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Print versionShark Fishing Hooks
I'm often asked as to what pattern of shark hook I use. The honest answer is several. Here are just a few of the ones I really favour and the different species of sharks I choose them for.
MUSTAD 7690BLN
The 7690BLN is my favourite of all. It is a tuna pattern, forged, knife-edge point, needle-eye and black nickel finished. I use it for all sizes of baits when only one hook is needed. Very difficult to get here in the UK and expensive, but worth it. Try specialist shops that stock big game tackle, or ask your tackle shop dealer to try to order some from Mustad for you. Failing that, search the Internet for USA stockists.
I use both the 8/0 and 10/0 mainly for big blue shark but mainly porbeagles. They also do a 12/0, but I rarely use 12/0 hook nowadays. I've found the 8/0 big enough for most porbeagles and it sinks in easily with minimal line pressure when using light tackle. The needle eye makes it superb for threading down the flanks of the bait.
MUSTAD 7732 SEA DEMON
The 7732 is a popular US marlin pattern. Its design is forged, knife-edge long point and short barb. It's good when using large pollack or jumbo mackerel baits for really big sharks. The eye is a tad big, but it threads okay. Tends to be horrendously expensive here in the UK and extremely difficult to get. It's a stainless hook and many anglers choose not to use these as they fear leaving one in a shark. Fact is, that US anglers prefer stainless as they say that a bronzed finish hook when rusting can infect the jaw of sharks and fish and does more harm. A shark will have your arms out at the sockets before this baby bends.
MUSTAD 7731AD
This is a short shank Sea Demon pattern with a tough knife-edge long point. Good for thread or stitching down baits as it has a needle eye. I use this, or the 7690, when fishing bait on a double hook rig. It's good on its own for blues in size 6/0 and bigger blues in the size 8/0 as it sets deep with minimal line pressure. The 10/0 pattern makes good two hook rigs for porbeagles.
MUSTAD 7754D
A very short shanked Bay King hook that is useful in the smaller 8/0 sizing for threshers. The eye is quite small and threads well down the flanks of a bait, but the hook is unobtrusive and accommodates the small mouth of a thresher easily and again penetrates deep. It is forged for strength.
MUSTAD 7692
Again a lightweight thresher hook popular in the US. Maybe a touch too light for me as I'd be nervous if you got in to a porgie or mako. Figure the wire gauge may not be up to the full pressure of something over 300lbs, especially with the shutdown power of a big porbeagle's jaws.
MUSTAD 7982H DOUBLE HOOK
Very rare for me to use a double point hook, but I do have a few for certain trolling situations and for freelining whole deadbaits. The double hook can be stitched in to the belly of bait and can improve instant strike hook-ups to minimise the chances of deeply hooked fish. I use them rarely as they are obviously less easy to remove.
MUSTAD 3406 O'SHAUGHNESSY
This is the old workhorse of the hook battalions. It's caught me many sharks over the years and has yet to let me down. I use them less though nowadays due to their long shank and quick rust tendency. The 6/0 and 8/0 are good for blues, but I prefer only a size 10/0 for porbeagles. It's worth just filing down or flattening the barb on these hooks as the barb size in comparison to the point size is a touch too big and the hook will sink in to a tough jaw easier with this modification.
MUSTAD BARBLESS TOPE RAY HOOKS
I actually instigated this barbless pattern myself through my work with Leeda and it's proved popular amongst the majority of anglers that care about their fish and insist on returning them safely to the water.
This is the pattern I choose for all my tope fishing. It is bronzed, forged, has a knife-edge hook point and is tough. This basic Viking pattern has landed porbeagle sharks to 145lbs for me that have picked up a tope bait when uptiding.
If I was going to a known area where the chances of porbeagles or threshers were slim, with only average sized blue sharks anticipated, then this would be the hook I'd use in the size 8/0. It's also a top choice for all light tackle fishing due to easy point penetration due to the missing barb.
OFFSET HOOK POINTS
When shark fishing, I will not use a kirbed hook, one that has an offset point in relation to the shank. My personal experience has suggested that I drop too many sharks on this pattern of hook, usually after quite a few minutes of fighting time. The offset point makes it much harder to set the point of the hook in to the jaw. I think often the point has not fully pulled home and eventually the point will just twist free as a result of rod pressure and jaw movement from the shark.
HOOK CARE
Big game and saltwater hooks don't come cheap and it makes sense to maximise their life.
As each shark trace is used, on return, it gets washed in freshwater and sprayed with WD40. I've never found that the scent of WD40 puts sharks off. I then put them in a box containing talcum powder. Yes, you read right! The talcum powder absorbs the WD40 and keeps the hooks in perfect condition. The powder washes off easily in seawater and takes most of the WD40 off with it.
It may look a bit weird, but you can use WD40 and talcum powder to protect other items of open-to- corrosion tackle such as swivels, links and lures. Tackle boxes are notorious for collecting damp sea air, which attacks everything in it path. This stops by far the worst of resultant corrosion.
Another simple trick you can use is to coat your hooks with a permanent black marker. The ink acts like a protective coating shielding the metal from the worst of corrosion.
SHARPENING HOOKS
The best way to sharpen shark hooks is by using two chainsaw files taped together. The outside edge of the point can be drawn down the middle of the two files and puts a really sharp edge to the point itself.
It can also pay to hone the knife-edge sides along the inside of the point to a sharper edge. This gives greater cutting power to a hook and makes a cleaner wound in the jaw making both hook penetration and removal easier.
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