Hook Size for Lake Trout & Salmon Ice Fishing

Video Transcript

"Alright, so let's take a look at the size of hook that we're going to use for lake trout or salmon. Notice this is a snell hook. It's got the ribbed monofilament line around the upper part of the shank and a pretty dramatic angle that's set back so that the point of the hook is actually directly below the upper shank. Notice that, and that is so that when the fish goes to bite, its first impulse will be to pull away from the puncture and it will pull in, setting the hook even further because of the way the shank is shaped. You want to use a hook this size, a number six or number eight. You want a good quality hook. Don't buy anything inexpensive. Don't buy anything that's going to have too much flex to it. A little bit of flex is fine so that the minnow can move around, but if it's overly rigid, it will snap as the pike or as the salmon bite through it. It's also possible, if the hook is too small, that the salmon or lake trout or pike could bite above the hook, very easily breaking the line and getting free with a hook in its mouth."