Hot Tip: Use Red Hooks for Walleye Fishing

Red hooks are in.

Walleye anglers everywhere are switching to red hooks, from the big time tournament circuits right down to the small town angler. Why? First and foremost, recent scientific studies have demonstrated that walleyes can see red better than any other color. Red also signifies a bleeding prey. The buzz is red hooks will catch more walleye, so I figured I would take a moment to review different ways you can incorporate red hooks into your presentations.

JIGGING
Red lead jigs have been on the market forever, same goes for red soft plastics, but red hooks on jigs? I first used a red hook on a jig last spring, on Gouin Reservoir's Lac Du Male. There, my fishing buddy Mike "Walleye" and myself caught close to 100 good sized walleyes in 2 days, all on 1/4oz Matzuo Jigs with a red hook and a leech. Not only were these some of the sharpest hooks I have ever seen on a jig (out of the box), but they really did seem to outfish normal jigs - which we soon abandoned at the bottom of our tackle boxes. The rest of the summer's vertical jiggin was done with these same jigs. I am trying to find these jigs on the internet and can't find any trace of their existence. I still have a hundred of them or so, so I will try to take a picture soon and post it.

SPINNER RIGS
Gamakastu's new line of red hooked spinner rigs is just the thing you need to get those shy walleye to strike in the middle of the day. It features a firetiger pattern, which incidentally is the other most visible color to walleye.

CRANKBAITS
Replace your standard treble hooks with red hooks, if you can only change one of them, change the one closest to the head of your bait. If you're fishing in the right area, you will notice a difference. Remember to keep the exact same size hooks, otherwise you will interfere with the bait's natural movement and probably make it totally worthless in the water.


RED HOOK MANUFACTURERS
There are many hook manufacturers out there but only a select few make a quality product worth mentioning. Red hook manufacturers include:

Gamakatsu - possibly the best hooks money can buy. I have been using red Gamakatsu hooks for a few years now, but I never suspected that their color had something to do with the success I had with them. Guess I was wrong.

Matzuo - too bad their website is the worst corporate site I have ever seen - everything about it is wrong or broken. Their products however are really quite awesome.

Mustad - everyone knows the quality of these fine hooks, always the innovators, they have come up with a line of red hooks dubbed "Red Baitholder Ultra Point Hook", super sharp hooks that stay sharp longer than the competition.

Eagle Claw when a company has been making hooks for more than 80 years, you can trust them to deliver quality products for a reasonable price. They have a wide selection of red hooks in all shapes and sizes.

Daiichi - another company with a top notch product, they produce many different kinds of red "bleeding" hooks, many specifically designed for walleye.

Fiannly Check out Shaw Grisby's article "Why I Know Red Works "