Offset Hooks

Offset hooks are specially shaped hooks designed to hold the rubber band so that the hook's stinger sticks to the back of the bait and does not get caught in grasses and snags, and when the fish takes the bait the hook slides up and the stinger slips out. Unfortunately, not all rubbers are suitable for offset hooks, and even with the most suitable rubbers, the percentage of bites is not as good as with a head-hook, let alone a treble hook. Offset hooks are best suited to very soft silicone salted retractable rubbers such as Keitech, Golden Catch Zeox etc. Also, the larger the rubber, the less likely you are to have a successful bite with an offset hook. For small 4-7cm rubber, the offset hook is the most suitable, and the larger the rubber, the less likely it is to snag.

Is an offset hook better with or without a spring?

Offset hooks come in two types, the over-the-head type and the spring-loaded type. Hooks with a spring have two advantages: they hold the rubber much better and the rubber is much less damaged, i.e. it does not slip during fish attacks. Their main disadvantage is cost. It is 3-4 times higher than hooks without a spring. Offset hooks with a spring can also be fitted with the weight immediately on the "belly". In this case, when fishing deeper, it is not necessary to add an additional lead or tungsten head, and the chances of the bait getting stuck behind the snag are reduced even more, because especially the grasses carried by the current like to hook on the front of that extra weight (cheburachka or pear). To make it easier to choose a hook online, it is useful to know what length is suitable for what bait. The size of offset hooks is marked in the same way as for regular hooks or headhooks. The #6 hook size is suitable for 1-2cm rubber lures, #4 for 2-4cm; #2 for 4-6cm; #1 for 6-7cm; 1/0 for 7-8cm; #2/0 for 8-10cm; #3/0 for 9-11cm; #4/0 for 11-12cm; #5/0 for 12-13cm; #6/0 for 13-15cm; #7/0 for 15-17cm; #8/0 for 16-18cm; #10/0 for 18-20cm; #12/0 for 20+20cm. The best offset hooks are considered to be Owner, Gamakatsu, VMC, but recently the Ukrainian company Gurza has brought to the market a lot of excellent offset hooks with springs, which are not even produced by the major manufacturers yet.