Sharpening Owner Mosquito hook?

[Ultralight]

I've a friend who happens to be a master angler many times over in Colorado. He sharpens his hook almost religiously but I can't argue with his fishing success. He took me trout fishing and it was an off day and we still ended up with 70 trout (exactly) by 2:30pm. Quite a clinic. I gave him some Owner mosquito hooks because I thought the gap would allow him to land more fish. They did. However, he wrote back that the Owner mosquito hooks can't be properly sharpened after they get dull. I'm a bit surprised - but then I never sharpen my hooks. I've had 30+ trout on one hook and it remains sharp enough for me. For him, sharp is when a hook digs into the thumb nail when lightly dragged accross the nail. He sharpens with a diamond file.

Anyone else tried to sharpen these hooks? Did it work for you?

Thanks,
UL

[DarkShadow]

If these are Owner hooks with their Cutting Point™, then they can't be sharpened, simply because of the way Owner designed their proprietary tip.

http://www.ownerhooks.com.au/images/cuttingpoint.jpg

But, I was under the impression that all of their mosquito hooks came with the Super Needle Point™, which should be able to be sharpened.

[shinbob]

Owner's website says:

OWNER hook points are chemically sharpened. There is nothing you can do with a file or stone that will improve the sharpness. If you turn a point over or feel the edge has gone off the hook, dispose of it correctly and tie on another new hook.

I'm sure you can still get it sharp enough (at least for me) with a file after it's been dragged over rocks and such, but you can never make chemically sharpened hooks as sharp as they originally came out of the package.

[Marley]

... For him, sharp is when a hook digs into the thumb nail when lightly dragged accross the nail. He sharpens with a diamond file...
UL

That is the definition of a sharp hook, though it can be a detriment when fighting larger fish for long periods of time (bigger tuna and huge trout/steelhead//salmon, for example, from which the hook cuts its way out after time on the line). I agree with shinbob and DarkShadow in that you probably can't re-sharpen those hooks to the desired sharpness and should stick with Mustads or similar hooks to put a point back on.
Just curious, is he a fly fisher? I would think Mosquito hooks would be good only for streamers, maybe larger hoppers.

[DarkShadow]

Just curious, is he a fly fisher? I would think Mosquito hooks would be good only for streamers, maybe larger hoppers.

Not even those.

The only thing I see mosquito hooks being used for as far as tying flies is perhaps a sowbug or perhaps a scud pattern, maybe a Serendipity if the hook is small enough.

Unless you're using bait; but of course, any self proclaimed "master angler" is probably not using bait.

Perhaps you should send him some info on Tiemco hooks. They make a variety of hooks that can be used for tying that retain a lot of their sharpness, and can also be re-sharpened if need be.

[Ultralight]

Thanks everyone. Yes, he is definitely not a bait fisherman...:) And yes, he does use Tiemco hooks but I noted from a physics point of view that some of the Tiemco he uses actually would give him a higher loss rate compared to other hooks which turned out to be true.

BUT my question is WHY would a mosquito hook cannot be sharpened to a very sharp point? After all we are talking about mechanical sharpening where we are shaving off metal so that what is left behind is the sharp point. A chunk of metal is a chunk of metal...?

Thanks in advance for any further thoughts.

UL

[shinbob]

Perhaps it's because the mosquito hooks have a curved point? Would be hard to get the file on the "bottom" side without dulling the hook, especially on the smaller sizes.

[Marley]

Perhaps it's because the mosquito hooks have a curved point? Would be hard to get the file on the "bottom" side without dulling the hook, especially on the smaller sizes.

I was thinking the curved point might be an issue. Almost have to use a fine diamond burr on a Dremel or even a dentist's drill to get under the lip. But with the per-piece cost actually really low, why not just tie on a new one?

[Ultralight]

Of course. And he can tie one of his own designed fly in 3 1/2 minutes. But the deal is that he routinely catches over 100 trout before mid noon and has a thing about how many trout he can catch with one fly. I've seen some of his flies that he retired that got over 100 trout. They still looked halfway decent.

But thanks for all the responses. I think I got my answer.

UL


I was thinking the curved point might be an issue. Almost have to use a fine diamond burr on a Dremel or even a dentist's drill to get under the lip. But with the per-piece cost actually really low, why not just tie on a new one?

[DarkShadow]

And yes, he does use Tiemco hooks but I noted from a physics point of view that some of the Tiemco he uses actually would give him a higher loss rate compared to other hooks which turned out to be true.

Some patterns you have to use straight shank hooks. I'd hate to be asked to tie a grasshopper pattern using a Tiemco 2457 that is usually meant for scuds.

What specific pattern did he tie on a Tiemco that was causing a higher loss rate? Sometimes it's inevitable and you have to use a hook for a specific pattern that doesn't have a wide gap, simply because the pattern you're tying can't be tied with a wide gap hook.

Also, Daiichi makes some sharp hooks as well. Gone are the days of Eagle Claw and Mustads, lol.