I tried those “no escape” hooks last fall. If I remember right, I lost every fish hooked with them. All of the fish I netted were on the Maruto grabber hooks. That being said, I did not do nearly as well as a lot of folks.


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I have been using the no escape hooks in the ocean for a couple years now and thats all I will buy for salmon.

 

Factory barbless are just a little too slick for my taste. Easy in, easy out. Pinching barbs is the way to go. I'm surprised by the number of people still using round bend J hooks. Sickle style have been on the market for quite a while and should have replaced J hooks a long time ago. Not that J hooks are obsolete for salmon it's just that folks like to take advantage of new innovations if they are shown to be an improvement and sickle style hooks are an advantage. Another fan of Grabbers if I can find them in the sizes I need. I probably use far more Gami's simply because they're easier to find. When I first went to Sickle style, about the only brand that was available locally was Matzuo. There was a problem of quality with this brand but there were some very good hooks that came out of the mess. I've hung on to some good ones and tossed others. The Gami is similar to the Matzuo so we'd be splitting hairs to say one design is better than the other. The Matzuo is a tiny bit straighter from hook point to the bend. I like that. Other than that, flip a coin.

 

Factory barbless are just a little too slick for my taste. Easy in, easy out. Pinching barbs is the way to go. I'm surprised by the number of people still using round bend J hooks. Sickle style have been on the market for quite a while and should have replaced J hooks a long time ago. Not that J hooks are obsolete for salmon it's just that folks like to take advantage of new innovations if they are shown to be an improvement and sickle style hooks are an advantage. Another fan of Grabbers if I can find them in the sizes I need. I probably use far more Gami's simply because they're easier to find. When I first went to Sickle style, about the only brand that was available locally was Matzuo. There was a problem of quality with this brand but there were some very good hooks that came out of the mess. I've hung on to some good ones and tossed others. The Gami is similar to the Matzuo so we'd be splitting hairs to say one design is better than the other. The Matzuo is a tiny bit straighter from hook point to the bend. I like that. Other than that, flip a coin.

I love using the sickle hooks but I think the regular octopus and needle point hooks have their place. When making a mooching rig, I tend to use a regular hook for the top hook and use the sickle as the trailing hooks. I find the cut plugs roll better when using the regular hook to hold the bait when compared to using the sickle

 

These type discussions always remind me of when I tried semi circle hooks, at the suggestion of Englund Marine. First day, eight solid hits, eight fish to the net. Second day, first twelve hits, NO fish to the net...

 

Sometimes you get da lion…. Sometimes da lion get you…

 

I’ve been using the No Escape for 2 seasons at B10 for Chinook and Coho
Excellent results, love em

 

I have been using them for many years every since they first came out…they are seriously the only hooks I buy except for halibut hooks….. they are awesome and I loose very few fish due to spit hook to include steelhead.

 

I tried the no escape hooks years ago on a B10 trip. I'm pretty sure we set a world record for stripped baits before we gave up on them and went back to using super needle points. It was amazing how easy it was for the fish to steal our bait without being hooked by any of the 3 hooks on our mooching rigs. I suppose a fish can't escape if it doesn't get hooked but that's not the exactly result I was looking for. They may be the worst hook I've ever used, I won't be making that mistake again.

 

They're fantastic hooks! I love them! Been using them for years and they're great.

 

Yes, round bend FWG for the tow hook. Sickle hooks up front don't work worth a hoot. Wonky is the correct word.

 

Am I the only guy who is in love with the owner herring hooks when using bait? These hooks are sticky

 

I tried the Grabbers but after using I went back to the Super Mosquito Herring hooks. I like them much better.

Still with barbedless yer gonna lose 'em. I'm pretty sure I went from 75% to around 50%.
That's what it is, dang.

fop

 

What does BRB and FWG stand for? Thanks.

 

Big River Bait and Finesse Wide Gap

 

I have been adding a bit of bend to regular octopus hooks for years. My intention was to shape the hook to look like a Gamagatsu 510. I don't catch enough fish to really compare them to Big River or Maruto Grabber, but I've caught a few using sharp barbless octopus hooks hand bent into that shape. I usually use a size or two bigger than I do Big Rivers/Grabbers.

My $.02