This has got to be the lowest tech post on the general equipment discussion in awhile, but does anyone have an opinion on when to use hooks with curved points versus straight points?

My guess is that curved/beak pointed hooks are just a bit like circle hooks in that they will not hook into the fish right away until they find a point at more of an angle, i.e. the mouth, where one might get a better hook set. This may be why most crappie, bait holder hooks, octopus hooks, etc, have the curved point in order to hook up fish that tend to suck in the bait and move slowly.

In contrast maybe the straight pointed hooks are better for aggressive biting fish with larger / tougher mouths where a fish which is why they are used more with bait hooks for bigger salt water species like tuna, swordfish, etc?

Dunnoh, maybe there isn't much difference in all truth. Just curious if anyone had some insight into the conventional wisdom.

Here is Mustad's take on it.

http://www.mustad.no/www2010/products/hooks/hook-anatomy

Common Hook-Point Positions: The following categories are used to define the position of the point either
curved in towards the shank or away from the shank:


Hollow Point: This type,
like the needle point, is designed for fast penetration,
being hollowed or rounded out between the tip of the barb
and the tip of the point. The outer side of the point is
straight.

Beak Point: Sometimes called
a rolled-in point, this type has the point bent in toward
the shank of the hook. The rolled point is excellent for
baitfishing in saltwater. Besides being a description of
how the point looks like, Beak Point is also a registered
Mustad Trade Mark.

Curved-in Point:

There is no clear distinction between a Beak Point and
a Curved-in Point, in as much as a Beak Point is curved in.
But some specialists distinguish between them by saying that
the Curved-in Point differs from the Beak point in that the
entire spear is bent toward the hook shank. Although such
a point achieves a small bite, it is difficult for a fish
to disgorge.