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I posted this on another forum last year but for those that haven't see it there's some good info here: So………WHY?Why bother with hand sharpened hooks? As we all know, an unsharpened hook will catch fish, and plenty of them. The long and short of it is that, in a general angling situation, sharper hooks will penetrate easier. They WILL lead to a higher pick-up/hooked ratio. It’s a simple fact. Sharper hooks are more effective than blunter hooks. Doh.Obviously doing them yourself is the cheapest way in the long term. And once you’ve cracked it, it’s the most effective way too. But after ~ 10 years of sharpening I decided I am prepared to pay a few quid extra to have them done for me.WHY NOT?There are certain situations where you might NOT want to use sharpened hooks:1 – Price. Sharpened hooks are expensive. And the cost of your time to sharpen them yourself should not be undervalued. Nine times out of 10 they are a one-fish hook so you need to think about whether to spend that kind of money on your given venue. No point in spending the extra on a highly stocked runs water in which they will be competing for your rig. A ‘normal’ hook will be fine.2 – Gravel. It’s easy for hooks to get dinged on gravel and this can blunt the fragile points of sharpened hooks. I can honestly say I’ve never had any problems with this, ever, but loads of guys have, so we have to accept there is a risk.3 – Certain fish. Some old fish that have been caught a few times may have harder or more boney mouths. Similarly, carp that have been feeding in gravel pits for multiple decades may have the same. In the pursuit of such fish it might pay to use none sharpened hooks as the points are more resilient.4 – Low PH waters. The lower the PH, the faster a sharpened hook point will corrode. This isn’t a problem for a none-sharpened hook as any plating or finishing protects the point, but that finishing is removed during sharpening. There are options to help here which I’ll come to shortly, but on some waters with exceptionally low PH you really don’t stand a chance. It is worth noting that on some waters PH can change for a period, I assume due to dying plant matter, which can lead to worse corrosion of hooks temporarily. No doubt one of the buffs from the bait section could help with how/why PH can change on a water.5 – Long stay angling. If you expect to leave your sharpened hook out for days on end, it will corrode no matter what the PH, and no matter what you do to protect the point. 6 - Crays. It goes without saying they can dull your hook point if they're playing with your rigs.CORROSIONSo assuming you decide you want to use a sharpened hook the next thing to consider is the corrosion issue. You might see quotes from certain parties suggesting that rust will normally start to form at the transition from none sharpened to sharpened areas of the hook. That might be true but areas of high stress are in general susceptible to corrosion, and given that the entire sharpened surface area of the point is stressed during sharpening I’ve always found that the whole of the point shortly follows. This rust will not affect hook strength, it’s only surface rust, but it can and will literally corrode the point away at its very tip. An unprotected hook can lose its effectiveness in just hours in my experience.So how can we protect sharpened hooks?1 – Marker Pens. Rubbish, but will protect for a few hours.2 – JAG Pens. Slightly less rubbish. Should last a night.3 – Silicone/Petroleum Jelly (Mucilin, Vaseline, Lypsyl etc) – similar to the JAG pens, just short of rubbish.4 – Beeswax. Decent, but sticky, which will not aid hook penetration. Easily a good 24 h+ protection, probs more.5 – Candle wax. Very decent. A few strokes followed by the lick of a lighter. 24 hrs+ easy, probs more.6 – Specialist Sharpened Hooks Anti Rust Compound. Excellent. The best I’ve used. Again - a few strokes followed by the lick of a lighter. 48 hrs protection.7 – Crayons. Never used them but the SSH compound is very, very similar so I assume they’ll work well.8 – The oil from the side of your nose (lol). Shelley popped this one up on YouTube a while back. I’m not sure if it was a wind-up or what, but I have actually seen others quoting this as a useful method. It is not. Don’t bother.All these treatments leave a sacrificial coating that will have less of an influence on sharpness than a plating or coating has on a standard hook. The level at which they compromise sharpness is negligible.*Note – when using wax, hold the hook so any run-off during licking of the lighter will run away from the hook point, towards the barb.STRENGTHLong story short, as long as the wire isn’t sharpened past the bend there will be no issue with hook strength. A hook acts like a spring with forces distributed through the hook. If it’s going to bend and/or snap, it’ll be on or next to the bend. THE FUNKY BITSo now we get to the funky bit. The photos. My microscope is capable of X 45 but I’ve not gone that close. The form of any processed metal products gets worse the closer you look at them. I’m not trying to show how good or bad these hooks are, rather I want to show a comparison between them.From the top:Un-Sharpened.This the control shot if you like. A standard mass produced chemically sharpened hook. I’ll compare the hand sharpened products against this. FYI it’s an Incizor.Specialist Sharpened Hooks.These are the Ferrari of the sharpened hook world. Top of the tree. The real deal. I cannot emphasise enough how good these are. I am yet to find one that isn’t sharpened very well indeed. They’re done by the guy that started it all. Jason Hayward. They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Not over-sharpened, just very sharp points. The best, by a significant margin. FYI - this is a Mugga.Score: 5/5J Precision.If you’re after value then these are the ones. They’re relatively cheap and they’re sharpened to a decent standard. Some need touching up to be really, really sharp but they’re pretty good (certainly useable) out of the pack. There are minor inconsistency issues. Some are slightly overdone (imo). Be warned – most packs have one or two points that have completely gone over so you have to check them carefully. I assume this happens in transit tbf. Note the tip on the sample shot is very slightly turned up – I see this on most of them which tells us something about the method used to sharpen them, I’m just not sure what that is lol.Score: 4/5Korda Kamakuras.These are the odd ones out because they’re actually sharpened by a machine, not by hand. This means they’re incredibly consistent. They’re only sharpened on one plane, opposite the barb. This means they’re very sharp when viewed from the side. However, when viewed from above, they’re not – but don’t let this put you off too much. The machine basically gives them a super-sharp spade point which is no doubt effective, but the form means they’re the most fragile of the lot. Korda quote this sharpening process as a genuine step forward in hook technology. They are right. To summarise, sharp and consistent, but fragile.From the side they are lethal:From the top they are not – but don’t let this put you off:Score 4/5IB Hooks.These tend to be over-sharpened imo. They are cheap compared to others and some are very sharp, but the points are very short due to too much material removal. There are some issues with consistency but some are useable. Many are not imo.Score 2/5.Rig It Tackle.For 8-9 quid a pack you expect real quality and the packs I bought lacked that quality. In both packs I bought I checked the first 4 hooks before giving up. There is plenty of material removed but the points are not great. They come with tip beads to protect the points and they are treated against corrosion (with what looks like either marker or JAG pens), but that doesn’t change the fact the points are not good.Score 2/5.

I'd add that I spent around 10 years doing my own so I know a thing or 2 about sharpening. I'd put my own up against any of the commercial options but we don't all have the time (or can be bothered) to do it ourselves. For those that want to give it a go, there are a number of methods but the one in the vid below is imo the best one. Over time you'll develop your own technique as you perfect your work but if you're just starting out this should be your starting point:

Your alarms are so loud you wake up but are blinded by the bivvy light , you knock your bivvy table over and can't hit the run as you can no longer find your branded carpy hat and there is NO way your going to be seen playing a fish without looking proper carpy .

There are some stunning fish on those lakes, have a look at Mark Boots Johnsons Instagram page he has caught loads of them, the lagoon can get very busy at weekends especially early season, but it is a stunning lake and there are some cracking fish in it, I found the second drove fried my brain but in hindsight I wasn't ready for it,and didn't have the time, summer holidays will be good for you quite often the lagoon can be quiet midweek, and Gordy has put lots of stockies in those lakes this year they will grow into nice fish too, one day I will go back and fish the lagoon, but I want to have fine tuned my skills a bit more so I am ready for it Be ready for the mozzies though they take no prisoners 😜😎

Probs Lagoon; had a look at it a few years back and it looks more manageable for weekends. For school holidays (Im a teacher) might be tempted by Meadows/Fjords👍

As my current water is not particularly carp friendly, I've been exploring its pike potential with a few trips this year. Over 4 trips a mate and I have had some good fish, pike from 2 to 21lbs, normally a couple each trip, although we did manage a blank between us each day. The mate in question is the friend who managed to catch the twenty I lost last year, really into his fishing now, and enjoying it. Our first pike trip produced 3 to me, and Colin saved a blank with the small jack last knockings. My fish were two around 6lb, and a scrappy 16 with a missing pec. The next trip, Colin managed another couple of jacks, and again I had 3, topped with a 17. The 17 was a bit of a nightmare, not the fish, but the idiot dog walker who as I was unhooking it, got so close to the rod tip, moved it away from his face, and pulled the treble under my nail, more problems unhooking me than the pike. Unfortunately we both blanked next trip, but hey ho. A week later we were back at the venue, after a couple of casts I cast a whole joey mackeral, and within minutes, a finicky take with just a few bleeps and a nodding rod tip, no line pulled out the clip I hit into this beauty at 21lb The smile is very real, only my second ever pike over 20, worthy of a new PB at 21. Chuffed

But you are using modern technology to wake you up surely you should be staying awake all night not listening for the alarm lol. 😉

As an extreme example , if you sat up all night in a Deck Chair and had a bite wouldn't you be painfully slow to react because you were so stiff and aching ; a comfortable bedchair would hopefully have you ready to spring into action ! ? . 😁

yes simon knows his stuff for sure. i had a gold card for a couple of seasons and like you fished mainly black in those couple of seasons. both hold special fish indeed.

That was a good thread

Got some korda Big Eye Specialists Swivels...

Better attempt at the Marker Boom...stiffer boom and bigger eye 😁

I fished on the second drove at st Ives this year which lake would you be interested in?

Black. I fished both (mainly Black) on the Gold ticket but had to drop out this year; just couldn’t justify £1200 together with travel costs etc. So I’m waiting on a Black only ticket now. So many good ‘uns coming through all the time, a testament to Simon’s management👍

Cheshire, so its pretty much the same driving time!

Yes you have spike and saddle back, both upper 40lb linears if not 50lb. God knows how many 40's now to back them up. All the big fish in there were all mid to upper 30's or just hitting 40 when I was on there. As for white swan, possibly 3 x 50's and numerous 40's . Most of which are proper stunners. I left white hating the place. When I first joined it i Ioved it but it became full of fish at all cost anglers, desperate wannabes. My name is on the list for white again but can't see me rejoining, unless I could fish mid week.

Why do people confuse advances in comfort i.e bedchairs etc with advances in technology , one doesn't affect angling ability where as the other can . In the UK we have people turning up on small waters i.e 2 acres using fish finders I know the argument goes as long as they are happy etc etc . But this will damage fishing long term IMO. You may as well sit in a field and play a computer game .

Isn't there! I saw the pics of that long linear from Black (Spike I think it's called?). My word, next level that thing is.

You looking at white swan or black swan? Some proper beasts in both now

Re-joining a club for some local fishing. Desperately want to get back in to Dinton but realistically it will be another year at least. Still considering other syndicate options, probably either St Ives or Northey Park.

I think stinky winky is more offensive than the word I wanted to write 😁

When I started fishing, I used a homemade brass centre pin reel. Now I use a fixed spool which is a masterpiece of precision engineering constructed completely automatically using the latest robotic technology. My first rod was handmade from a tank aerial and wooden handle turned on a lathe. Now I use a high tensile, featherweight, carbon fibre rod developed using the latest aircraft construction technology. When I went night fishing I sat up all night in a deck chair with my finger on the line to feel for a bite. Now I lay on my comfortable folding bed chair wrapped in a four seasons sleeping bag in a waterproof and insect proof bivvy waiting for the receiver on my high tech bite alarm developed from research into the space program to tell me which pre programmed, colour coded, tone was indicating a bite on which rod. To measure depth, I used to use a plummet (lead with cork insert). Now I use an echo sounder, first patented in 1913 and now with the paper graph replaced by a screen and the results recorded on a microchip and everything miniaturised. All of the above progress made my fishing easier and more comfortable. NONE of them put a fish on the hook. As they say "nostalgia is not what it used to be"

Yes mate, I imagine I'd only use it for a quick depth check for zigs on an overnighter but on a week session well worth having a proper go. My mate borrowed one for a foreign trip and found a little hump off to the right where you wouldn't have naturally chosen in the swim, it turned the week around massively. Generally I prefer to lead about with small leads to minimise disturbance, I always feel like I am decimating the swim with the marker, so I like the idea of the deeper overall.

Part of my drone fottage

All good cheers mate. Super busy, but that’s how I like things.

Very true I have nothing whatsoever against Korda - great company and Danny seems a lovely guy trying to do the right thing. My issue is purely the technology and what I see as a shortcut to success. There have been recent posts from Nash on Instagram where a particular fish was caught directly as a result of drone footage. Yes it makes good telly so to speak but that doesn't mean I would appreciate it next to me buzzing round lol Where's the shotgun?

Can you get a bait drone yet? Probably won't be long before you can discreetly drop a kilo of bait from 3000 feet 😂 I like the footage they produce tbh and for a video they are fine, but if people are using them to fish with that seems a bit much, to be fair to Korda they always seem quite honest about what they use in there videos, if they rope off a swim they will tell you they have etc and Tom dove did say he had used the drone footage in finding the fish

From what I've watched of the new Korda 7 there seems to be an awful lot of drone use for fish finding. Really don't want to see these damn things flying over the lakes I fish, highly annoying and IMO not angling in any way, cheating! For me a big part of fishing is not knowing exactly what features are out there and where the fish may be, its the art of working it out for yourself - for me anyway, I don't want or need shortcuts to success.

I totally go against the 'no marker float' or not finding features daily. I have had so many carp within minutes of the marker float being cast in and baited up to. @elmoputney I also did very well on the water you are thinking about spodding to the marker float with pellet, chops and whole boilies, although one swim I confess, was just cast out to with a stringer and put some boilies out by throwing stick as it was long range. The marker float was used as a target to aim at, whether it was over silt or gravel. Sadly I lost the map I made of the water, but every trip I would still double check my swim with the float to be sure. I would do the same on Nazeing, and bait up to the marker with stringers. That would catch me plenty of fish. I wasn't into wraps, but would clip up to features, then walk it out along the bank to the right distance so I knew the spot for the future. Silly things like from the gravel hump to the stick pushed into the ground that would have no meaning to other people. The marker float was an essential though if I couldn't walk it out the distance. Cast as close as I could to it, knowing I was in the right area.

My plans are seeing my make a massive change in my fishing. I am going to focus on a forgotten quarry which is miles from anywhere so days only, I'll also be heading to a number of other club/free days only places when access to the quarry isn't the best or the weather dictates. The quarry has wildly steep banks and is a good mile or so walk + through dense hedging to access it so its minimal kit with no brolly, I am looking at a tarp though. I MAY get back on the river depending on how spring goes on the quarry and other places. A few social weekends dotted in will keep me in touch with night fishing though. Winter I have no clue...to be honest I'm already looking ahead to 2021! On a personal level I need to shift my every increasing 'dad bod' so healthy eating and some more exercise. I also want to get back in to writing my blog, I think it's been almost a year now since my last post. I have 4 in the drafts ready to type up but have not been able to find the motivation since early 2019. Hopefully I can reignite the spark as it's a great diary of events for me, as well as a hopefully enjoyable read for others.