantage though that these sharpened points are incredibly fragile and prone to turning over if they come into contact with anything hard – even just casting out, landing on gravel but not quite the right place, and winding back in to recast, can sometimes be enough to require a new hook.

Nuisance fish species or crayfish can also make them almost impossible to use, especially when fishing on gravel, as the hook being moved around on the lakebed gives it a high chance of the point turning before a carp even picks up the hook bait.

The sharpened point can also be prone to cutting/tearing itself free during an extended fight where lots of pressure is being applied, such as in thick weed, although that does depend on how far the hook has gone into the flesh in the first place.

A lot does come down to personal preference though, and whilst some anglers will swear by a sharpened hook – and their results speak for themselves! – others are quite happy to use a standard hook straight out of the packet, whilst of course checking that the point hasn’t been damaged or dulled at all during storage.

So, whether you like to hand sharpen your own hooks; want that same sort of sharpness but with something you can use straight out of the box, like the Kamakura hooks; or are happy to use a standard hook as it comes, you’ll find plenty of choice within the Korda hook range.

When to change your hook and how to check the point

Whatever type of hook you choose to use, it is important that it is sharp and there is no damage to the point, otherwise it will cost you fish.

Every time you cast out you need to get into the habit of checking your hook – not just when you wind in to recast, but also if you mis-cast and need to wind it in and have another go, as there is always a risk that you’ve banged the point on something on the bottom when you wound it back in.

The easiest way to check that, and one which anglers have been using for decades, is to gently push the point on your thumbnail and then try to move the hook forwards – if the point immediately grips, under minimal pressure (you don’t want to damage the point!), then it is sharp enough, but if it skates across your nail then it definitely needs changing. When putting on any new hook out of the packet or a fresh rig, you can check the hook using the same method.

For those who like to sharpen their hooks themselves, even if that is just touching the points up slightly with a diamond file, an eye glass is perfect for examining the point to make sure it is sharp and the correct shape.

A lot of rigs these days are designed so that the hook can be changed very quickly and easily, without having to scrap the whole rig, so there is really no excuse for using blunt hooks and costing yourself fish.