Todd, here's one of my old posts I dug up on the same topic:

As a guy who deals with surgical needles on a regular basis, I can tell you that a surgeon would almost never suture tissue with anything other than a cutting point, unless the goal is to ensure that the suture tract is watertight ( vascular micro-surgery, glaucoma micro-surgery). A cutting needle penetrates tissue with incredible ease compared to a conical tapered needle.... it's like night and day.

The same goes for fishing hooks.... cutting points just penetrate better. That said, I have not converted to Owner hooks because of what others have already alluded to..... exorbitant prices for small quantities. Besides, I have done well with Gamakatsu's all these years. Happy to see there is bulk pricing available on the Owners.. Bad news is my timing is way off.... just placed an order for bulk Gamakatsu's before reading this post. Oh well, next time around.


Sharpening an Owner cutting point is voodoo... probably just ruin the hook. Trying to duplicate the intricate cutting configuration on an Owner would be impossible with a hook file alone... you would need a micro-machinist to do that.

That said, creating even just ONE cutting edge helps tissue penetration tremendously when compared to a conical point. That's what I strive for when sharpening Gami's.... removing as little metal as possible to create one clean cutting edge on the inside aspect of the hookpoint.
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!