I have never tied jigs before but I am thinking I would like to try to tie my own. I have always used J hooks but it seems the new fad is sickle hooks. Why is the sickle now the preferred hook?

I use both...sickles may be a tad sharper, but the fish don't care.

Ditto on this. I prefer sickles because they tend to be sharper but at the end of the day I don't think it really matters.

Ok thanks for the info. I fish a lot of brush piles so I lose a lot of jigs anyway.

Try making them WEEDLESS like "Richard Gene" the fishing machine on YT.

Sickle is sharper and I think they have a slightly wider gap so you get a better hookup rate

Get some clamp on sinkers, the type with the ears, and bend the ears so the sinker slides on the line easily. At least 1/2 oz but bigger is better. If hung up, affix sinker to line and let fall while holding line slightly tight. Usually bumps the jig off first drop. If not, let the sinker fall below the jig and twitch a few times. I can get the jig back 95% of the time using this method.

The sickles are sharper but break a lot easier than J hooks also. I’ll use sickles on dock shooting jigs but rarely use them for anything else and for sure not after big fish or in tournaments.

Thanks everyone. I think I will stick with J hooks for now. I’ve used J hooks my whole life and they have worked just fine.

It is not the shape of the hook J or sickle that determines it's sharpness. It is the steel the hook is made from. Nickle hooks are sharper because it is a harder steel , the down side to this is the steel is more brittle and tends to break rather than bend. Bronze hooks are plenty sharp and when I get hung I can give a steady pull and the hook will bend and I will get to reuse my jig after a quick bend back of the hook. With nickle hooks they break and ruin the jig

We only use bronze Lil nasty's to tie our jigs with for this reason

Thanks for explaining it!! Those bronze little nastys are a great hook!!