I don't know what to say or how to say but it's got to be said.... I'm starting to get sick of sickle hooks!!

Don't get me wrong... I love the concept of the hook and it works well! What I'm sick of are the hooks breaking. Now those that have been tying with these for quite some time already know that there are some quality control issues from the manufacturers overseas. But I swear, out of the last couple of hundred jigs I've tied up, I've had 27 hooks to break while STILL IN THE VISE!!!

I'm even getting reports from folks I've sold jigs to stating that the hooks are breaking on them and I just hate putting out a product with my name on it when I know these issues exist.

But a thought hit me.... would one color of sickle hook be stronger and more reliable than that of a different color? Is the black chrome stronger than the red or the bronze?

What do you think?

I haven't had a breakage issue but their QC is spotty. I get 5-25 hooks out of every thousand that are formed incorrectly or aren't flat enough to let the mold close properly.

Ive seen some of the talk about them Alan.I guess Im fortunate,Ive not had any problems,course I dont tie anywhere near as many as you

I'm using bronze,gold and red hooks but havent had one break in the vise and only one on the water,and that was in a tree.

Hey if your sick how many you have in size 4 you want to sell or trade? The black chrome is stronger yes the red is an overlay on a gold wire hook the issue with those red is if you get a weak one on a big fish you can guess the rest the black chrome are not brushpile or timber freindly though.

I am relaying this emailed message from Tommy Crenshaw with TCI Fishing Lures to my personal email this p.m. TCI Fishing Lures provides many jig heads to members of this forum and many of the commercial tyers and businesses that sell his jig heads after purchase from Tommy.

"I noticed a few posters were mentioning my jigs, so here's my story and take on them: I buy them in huge batches, like 10k at a time of each size, and then go about 3-4 months without ordering more. It's VERY likely I missed the bad batches due to this, as I have not had one single person who bought my jigs complain about breakage. I do feel they tend to bend more than break, but can easily be bent back with pliers.
As for snags, yeah, due to the sickle hooks design, a #4 sticks out far more than a standard #4 hook (i.e. Mustad). I myself downsize 1 hook size when using a sickle. I use #4's in Mustad's, but a #6 in sickles. I have not noticed a drop in hookup ratio."

Please feel free to email Tommy with additional questions about sickle hooks if you would like.

tjcrenshaw@hotmail.com

Good Fishing,
Mud-Dabber

I also buy from Tommy and have never had a issue. I have broke a few that were closed a little and when I took the pliers to open them up a tad they broke. But I have never broke one while in the vise and I put quit a bit of pressure on my thread because I like them tight. That is where I sometimes bend them and have to open them back up. Who makes the hook you are buying?

Yeah I'm finding the more I'm talking with folks all around that the bronze are most prone to breakage, followed closely by the red/gold and finally the black chrome. It could very well be that I got a batch from a very old and very poor run.

Anyone think there is a possibility that the hooks are not really so bad and the problem could be with the jig pouring process and excessive heat which at that time is affecting the sickle hooks when being poured in the jig mould????

Just a question and thought?

Mud-Dabber

Based on what I know of metallurgy, which isn't one heck of alot admittedly, I don't think typical lead melting temperatures would be high enough to effect the temper of the hooks. Heat treating temperatures for steel are typically over 1000 deg F.

I do have experience in metal.
The heating would actually make the metal "softer" not more brittle.
I'm sure they are heat treating the hooks to make them sharper so some batches could easily be too brittle.
You can't get a sharp point with soft metal.

True, lead melting temps would be more likely to anneal or soften the metal than to harden it. Bad metallurgy such as inconsistent alloying could also be a culprit

I used some smaller size #6 & #8 bronze and didn't have problem much. The ones that you bend out and in several times will weaken and thus get broke off.
However, I exclusively use on my jigs the black nickle chrome sickle and it's very SHARP & TOUGH hook! very expensive in compare to the gold and bronze...

I use the black chrome, and never had a problem with breakage. That is not to say I've not had a hook break. But as a rule, I have caught stumps, trees, brush, self, an occasional fish, and some big trash fish. But never had to worry about hook breakage.

Last Spring I had several issues with breakage. After straightening the hook I woulds loose fish on the hookset as the hook would break. I did figure that this was because I was using a very strong backbone rod with a soft tip and hooks coulds not handle the pressure after being staighten several times. I do not have this issue when I use my softer rods. I do think that the hooks does set much better than a Eagle 570 so I have learned to overlook the problem.