Choosing hooks

Straight or offset, fine or heavy wire (with a formula), the wire for your line and rod, hook size for each soft bait, every way to hook a drop shot, and hook eyes: which way they face and at what angle.

Three decisions pick a hook: the family (straight or offset), the wire (fine, standard, heavy) and the size. Each has its own page below.

1. Straight or offset —
2. Wire gauge formula — Two hooks of the same size can differ in wire. Two rules tell you where a hook sits. Rule 1, the X convention. nX strong (heavy) = the standard wire of a hook n sizes…
3. Matching wire to line and rod — The wire must match what the line and rod can push. A fine hook on 20 lb line and a heavy rod opens on the set; a heavy hook on thin line and a soft rod never goes in…
4. Hook size for soft baits — Hook sizes run 6, 4, 2, 1 (getting bigger), then 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 … (getting bigger again). Sizes are not standard across brands: compare the gaps side by side. Use the…
5. Drop-shot hooks by rigging — There is no single "drop-shot hook". The way the bait is hooked decides the hook, and it can be straight or offset. In brush a nose-hooked bait hangs up on every cast…
6. Hook eyes: which way and what angle — A hook eye is described on two separate axes. Mixing them up is why "flat eye" means different things to different anglers. Whatever the eye, for a drop shot pass the…