For those who wonder whatHow to choose your Texan hook size for a soft lure, here is a simple summary so as not to get lost in your choice and your purchase.
In this period when the aquatic vegetation is reborn, it becomes more and more difficult to make your lure swim correctly without clinging to the seagrass beds. In addition, branches, submerged trees and any other obstacle are so many caches of choice for predators on the prowl. Faced with this, the most effective solution to get these fish is to use a texan hook on your soft lure. Which Texan hook to choose? What size Texan hook to choose according to the soft lure? Here are so many simple questions, but sometimes not very obvious, that we want to answer.
Here's a calculator to help you find your Texan soft lure hook size.
A Texan hook is above all a hook dedicated to fishing in crowded places. These are generally provided with obstacles, grass beds, rocks, wood, in short any spot where a normal hook would catch on the 1er launch.
A Texan hook has the particularity of having a bend in front of the attachment ring. This means that the shank is more or less offset from the eye. This hides the point of the hook in the body of the lure with the shank underneath, thereby minimising the risk of snagging your soft lure.
When a fish attacks and closes its mouth on the lure, the pressure of its jaw on the shank and the lure brings out the point of the hook and allows the fish to be hooked effectively.
Before knowing the size of a Texan hook for a soft lure, it is important to define the different types of texan hooks.
Several forms of Texan hooks exist on the market. Each shape generally corresponds to a specific type of soft lure.
An offset Texas hook is a Texas hook with the axis of the eye and the point offset but parallel. This type of Texas hook is perfect for thin and threadlike soft baits such as worms and slugs. The point of the Texas hook is angled at 45°, which is perfect for self-hooking a fish.
On the other hand, we recommend reserving this type of rig for surface fishing or areas where there is very little congestion, otherwise the risk of snagging will increase.
A Texan wide gap hook is a Texan hook whose eye axis is at the same level as the point axis. To achieve this, the hook has a wide, rounded opening in the shank.
The tip of the Texan hook protrudes further out from the lure, resulting in fewer missed hooks. What's more, as the point is parallel to the back of the lure, we can insert the point into the skin of the lure in very crowded environments. This set-up "tex-skinned minimises the risk of snagging.
When attacking a fish, however, the horizontal position in relation to the lure requires a strong strike for maximum effectiveness, especially on wide-mouthed predators.
This type of Texan hook is perfect for thick, large section soft baitss such as shads or the creatures. In addition, wide gap hooks are the most versatile in our eyes. Indeed, they can be used with all types of soft lures.
As the first image in our article shows, Texan hooks now come in a multitude of variations. Texan hooks for soft lures can now be leaded, have a paddle or even a screw. But they all have the same shape: offset or wide gap.
Now that you know the difference between shapes, we now get to the heart of the matter: choosing the right size Texan hook for your soft lure
Here is a summary allowing you to easily find your Texan hook size for soft lure
Soft lure size cm | Soft lure size inch | Texan hook size |
5 cm | 2 '' | #6 or #4 |
7.5 cm | 3 '' | #1 or #1 / 0 |
8.9 cm | 3.5" | #1/0 |
10 cm | 4 '' | #1 / 0 or #2 / 0 |
12.5cm | 5 '' | #2 / 0 or #3 / 0 |
15 cm | 6 '' | # 4/0 or #5 / 0 |
17.5 cm | 7 '' | #5 / 0 or #6 / 0 |
Of course, this table can have small variations depending on the morphology of the lure or your fishing habits. Nevertheless, this table will allow you to respond to 95% situations.
Generally speaking, the rule we follow is that the size of your Texas hook should not exceed half the length of your soft lure. This rule avoids restricting the swimming action of your soft lure. Some even recommend using Texas hooks measuring only a third of the length of the soft lure.
In any case, know that when a predator attacks your lure, it generally tries to swallow it in one bite. It would therefore be useless to put a hook that is too long thinking that it will have a better chance of setting your fish.
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