Red hooks-yes or no?

[Rebbasser]

I was digging through a crankbait box last night and saw a couple with red hooks. I just haven't seen much difference in catches if I use them or not. Plus, you really get mixed messages. One group says red hooks look like a bleeding baitfish, but another says use red line because it disappears under water. Which is it? Anybody find the red hooks make a difference?

[CamG]

I have never cared for the red hooks. From the first time I got a crankbait with red hooks, I've switched them out. I think it's a confidence thing.

[MallenManson]

Red line and red hooks are completely different animals. Red line is red/clear mono. Mono is basically considered clear, bordering on invisible, so all you're doing is tinting a clear line red. Red hooks are red painted metal. Usually red painted chrome. Metal, especially chrome is anything but invisible.
On the subject of red vs black hooks though? Ehhhh........

[Raul]

Here´s what I´ve found Reb, one of those days when I go on my shopping trips to MacAllen I went to Academy to give the BaitMonkey a snack, didn´t really "need" anything but you know how it is , I decided to purchase some 3/0 Gamkatsu EWG hooks, to my surprise they were out of stock, there was only one pack of blue/black hooks available , oh darn, but what was in stock were 3/0s but red, I looked at the price and found out that they were cheaper by 50 cents a pack, what the heck, I was already there so I purchased a few packs ( a "few" Raul style ), purchased other things and went back home.

So here I am with a bunch of red hooks, the hooks are good so why not use them ? so far after 2 years of using red hooks and comparing them to regular black/blue hooks I´ve found absolutely no difference between the catch ratio of red hooks over regular hooks; the only differences are the price ( 50 cents cheaper per pack ) and that red hooks after a while loose the red coating leaving them golden.

Also, about the "bleeding" baits, got many cranks with "bleeding" spots and they are no better nor worse than the same bait without the "bleeding".

About the red line, red line and red hooks or bleeding marks are not the same thing, red line is translucent red, red hooks and bleeding mark are not translucent, they are solid. Bass are not exactly line shy onr line color shy most of the times so they don´t care if the line "dissapears" or not, I´ve fished many times with hot colored line and fish don´t care if the line looks like a glowing neon sign.

So my take is:

Red hooks: if they are good quality and sharp and you believe they are going to help I´m the first one to tell you ---> use them.

Bleeding baits: pretty much the same

Red line: pretty much the same.

[bassinbob]

Never noticed any difference on my cranks. Prefer red hooks for soft plastics, just a confidence thing.

[keithdog]

I thinks it's nothing but a sales gimmic. Never noticed any improvement using red hooks. As long as they are good quality hooks I'd leave them on. But I wouldn't go out looking for red hooks either. This whole red bleeding fish craze kills me. How many fish are swimming around leaving blood trails in the water? Most fish in inland lakes get eatten by the preditor fish whole. Not ripped or torn as with sharks and other big ocian preditor/pray attacks. Now a fish thats been injured "could" leave a blood "scent" in the water, but it's not going to be a visible trail streaming behind the wounded fish. What little blood there would be would disipate to quickly to be visible. Maybe a blood scent to spray on our lures would be a good idea though.

[Jrob78]

Doesn't red turn black underwater at a certain depth anyway?

[basstech]

I like to use them as a trailer hook on spinner baits at times just to add a little color/contrast. I seriously doubt Bass are thinking (at all) "oooh that fish is bleeding, easy prey dinner time". However an abnormal contrast is something they may key in on to determine this prey may not be as healthy, there for it should be easier for them to catch. Not that they rationalize analyze or in anyway "think" about i6. I think it would be a survival instinct to seperate the weak from the strong (at least I see that as a possibility). I don't particularly like red hooks on cranks for some reason though. I don't think it matters one way or another on anybait really, but like I said, I like the contrast it adds on a spinner bait, particularly on white and chartreuse, and some shad/baitfish pattern skirts I've made.

[Bassboss]

I'm not entirely convinced it's either. or it could be both. The only thing I'm sure of, is that I like 'em. I read a study somewhere about a year ago that said if you put one red hook, on either the front or back, that the fish will hit the red hook (talking about cranks and top waters)! So, skeptically, but open minded, I tried it myself. And I'll be damned, it worked! No matter what side I put it on, front or back, they always seemed to hit it most of the time. I'm not sure what it is, and am in no possession to say, but, I like them! And when ever I can, I'll add a red hook to the front treble. I find if you put a red one on the front, the back will sometimes swing around and hook them!

When it comes to weedless hooks though, I don't really care, but I'll take black over red!

[nofearengineer]

Bass happen to have enhanced red light sensitivity, compared to us humans. So any red colored object will hopefully, get their attention a little better.

However, red lines, paint spots, hooks, whatever....don't produce red light....they just reflect it. So if you're in an environment with zero red light available, the item just looks like some shade of gray or black (depending on the amount of red or the transparency of it). This pretty much includes any deep water. Distilled water will totally filter out red light at a depth of about 17 feet. Muddy water would be a couple feet probably.

I'll say it again, you really ought to focus your lure color choices around patterns.....spots, stripes, solids, shapes, etc. in the following groups: white, yellow/green, and dark. Metallic flash is also a good option in any of these colors. Anything natural looking is good too.

If you're fishing shallow, clear water...then all bets are off, and throw anything they'll bite. Who knows? I have it on good information that Smallmouth can't pass up a hot pink trick worm some times. I'm not sure a white one wouldn't do just as well, but I'm not ruling out the pink.

[screwballl]

The only time I use a red hook is on the bottom of a shallow crank so the bass that do see it and see it is acting funny see the red coming from their gills and goes in for the easy kill. This has also made me bring a red sharpie and put a little red around the gill area of swimbaits and other fish type lures which has helped. I only do this with water less than 20 feet.

The red hooks has increased the takes on my cranks, but for everything else, no.

and from the scientific perspective, red disappears around 25 ft. depending on water clarity and yada yada



edit: modified my phrasing, stating I only do this on shallow lures that run around 10 ft deep or less

[BigBassin144]

Nofear beat me to it. It doesn't matter if it's red line, or red hook, once you reach a certain depth, red light is filtered out by water. So while you're red line may become translucent (I still think it will turn a grayish color, like smoke colored line), the hooks are going to do the same thing, they just won't be translucent. Same thing with "blood spots" and bleeding baits.

To be, red hooks and red line are just gimmicks. as for bleeding baits, I'm not sure about that one. I still don't think a bass looks at it and goes, "Hey, that fish is bleeding, easy target". Another thing that gets me is that red rat-l-traps are one of the most popular colors lipless baits out there. Go figure.

BB

[JB]

I haven't noticed any dif at all, however for some reason I've always painted red on the head of my spinnerbaits

[rodnreel]

Red trebles go on the front of all my shallow water (0-6 ft) cranks. It's mostly just a confidence thing with me but I get more strikes in this area of the water column. Anything deeper than that and I really don't notice a difference. My overall general opinion is that the hook color doesn't matter at all.

[BassinNC]

I use them but only for one reason.
My granpa uses them on the front of his cranks and I told him it didn't matter. He said they always get hooked on the red hook. He moved the red hook to the back and very next fish he caught was on the back hook. I was sold at that point.

[Captmikestarrett]

I like red worm hooks because when the red wears off they are shinny..

Capt Mike

[nicksfender2010]

Great subject for my first post....I will read more and post less...Have a good one guys

[Tavery5]

I have a couple of crankbaits with red hooks, I have honestly not noticed any difference. I do use red EWG hooks on some of my weightless T-rigged plastics, again I can't honestly say that I have noticed any improvement, but it does not seem to hurt anything either.

[bassboogieman]

The red finish doesn't last too long, and I don't like the shiny gold finsh that's left. I have a few, but when they're gone I won't purchase any more.

[Rolling Tide]

Originally Posted by Jrob78

Doesn't red turn black underwater at a certain depth anyway?

Yes depending on the light avalible red will be seen as black.

[screwballl]

Also if you notice, a lot of deep running (20 ft+ ) cranks and lures are yellow or bright green? Look at the color scale I posted above and that should explain why...

[BeaverIslander]

I've seen river smallies attracted to red hooks in the past when rigged with a white fluke, but otherwise I don't think it makes much of a difference. I still use red hooks usually because of that past result, years ago.

A think that the red coming off can add another dimension to your plastics. A little flash could help, or it could hurt. I think I've seen it make fish wary in cold, clear water.