1. When choosing a hook, what do you look for?
Reputation, sharpness, strength, and suitability to purpose.

2. What brand hooks do you prefer?
Scorpion, Resistance, End Zone

3. What size hooks do you use?
Mostly 6, but have also use 1/0 down to sz 12 salmon-egg hooks (VMC).

4. Where do you buy your hooks?
Mostly online for my carp fishing. Also Fishing Tackle Unlimited and Academy.

5. What are your hook tactics (when do you use what size and type when)?
I generally use small hooks for float fishing, and try to fit the size to the bait. I've also tried 'paylake' style a bunch of times.
For bottom baits I generally use in-turned eyes. For pop-ups I use straight eyes, for stiff-rigs I use slight out-turned eyes.

6. What hooks have you had bad experiences with?
a. Daiichi 'bleeding' octopus hooks. Dull quickly, bend too easily.
b. Mustad 'lazer sharp' live bait hooks. Initially sharp, but dull quickly and break under pressure.

What style of End Zone hooks do you use?

For traditional hair/bolt rigs, I like size 6, and I like the BCT K9, or any hook in that particular style.

Not real detailed I know lol, but that's what I like!

I buy them from BCT, obviously.

The other type of hook I use fairly often, for sweet corn fishing, is a Gamakatsu Octopus Circle, also in size 6, and you can get them in most sporting goods stores.

1. When choosing a hook, what do you look for?
Short shanks with either straight or in turned eyes and curved long shanks. Quality in manufacture is usually pretty easy to spot - like where the eye bend meets the shank -- any appreciable gap there is definitely a no no.
2. What brand hooks do you prefer?
Nash Fang X, Kamasan, Gamakatsu Carp, some Fox.
3. What size hooks do you use?
Anything ranging from 8's to 2's.
4. Where do you buy your hooks?
Anywhere I can get them, but usually from the main Carp gear suppliers.
5. What are your hook tactics (when do you use what size and type when)?
Jeez -- you got a week to spare For very basic rigs, I often use the Nash Fang X #8's, as they have a slightly curved shank, and really don't need a line aligner. I might also use a short straight shanked 7 or 6, with an inturned eye, and if straight shanked - anything above a 6, I usually use a line aligner. I use long shanks for blow back rigs, and a couple of other 'black magic' type rigs!!
6. What hooks have you had bad experiences with?
Not too many really, however I had some Fox SSBP's (I think that's the correct designation?) that were really nice hooks -- however, the point 'tipped' rather easily on a stony bottom. I lost a very big fish (and I mean BIG -- 40+) one miserable night, after playing it for almost 20 minutes - when the hook pulled only yards from the net. Sure enough, the point was 'tipped'. I'd checked it before casting, and as I feathered the rig down to the bottom, had not dragged it back to straighten things out. I am still haunted about losing that fish -- and, although I have used those same hooks since (as I had them!!) still don't trust them.

As long as they continue all the weekly topics will be moved here DT please continue to number them

I think Donny's big into the Fly Liners too. I will have to check them out, they sound like a good replacement for the K9's I like when I can't get them.

And the price is right.

I'll never use another flyliner for the rest of my life. I had one straighten on me at Emma. Gamakatsu live baits are the only hook I use for a hair and gamakatsu octopus circles for float fishing.

Ah really? For some reason I was thinking it was the other way around. Can you get those Gama Live Baits at Cabelas or anywhere, or do you have to order them?

I used to use the flyliners. They are good hooks but that one hook pissed me off so I hate em now.

I usually order the live baits online from cabelas.

Nice. I may have to order myself some and try them out then.

Are these the Gama Live Baits hooks you are refering to?
I usually prefer a hook with a downturned eye, but I have always liked Gama hooks for other species.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...&hasJS=true

Man I forgot about the Gami Live baits, see those Korda videos turned me onto the korda hooks and now I pay 4x the money for a hook of VERY similar quality. These are great hooks, stood up to a lot of good fish in the heavy weed in Austin years past.

I have been using partridge czech nymph hooks. they are actually fly tying hooks but they are really light wire and strong! saw e'm on BCT and it gave me the idea to use e'm. BPS has e'm in the fly shop for 5 bucks for 25

Strong is good! I wouldn't use any light wire for hair rigs myself though. But I might for sweet corn and local swims and that sort of thing.