Fishing Hooks for Salmon

Selecting the right fishing hook for salmon may be one of the most important tackle choices you make if you want to hook and land lots of fish. There are a number of considerations to make when deciding on hooks to purchase such as: Size, durability, and cost.

When it comes to fishing hooks, size does matter.

Perhaps the most important factor with regards to size though is matching your hook size to the fishing rod you plan to use.

Why does the hook size and fishing rod matter?

Most species of salmon have somewhat tough jaws and if you use say a 3/0 hook with a slow action fishing rod that is rated Medium-Light, it’s very likely the tine (point of the hook) will not be able to penetrate into the jaw.

What this means is that you will get a bite, have a brief 1-5 second battle with the fish, and then it gets off and you are left wondering what happened.

Repeat this a few more times and this can lead to significant frustration. You can read more about the fishing rod side of the equation here.

You can get this wrong the other way as well. Let’s say you buy a cheap 1/0 hook and you are using a stiffer fast action Medium-Heavy fishing rod.

You hook into a king salmon and it’s making a strong run, shaking it’s head, thrashing around. You know what I’m talking about. Your blood is pumping, heart racing, rod bent over. And then just like that, the tension disappears and the fish is gone.

You felt like you may have had the fish of a lifetime on your line. You reel in and examine your gear and notice your cheap 1/0 hook is bent out…A 15 lb + King can easily bend out a hook if you have your drag set tight and a rod with not much give to it. What about that 30 lb king salmon you hope to hook someday? You get the idea. Hook size and durability need to match your fishing rod selection.

For King Salmon, I like to use Gamakatsu Big River Bend hooks of at least 1/0, but more than likely I’m using 3/0 for river fishing presentations and 4/0 – 5/0 as part of saltwater presentations. The above link is for the pack of 25 barbless edition.

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Why do I love this hook? First of all, Gamakatsu makes a strong durable hook. Even the 1/0 is unlikely to bend out unless you have a strong beast of a fish and the reel drag set really tight.

Second, the big river bend introduces the sickle shape. Hook shape doesn’t matter as much when you are fishing barbed hooks, but with barbless it makes a huge difference. I lost far fewer fish with barbless hooks once I started using the sickle shape on whichever brand of hook.

In terms of cost, always buy a pack of 25 as you get a good discount over buying them in packs of 6.

OK, so what about the other side of this equation? Fishing with slower action and medium to medium-light fishing rods is a great way to experience salmon or steelhead fishing. It’s also important for species like coho salmon that twist and roll so violently that a large barbless hook and stiff rod will often lose 75-90% of hooked-up fish!

First of all, in this situation don’t go bigger than 1/0 on your hook size. I will tend to fish size 1 to 1/0 for coho. I may also use a hook with a thinner wire, and a smaller tine.

Matzuo Octopus hook size 1.

Notice the price difference! This is a far cheaper hook, that will bend out on a big king but can be perfect for fishing bait for coho on a lighter and slower action rod.

In fact, when I downsize hooks and go to a slower action rod, I can land nearly 100% of my coho versus losing almost 100% on a setup designed for king salmon! Selecting the right hook for salmon is that important.

Another factor in hook shape is Siwash vs Octopus. A Siwash hook will have a straight shaft and is meant for lures vs bait presentations.

When I fish spinners in the size 2-3 range for salmon and steelhead, I love the Siwash hooks.

Why not use a stronger more durable hook with spinners? Go ahead and buy those size 5 vibrax spinners and notice the size of the hooks. And than fish those, get them hung up on something and you will be out 8$ before you can say “Snap!”.

As your line breaks you’re left retying. Often times when spinner fishing, if you aren’t risking losing your spinner, you aren’t fishing spinners correctly. I use braided line, I make my own spinners and I use cheap hooks. When I do get hung up? That hook will either break off or bend out. I then use a pair of pliers, bend it back, and keep fishing.

Can you land a big fish on a cheap small hook? Absolutely! But it does require more skill in fighting the fish, the right rod and not setting your drag too tight. That’s a conversation for another time. I did land a 30 lb king salmon out in the Forks area on a homemade size 3 spinner with a cheap matzuo sickle siwash hook though.

Hopefully, a few of these tips helped you as you go about re-stocking for the next fishing season and thinking carefully about which hooks to buy to increase your ratio of hooking and landing fish.