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Old 06-13-12, 06:01 PM   #1
islandbass
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Default Bronze vs. Nickel Hooks

This question has been on the back burner for some time and it finally came to light again.

Given the choice of both materials, fashioned in the same shape, which would you choose and why?

Personally, I have gone with nickel but other than it being more visually pleasing, I thought what other reasons do I have for staying with them?

I've been doing some trout fishing lately and opted to go with bronze hooks because they were very economical and haven't noticed any losses in hook ups or failures. The bronze hooks have actually been pretty darn good performance wise.

The only thing I have observed about bronze hooks, and this is not from a performance perspective, is that they can rust rather quickly.

I've love to hear any thoughts you might have on choosing one over the other, or, not being partial to either and why. Thanks!

-ib
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Old 06-13-12, 07:52 PM   #2
Jrob78
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99.9% of the hooks I use are black nickel. They seem to stay sharp, are strong and don't rust. Most of the top of the line hooks from all manufacturers are black nickel. It's partly a confidence thing too, I feel like this is the best all around material to make fresh water hooks out of.
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Old 06-14-12, 07:32 AM   #3
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In another thread a couple days ago the question was asked about treble hook preference by brand. I stated my preference then for Owner ST-36 in black nickel. I also mentioned Gamagatsu as my third choice primariarlly due to them being bronze and their tendancy to rust quicker than the nickel hooks. I only mentioned them as a third choice to give a more econominical option over the Owner hooks, which are not cheap. Although they were listed as my third chioce, personally I would not buy them or Mustad or any other bronze TREBEL hook for that matter. Gamagatsu would be my choice for worm hooks (as are Owner), as they are black nickel and a very goood hook. I just don't know why Gammy has not gone to black nickel for their trebels, if they did I'd probably use them. While on the subject of trebels, I also prefer a short shank and round bend hook for my hard baits, they seem to perform best for me.
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Old 06-14-12, 11:37 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bassboogieman View Post
In another thread a couple days ago the question was asked about treble hook preference by brand. I stated my preference then for Owner ST-36 in black nickel. I also mentioned Gamagatsu as my third choice primariarlly due to them being bronze and their tendancy to rust quicker than the nickel hooks. I only mentioned them as a third choice to give a more econominical option over the Owner hooks, which are not cheap. Although they were listed as my third chioce, personally I would not buy them or Mustad or any other bronze TREBEL hook for that matter. Gamagatsu would be my choice for worm hooks (as are Owner), as they are black nickel and a very goood hook. I just don't know why Gammy has not gone to black nickel for their trebels, if they did I'd probably use them. While on the subject of trebels, I also prefer a short shank and round bend hook for my hard baits, they seem to perform best for me.
Gamakatsu does make black nickel trebles. In fact, they are probably my favorite replacement hooks. I use the Owners, Mustad KVD's and regular Triple Grips, Gamakatsu EWG's and Gammy round bend short shanks. (I'm not sure why this one looks silver in the picture, it is most definitely a black nickel hook)

If you like round bend short shank trebles, you will love the Gammy's. They are shorter than the Owners and made of a heavier wire. They are amazingly sharp and allow you to go up a size on most baits. These are the hooks Aaron Martens often talks about putting on his baits.

The Gammy EWG's are right in between the Mustad KVD's and Triple Grips, in both wire thickness and shank length. I have these on more baits than any other hook. They are sharper than the KVD's and a good all around EWG treble.

If you want, I can post some comparison pics between the different hooks. I have the Gammy's in both EWG and short shank, the Owner's and the Mustad EWG's in both styles.
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Old 06-14-12, 12:29 PM   #5
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Quote:
Gamakatsu does make black nickel trebles. In fact, they are probably my favorite replacement hooks.
I was't aware of these and would not have looked past the (silver) picture without your comments. Thanks Joe, I'll keep those in mind and give them a try when I need additional replacement trebles. Price isn't too bad either and the short shank is what I like so I can put a larger hook on the lures. THANKS! another great example why sites like these are so helpful.
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Old 06-14-12, 05:26 PM   #6
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I appreciate the comments. I have always like the silver black nickel hooks and I am glad to know that my observations on the bronze hooks rusting rather quickly have been substantiated.

So for my bass fishing I will continue to use nickel hooks but for trout fishing, if and when I need to go the economical root, I won't hesitate to use those bronze bait hooks.

How do you folks who use the KVD trebles like them? My walmart is now carrying them and they remind me of the triple grips which I think are very functional and effective, while also looking very mean and cool.
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Old 06-14-12, 08:14 PM   #7
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The KVD trebles are great. I don't use them on all my crankbaits but I do use them a lot. They are sharp, short and stout. The regular Triple Grips are good hooks but the shanks are really long and the wire is too light. They bend really easily.

One thing to look out for on the Walmart hooks is the number of hooks in the package and the price. The Walmarts around here only sell the 6 packs and the price per hook is quite a bit more than the 11 packs of the same hooks.
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Old 06-14-12, 10:27 PM   #8
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black, bronze, gold, they all work well. bronze will rust quicker than black nickle or gold.
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Old 06-15-12, 02:12 PM   #9
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Thanks for the heads up, Jrob. Those are the same trebles in my Walmart. The only thing that strikes my for being odd is the 11 pack of hooks. It irked me from the get-go because there isn't a crankbait I know of that doesn't use at least 2 trebles. With an 11-pack, we're a day late and a dollar short for the 6th crankbait, lol.

@merc: that has also been my findings. They plain and flat out rust faster.
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Old 06-16-12, 10:38 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by islandbass View Post

How do you folks who use the KVD trebles like them? My walmart is now carrying them and they remind me of the triple grips which I think are very functional and effective, while also looking very mean and cool.
I started switching many of my hardbaits over to the KVD 2X short triple grips last year and I plan to continue. The hooks are strong, super sharp and seem to hook the bass on their own. Never seen any signs of rusting yet. Some of my cranks, like the Lucky Craft brand, I leave as is. I'm not sure what brand hooks Lucky Craft uses, but so far they have worked very well and I have no reason to change them out.
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Old 06-16-12, 07:52 PM   #11
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I would like to add for anyone wanting to try out the KVD Triple Grips or the Gamakatsu short shank round bends, the key to these hooks is going up a size on your baits. They are great hooks anyway but the short shanks allow you to go one size bigger.

If you are using a 1.5 size crankbait for example, put on a size 2 hook instead of the 4's that came stock on the bait. The short shanks keep the hooks from tangling at bigger sizes.
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Old 06-18-12, 06:26 PM   #12
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Thanks, Keith! I will see if I can find them locally.
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