I normally sharpen my own and check them after each cast, if in any doubt I would then throw them away, I usually put a bit of vaselin on the sharpened points. But recently I have tried Kamakura wide gape hooks, these things are very sharp and I have had carp on them that I could have possibly missed on in sharpened hooks ( I have found these hooks can be damaged very easily ) but after reading this thread I have looked on Johnson Ross tackle website and will probably try their ready sharpened hook.. as it has got to be easier than doing it myself with vice and magnifier... must be getting old 😉