Trokar Hooks Truly Sharp

The past two decades bore witness to a massive expansion of hook offerings – not just styles, but manufacturers too. Used to be we fished either Eagle Claw or Mustad. Then Japanese companies like Daiichi, Owner and Gamakatsu became household names, along with French manufacturer VMC.

Now we walk into a tackle shop and stare at a massive wall of specialized hooks in what seems an infinite array of finishes, lengths, bends and wire-weights.

While it's true that you can get as specialized as you want – matching individual hooks to individual plastics, and even hardbaits – the truth is you can still get by with just a few different styles. Some straight-shank flipping hooks, offset worm hooks and small dropshot hooks will cover just about all your plastics, and you could be comfortable carrying an assortment of those in various sizes for the rest of your fishing lifetime.

Making a Point

The true difference between hooks isn't their style, but their points, and there are several point-types such as cutting (spade), conical and triangular. As well, there are different methods to produce those points – laser sharpening, chemical sharpening and the good old-fashioned mechanical file.

The traditional knock on laser- and chemical-sharpening is that it weakens the hookpoint. Maybe it re-tempers the steel, maybe it creates too thin of a taper, which leaves the point vulnerable to bend-over. Either way, for a long time, anglers believed that the more expensive the hook, the more delicate its point.

That's certainly true for some hooks. But super-sharpened hooks have done a lot to change the way we fish. With a sharper hook, you can use lighter line and more forgiving rods, because all it takes to set the hook is a simple pull-set. That's key when fishing baits like Senkos, tubes and football-heads.

On the Water

Over the past year, I've been able to fish the new Lazer Trokar hooks with all sorts of different baits. I pitched docks with a Senko and craw, dragged a tube on deep structure, dropshotted smallmouths, flipped tubes and Carolina-rigged.

The only time I bent the Trokar hook-point over was on metal docks – expected with any hook when you botch a pitch and hit a dock-face square on.

And while I can't definitively say that I caught more fish with Trokars, it was amazingly easy to set the hook with steady pressure and pull, which is a key selling point for Trokar, and the reason the hooks cost about $2 each.

According to Trokar, its unique manufacturing process allows the company to achieve a sharper point without a sacrifice in strength. In summary, it partnered with a high-tech firm that produces surgical needles. Engineers designed a patented, triangular hook point, then honed all three edges to surgical sharpness. Strength comes from a high-carbon, cold-forged steel and a unique heat-treatment process.

Trokar publishes statistics that show its hooks penetrate twice as fast, and with about half the amount of force, as other leading brands. Again, I can't confirm that scientifically, but they are amazingly sharp and stick fish without much effort.

Whether the price point matches your budget is a question only you can answer. But if you're a fisherman, I definitely recommend you try at least one pack to see how they perform – especially if you fish light line.

Available styles include HD Worm, Extra Wide Gap Worm, Magworm, Flippin', Swimbait and Drop Shot.

Notable

> For more information about the hooks, visit LazerTrokar.com. The hooks can be purchased at the BassFan Store.

> Trokar's pro staff includes Shaw Grigsby Jr., Brent Chapman and Skeet Reese (currently the No. 1-ranked angler in the world). The all played a role in designing the available hook styles.