In this video, I go through the reasons why I made a radical change of hooks over the last few years and stopped using size 4s altogether. It’s not a review of one hook vs another, instead I wanted to show why I think some differences in point geometry made an impact on my catch rate. This might not apply to all waters but maybe this will inspire you to try a smaller hook size even if you’re targeting carp of 30lbs and well beyond! 🔥 Watch next: Carp Hooks Demystified 👉 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kN53n8-Hl8DHZaM.html

I caught a 22.9 on a size 12 while aiming for smaller fish and it's truly made me rethink hook size.

I use 2's and 4's and have done for years I don't have any problems using them and have caught 100s of fish.

You're my go-to channel for quality advice I have found this myself and have being using the same for some time great advice 👍

Great content Matt. I really like your no nonsense style which makes your content easily understood. There’s way too much complication in todays carp world and your simple but effective approach is where it’s at for me. I’m now using your running rig set up and going to try smaller barbless hooks. Many thanks

I'm drawing on various fishing disciplines here with my comment. Balance is the key word......a balance between wire guage, shank length and curvature, bend, offset, and the point "style" (straight, beaked, circle). Size is the final part of the puzzle - one brand's size 6 could be the same as an 8 (or 10) in another brands catalogue, and this MUST be taken into account too.

Your point about smaller and sharper hooks is well made, Danish pike expert Jens Bursell has made similar arguments for using smaller trebles with his "release rig" articles, because it is easier to drive the hook home in the bony mouth of Pike. However as others have said it is the weight of the lead and/or tension of the line that 'strikes' the hook home. if the small hook goes no where near the lip its sharpness is irrelevant. I would say a big sharp hook improves your chances more. You said that smaller hooks have better "anti-ejection" properties. I would argue that they have better hooking or pricking properties, but are actually easier to eject. A big hook has a wider gape and is harder to eject, but your right. It does need to be sharp. As anglers we all have idea's about what's going on underwater. If we are very successful we tend to get "bias confirmation". I am pretty sure you are good at catching fish no matter what hook you use because of your knowledge and watercraft. To avoid bias we need to see the truth. The only way we can know what goes is by seeing it directly. The only real answer is underwater filming. I have watched a lot of underwater filming, both on Carp and match style style venues. The anglers on these videos are top notch professionals, so its hard to question their skill and knowledge. My conclusions: Most Carp anglers like to think they are 'snipers' when really we are 'machine-gunners', even the best ones. The video evidence indicates its about the numbers. Carp, even small ones, have big mouths, Carp are really, really good at ejecting rigs, many times without even a single indication on our alarms. They can also be fussy and its not just about seeing a big hook. It can be a certain boilie or topper colour or boilies in general, or even a certain pattern of baiting. 1) Create competition. Make the Carp 'sloppy'. Like a wedding party when only the 1st one hundred drinks are free! 2) Make your rig really, really hard to eject, because your only chance of a hook hold in the first place is keeping it in its mouth and falling toward the lower lip. 3) Make sure your rig will reset, again and again and again, because your rig will get picked up by Bream, Tench and Carp without you getting a single blip on your alarms. The Carp always have the advantage, but we can change the 'odds'. Accept the fact that we are machine-gunners. Play the numbers game. Accept that your rig will get picked up and dropped numerous times, but make it as hard as possible to spit out each time it happens. So to me that means stiff or semi-stiff rigs, a big sharp hook and a decent sized lead. Because the VAR does not lie.

Matthew you are without doubt a thinking angler, always outside the box thinking it's refreshing to listen to your thoughts with all things to do with carp fishing. Keep your content coming many thanks for sharing your wisdom. 👍

This is the most informative carp channel on KZfaq, always learn something from your videos 👍

I used to not ever drift away from size 8s for years but i fished quite a busy water and alot of the fish had damaged mouths and it bothered me. I thought to myself i bet thats caused from smaller hooks ripping through the mouth. Since then i now fish size 6, and ive had great success catching just as many. And unless fishing zigs most of the carp i catch are nailed with no tearing or bleeding which is all i care about.

Completely agree been using fang twisters for over 10 years in a 7 or 8 in the winter

I thing another thing with hook size is they seem to have grown over the years. A size 6 now is like a size 2 from 30 years ago, they’ve crept up in size and us that use to fish with size 2 Jack Hiltons, have it in our heads that a 2 is a good size. I’ve definitely gone down in hook size over recent years.

Matt, there are some hooks made by Guru called QM1. They are amazingly strong, I mention this as many of the match lads use this model and land some very big carp (to 20lb) on size 18s and 16s, so your point is well-made buddy.

Makes sense. The amount of times I’ve seen pole men hook into a carp and more often than not they land them or they snap. Never the hook failing. And they’re using hooks that are miniature in size to a standard carp hook.

Trying the new Fox Armapoint Super Wide Gape hooks with the 20° out turned eye at the moment ,as I see they’re a similar design to the Nash cod twisters.

The "gape " has a huge (lever) effect on "hookability" & a wider gape neccessitates thicker wire... a longer taper in the point will make for easier penetration, even on a thicker wire hook.

Love the vids and tutorials but been using Korda ready mades for fish up to mid 20’s size 8 Dark Matter in barbless with 1.5 leads for the last year and zero pick up issues. Not an expert but I have 100% confidence in these rigs and get multiple catches in the 10lb range. Hooks are razor sharp imho.

I used to use Nash hooks my self but switched to ESP hooks 3 years ago and find them a lot better as far as opening up I use size 8 I find triggar hammer's the strongest and sticky sharp

Matt, excellent advice and I too with a few of the comments posted went for size 4 because of my target fish. I now have dropped to a size 6 and with your video a size 8 beckons . As always, many thanks for sharing.

putt the marketing aside! this man...exccuse me MISTER! is the angling genius! Im from Slovenia and i putt allot of my free time in to allround angling and when i got no time i watch Fishing theme YT videos.... And about Carp fishing i only toke advice from him!! He made my fishing trough his videos more symplified and much more effective than KORDA, FOX, NASH,... Marketing rubish...in a few years has cost me allot of money on non necesery tackle... THANKS Mr. COLLINS!

I definitely agree with the idea of smaller hooks. I am fairly new to carp fishing and I live in the USA. I would love to hear your opinion on braid vs mono for mainline. Would you mind sharing your thoughts?

Hi Matthew , have a look at this video .. Carp rigs-the ultimate barbless hook rig using smart point sp315 hooks . The size 4's are hard to locate now like so much stuff is . The size 4 are probably like a size 6 from other manufactures , they do a size 6 and 8 . Have not done strength test but had 20's on them . You probably have come across them in you're earlier days . Have tried the rig and have nailed every fish . Also scaled it down using a size 8 with cockles for tench and it worked , also used Drennan barbel hooks in 12 and 14 too using the curved heatshrink . Looks very similar or a replica of the Withy pool rig . Used you're hair stop bead to hold knotless knot in place and that worked too using 20lb Maxima , great tip . Steaming mono would probably damage it and the natural curl in such mono or fluro could maybe work in a similar fashion as well . Tight lines .

Use a combo of Korda, Gamakatsu and Drennan size 4 (sometimes) and 6 (more and more) at the moment. Will give Nash a try next time.

Used the old fangs almost exclusively,for a period of time...bit gutted when they changed them to the pinpoints. Went onto fox curves for a while,but my favourites are now the ridgemonkey range. Never bother sharpening them...and the point is the strongest I've encountered.

Brilliantly observed and reasoned as usual Matt, I agree with everything you say here and wish more people fishing on the continent would adopt your thinking. Just to add my experiences for what they're worth, i've found the Owner C-2BL Carp Flyliner hook absolutely brilliant in smaller sizes. It has a long straight sharp point and a finer wire gauge than most of the UK brand hooks. I fish for a Czech Royal strain of Carp in my lake, they have huge soft mouths due to the silty nature of the lake bottom. I found wide gape UK hooks in sizes up to 4 pulling out and causing mouth damage. Swapping to the Owners, especially in barbless has virtually eliminated hook pulls and minimises mouth damage. Keep sending out the great videos.

I’ve tried the ESP Trig Hammers and I always sharpen my hooks. I’ve found these almost unsharpenable, if that’s even a word. They are razor sharp out of the pack in my experience. However, I prefer the new Claw Hammers and these will take a small amount of sharpening. The wire gauge I am not sure on that to be honest but those Claw Hammers, sharpened with my Jag kit, are awesome.

Cheers Matt, this video might even explain the disparity in the catch rate between me and my mate that i fish with, he uses korda wide gape, i use pinpoint longshank. I tend to catch more than he does. Without your demonstration i would never have guessed the difference in guage between the two patterns was so substantial.

Great video! Caught my river pb of around 25lb on a size 10 claw. Now days i almost never fish with larger hook than size 8.

Alright I take it back, I tried the chod claw, it nailed the fish in the bottom lip. Excellent hook from Nash, it was nailed just picking up the rod. Wasn't going to shake it out

I use korda kaptor wide gape hooks in #8 and #6 never had a problem but i do change hooks every few fish.

Im gonna fish strictly #6 on my next trip...will be giving feedback❤❤

Depends on the size of the fish your going for, fish are ALOT bigger than 20 years ago. It also depends on the rig your using. TBH i think your overthinking it. Last year me and a friend caught 42 carp we had 0 hook pulls. All on size 4/5. The year before on size 8 and 6 i had 3 hook pulls and 1 straighten on size 6. Sorry your logic is flawed a bit like danny fairbass last video.

Thank you Matt for great content! I always found smaller hooks holding better and doing less damage,now i have confidence to go for a big carp with size 8.

I was used to hate all the Nash tackle items only because they were not fitting with east-central European carp fishing. After time I realised they are the best, especially pinpoint twister hooks. I was using also VMC carp fishing range hooks, also amazing quality .

Deception angling hooks are my go to. Hand sharpened in the U.K and extremely sharp/strong.

I've always uses a 6 always will curved shank and long shank I do occasionally use ridgmonkey size 8

Size 4 Kurv shank are razor sharp and very strong, I won’t be changing unless I’m dropping from a boat with an 8 oz lead and against snags

You are a genius Matthew. Thank you for the videos

Have you tried the ESP Trigghammers barbless, amazing hook never had a hook pull and super sharp out of the packet. Excellent strength 💪.

A very interesting and well thought out video, but I’m Curios why you didn’t try a wide gape from Korda in kamakura form? The wide gape X deliberately being a thicker Gauge of wire it seems a strange choice to compare against a pinpoint especially when you are comparing the wire gauge specifically.

My hook size has increased over the years from a size 10 to a size 4. I wouldn’t say I’ve noticed much difference in catch rate. I’ve probably just followed a trend. I think sometimes it’s what just gives you confidence but I do follow your advice and now I’m thinking maybe I should step down too🙈🤣 currently using the cygnet hook range and couldn’t fault them

Thanks for this one Matthew, been ridiculed many times for being an advocate of smaller hook sizes. Meanwhile i'm using Armapoint's in size 8 for the last 15 years or so, with a better rate of landing fishes and without any issues. So yeah, it definitely improved my fishing.

i haven't a preferred size, i always feel that the size hook depends on the size of the bait i'm using,

The new generation of esp hook claw hammer chod hammer and the trigs are sharp and have a nice needle point

Morning Matthew now I’m back into fishing again I use size 12’ hooks as these are the max size allowed where I fish. Hooking is absolutely not a problem for both carp & myself when rig tying !

Interesting and thoughtful content especially the bit about force to penetrate the lip wrt hook diameter. I've been using fox size 8's for years on one of my go to rigs, it nails large and small carp. Just one point Matt, you've made a strong case for the Nash hooks here, for full disclosure it would help to say if they sponsor you or not

I dropped from 2-4 down to 6's last season, I was dropping more than I would like which on the river and with a handful of fish in a season losing fish hurts! I shortened the rig down slightly and dropped to size 6's after fishing with a mate and didn't lose another fish all season, including a couple of relentless 20's that were absolutely nailed. I now have a LOT of faith in the bank tackle wide gapes and continentals.

In terms of penetration I don't think you are wrong with your comparisons to hypodermics or that a thicker gauge of wire increases the force required to continue penetrating, that's just surface area adding to friction. However, I am not convinced that the hook point fully penetrates during the pick up (ie. lifting the lead completely off the deck) and is instead driven home when proper contact is made between rod/fish and as such there is (within reasonable conditions) always adequate force to achieve proper penetration. A good test to illustrate this is to pick up a rig + lead with the point touching something like rig foam (I suppose raw chicken might be a more accurate medium?) to replicate what happens when a fish gets pricked. My hook of choice for a good few years now has been the ESP Cryogen range, thinner gauge wire than competitors (1mm on a 4) with comparable/greater strength and they hold a point really well. I fish a lot of snaggy waters so require hit and hold capability and I've yet to have one open out.

Would be good to see you try the carp spirit razor point range of hooks. Very underrated in my opinion.

Great content. I accidentally tied a rig last year with a size 8. Thought I grabbed a 6. The result was great. Haven’t even considered a 4 since. I still lean towards the 6. But have no concern using 8’s and find myself reaching for the often. Haven’t tried any long shank though.

Matthew, thank you for all the useful information you provide. As for sharp hooks, Korda Kamakura range has some very very sharp ones.

The difference between 1.2 and 0.9 is even larger is cross sectional area! 1.2mm diameter is 0.36pi in cross section or roughly 1.13mm^2 in area whereas 0.9mm is 0.2025pi, or 0.64mm^2. Nearly half the metal!

I've found that the Korda Basix size 8 is pretty sharp straight out the packet.

Thanks for confirming the reality of hooks opening up under relatively low pressure, maybe the keyboard danglers on a certain forum will listen to you:XD Nash hooks are indeed very strong and very sharp, but the ones i currently have from pole position are ridiculously sharp and almost as strong. Might be of interest. On a sidenote, always enjoying your video's, living the dream my man!

I am not a "big carp" angler but if you take your time and play the fish right a small hook is as good as anything. I usually fish with a size 10/12 or even 14 on a hair when they seem flippant? I fished Coombe Abbey when I was fit with a bronze size 20 barbless and often caught slabs of bream and good size carp all day.

Great video. My faveroute hook is a size 8 korda kamakura. Verry sharp and strong but the point does bend over easily.

The new esp hooks chod hammer and claw hammers are very sharp also they don't need hand sharpening as the water I fish corrodes sharpened hooks very impressed with them.

Have a look at ESP Trig Hammers. Wicked sharp, long shank hook, quite fine wire. Be interesting to see a head to head with your Nash ones... I've been using some very big baits lately (25mm), so have used 4s or even size 2 hooks with heavy leads. In the situation, I think it was the right thing to do, but on a different venue, I'm going to experiment with smaller hooks. A few years ago, I was often fishing with size 10 or 8s, with a float and 10lb line and doing really well, often catching 2 or 3 nice carp on after work sessions. Bloody good fun it was too!

Have a look at the angling iron hooks and the carp spirit ones. Both I would say are better than the Nash ones mate particularly the angling iron ones 😉

Thanks mat you confirmed what I have been saying for years smaller hooks do go in easier but harder to get out a brilliant video mate ots all about concealment for me that's why I like a smaller hook I just wish nash did the nxt defusion camo mainline still it was amazing stuff and making rigs from it they would disappear like the defusion camo leaders they used to sell

I also use Nash & when using smaller hooks ( winter ) I use thinking anglers hooks, they actually look too thin but they hold fine & penatraight great, leaving no damage at all as the last thing i want to do is damage a fish ever, as long as the water is snag free & you can play the fish out calmly & without rush Thinking anglers are very good hooks, otherwise I use Nash due to the strength and the way they sharpen, never used Korder - I have a peeve with them, The TV shows are not honest ( swims are prebaited in lakes that are closed before they arrive) & the shows are aimed at selling products not teaching good angling imo, it's common to see anglers arrive and instantly spod out kilos ( always cell) as they copy what they have seen, very clever marketing but it's not helped the sport I love, all the best for 2023 Mathew 🎣🎣

Maybe you could try the brand called Pole Position. Those are very sharp too. They have made them in collaboration with Gamakatsu.

My favorite hooks for fishing are Owner. I tested many kind on thumb, and only Owner ones have hooked me multiple times that i need pliers to get them out of finger. They are bit smaller (Owner size 10 is like other hooks size 14).

Good video which makes some very good points. My go to hook for the last few seasons has been the size 8 ESP Gripper and I've had no problems, the only time I move up to the 6 is when using larger baits such as a double 16mm boilies. Also gapes on hook have got wider size for size so my size 8 Gripper has the sames gape as ESP T6 size 6 which was my hook of choice for the majority of my carping until they were discontinued, and I still have a few un-opened packets along with some of the original Stiff Rigger hooks.When you compare older hook size to newer ones they do seem to be a size or more wider and that can vary even more from brand to brand I have a box of Drennan Continental Boilie Hooks in a size 8 and they look tiny to a modern hook. What ever happerned to standards, a size 8 hook from one brand should have the same gap as one from another brand.

We use the Nash Pinpoint due to your advice! But recently tried some chod hooks from Bank Tackle and they were impressively sharp out of the packet (and less expensive than the pinpoints). Very strong they feel too, although we've not done the same level of accurate gauge testing / springback after opening tests as you, but as you asked I thought I'd give my penny's worth :)

Very interesting. Size 8 was standard when I was a kid, but it seems hooks size (and rod test curve) have steadily increased over time. Match anglers, who do experiment more, and also share knowledge freely, use soft rods and small hooks (rarely above a size 10). To them, every fish counts, literally. They're often catching fish in the 5 -20lb bracket, which, I think most of us would agree, often fight much harder than larger carp. Food for thought...

I use the Nash Claw in size 8 for ALL my rigs.

Hi Matthew - I would highly recommend the GripZ hooks from Pallatrax, they are unique and the best I have ever used

Carp Spirit hooks are so hypodermically sharp my favourites are the BBP boilie beaked points and the curve shank SCS they are smaller than a korda hook in a size 6 its either them or the Nash Pinpoints

Its a interresting video. Fun thing is, regardless of theories u explain. I switched to Nash hooks and I actully had way more hook pulls on those hooks than i ever had with my korda hooks. So I went back to korda

Hi Matthew, I live in Germany and most of my fishing is in natural lakes. I totally agree what you sad about smaller hooks. As you I have been using Nash hooks for a very very long time but few years ago I had a issue with them. They start to rust pretty quickly and other issue was the price. As alternative I started using Gamakatsu Snagger and Gamakatsu Hump Back as curve shank. I really would appreciate your opinion on those hooks. Keep up a great work!!! Best from Germany

I always use size 8 hooks for large carp, they hook 99% of the time as they are thinner and very sharp.

solar 101 stronghold never failed. never tried the nash hooks

I found i catch bigger fish since switching to size 4s . Beating my pb twice last year . I imagine a bigger hook is harder to spit out for carp

Thanks for the analytical in-slight as ever Matt. Have you come across the Palatrix Gripz hooks? Barbless but with an indented pattern on the inside of the hook point. Seem a half way between barbed and barbless but I’d never heard of them.

I went through a spate of losing fish and now changed to the Korda Kamakura hooks think they are the sharpest hooks there are have a look at them do a vid if you get chance they are insanely sharp

Hi Mat you sholud try the Pole Position range of hooks made by gamakatsu. I paranoid about hooks sharpness and agree with you with many things. Physick is simple: finer, sharper hooks penetrated faster and deeper but it also more susceptible to damage. I usually use hooks in size 6 but depending on the conditions, the place of fishing and patent of the hook itself I change them to size 4 or 8. I try to check hooks point after every fish and resharpen them if it s needed ( even that i found very sharp hook is done after 3-4 carp landed). If I fish in waters where there are also other species of fish, such as grass carp or sturgeon, it often happens that the hook tip after landing in such a fish is no longer suitable for re-sharpening. As always, a lot of knowledge in your videos and please keep it up. Regards

12s 10s 8s all I ever use just pick a rod to play fish not a casting tool most of the time on 10lb line big fish no problem even in tricky lakes with weed

I m not using Nash Pinpoint anymore. Tipp is too soft ! Had some probs with them. I ve switched back to Gamakatsu range of hooks. G Carp A1 specialist l, Hump Back and RX models (no. 4 and 6)

Matthew, always good to see you. You have a lot of interesting things to say. Sincerely. Good luck in everything!!

Cw, carp whisperer Hooks are 👌

I use Nash Twister hooks, they are superb.

Angling iron is my choice of hook

Great info thank you..always used size eight

The size of hook increases because no one bought size 4 or 2 hooks years ago so they needed to sell them and the other reason hooks larger then a size 6 was never sharp years ago

Good video and I understand the logic in how you arrived at your conclusions. However I think one thing overlooked is how the fish deals with the hook and the associated ‘anti ejection’ properties. I think larger fish can deal with a smaller hook easier when blowing out then a larger size 4. And when you refer to there being a 25% difference in force being require for penetration this has to be taken into account with lead size rather then just gauge alone

You should try the poleposition hooks and then the type S-type.

Excellent observations as always, my thoughts are similar till I came across the Graviers tic hook which throws a massive spanner in the works! When how far you are fishing an how big the carp are, top vid as usual Matthew 👍 🎣

Interesting video…liked the reference to research on needle penetration! 🙌

Really good advice as allways Matthew I use size 6 but I will give size 8 a go to see how it goes .👍👍

People followed the fad been course and carping since 1977 I've done what works best and never followed fashion still use 8s 6 7s I've got 4s and like the fox 5s obviously you get the odd weak hook I've only had 1 hook slightly open up that was an esp raptor.Ill use different gages for very weedy situation .I'll say one thing love long shanks never had any problems and I like them for longer range.

always used carp r us short shank nailers, s8. a down turned eye also always turns the hook into the lip.

I think you’d like the esp trig hammers. Sharpest out of the packet hook I’ve tried and love the pattern.

JP precision hooks are already hand sharpened and very strong.

Pole position hooks. Sharp as fuck

I've used curve pinpoint hooks, and when they go in I've had to use long nosed players to get them out!! they are very good but korda kamakuras are lethally sharp!!! I use the wide gape X for snags 6's and wide gape kamakuras 6's for more open water and I've never lost a fish on them. I think unless your fishing for huge fish a 4 is just not needed.

Very good info but I don't think the carp needs to pull 25% harder in this situation. This is an example only but the pull of a carp outweighs the required force for hooking. Eg if it takes 1N to impale the fish and carp is pulling at 20N anyway it will always impale. Not saying that there is same chance of impale on thick vs thin wire... I just don't think the 25% force number applies in this situation.

Some of the guys are using size10 pallatrax gripz on les quis...and doing rather well

Have you tried IB hooks they have all types of carp hooks but they all come hand sharpened,they are very sharp indeed. you need to order online.

Great video, learning so much from you Mat thanks 👍