I want siwash hooks that have a weleded or soldered shut eye. Gamakatsu and Eagle have "closed eye" siwash hooks available in their product lines, but they are simply bent closed. The hook eyes could be opened in the field, with pliars and some effort. I can't get any information out of the VMC sales website.

I tried making some "welded shut" siwash hooks by using a Dremel w/ cutoff wheel to remove 2 arms from quality treble hooks. Result was crude, heavy, off balance, and not worth using.

Is there a permanently closed siwash hook available? (If so, who makes them?)

Thanks!

Haven't tried it, but can't you pinch the eye closed then used a soldering iron to solder shut the eye?

Past that, I do not know of any.

Randys, just curious what application would warrant such efforts?

Lead/tin solder that I have would not stick to any hook that I have. My "toy" 50 amp welder won't weld soft steel, let alone something like a hook. Even if I could get everything set up to weld them shut, the spall would ruin the smooth surface of the eye, likely causing line or knot damage without some needle file work. By then, I have WAY too much time into the project. Not worth welding or soldering it myself.

I like Gamakatsu hooks, for most applications.

I started using braided line a few months ago, and I am still on the uphill side of the learning curve. I like to keep Buzz Bombs (BBs) in the lure mix. I tie the line directly to the hook. The siwash hook and braided line will occasionally rotate around the eye of the siwash hook, and the Palomar knot will line up with the (closed) gap on the eye. Even moderate cast pressure will cause the knot to pass the gap, and lose lure, hook, bumper and bead. I am left with an undamaged Palomar knot on the end of my line. I get in the habit of grabbing the BB before each cast to ensure it is straight, but this slows things down, and I eventually get tired of doing so. If I move my boy to braided, his microscopic attention span will barely be able to deal with the line issues, let alone monitor a small detail such as how the knot is sitting on the hook eye. Those BBs are rarely cheap. (I am not interested in a debate on the use or efficacy of BBs...)

What about a dip in some heated soft plastic.

Or dab a spot of 5 minute epoxy on the gap.

Sg

Maybe add in a split ring between the hook and the braided line?

Tie the line to the split ring. Slap on the hook to the split ring.

A good stainless steel split ring isn't going to fail and I don't see braided line slipping out of a split ring.

Mustad may have what your looking for... http://www.mustad.no/catalog/products.php?id=8

10839BLN This hook has a closed eye and is available down to size #1

Just put a dab of UV cure Knot Sense on your finished knot. Works like a charm.

when i use buzz bombs i use a siwash on a swivel, this will fix your problem and seem to lose less fish this way.

+1

Put a swivel onto your siwash and tie to the swivel.

Mustad Big Gun Siwash are what I use, they come in both open and closed eye, very sharp Ultra Point, they come with the proper point offset...great hooks.

Randys, that is why I asked. I think there are far more simplistic solutions to your problem. Plug pullers have been using this technique for years to keep line from sliding into the nearly-closed eyelet on the front of some plugs.

The swivel idea works too.

Swivel or split ring...or both...then tie to the swivel or split ring.

Good luck.

Fish on...

Todd

+ 4 or 5 or whatever the hell the number is....................

Split ring or swivel.

I personally use a swivel for those big coho doing coho spins at the net!

Thank you to all for the prompt replies. Great comments.

First, I considered using a sealer to either keep the gap closed, or keep the line in place, centered on the line end of the eye/ring. I think that the pressure that can open the gap to let the line slip by would also exceed the strength of the glue. Not much for the adhesive to grab onto.

Regarding the Mustad hooks, they are still simply crimped closed from what I can tell in the website. I have nothing against Mustad in general, but the straight loop of the Gamakatsu hooks seems to cause fewer line hangups. I've used Mustad siwash hooks with BBs in the past with monofilament line, and prefer Gamas. The cut-up treble hooks caused snag problems, too.

I plan to use the "easy" aluminum welding process on a leak-proof welded hull aluminum boat that turns out to be more marketing hype than practical application. I've seen the stuff before. Again, I'm not sure that the amount of work to seal up the tiny gap on the hook, then clean up the eye, will be worth it. I'd rather buy off-the-shelf.

Regarding swivels and split rings on the hook, I have tried swivels in the far past with monofilament. Again, the balance seemed to be off, and many line snags would occur, where the hook catches the main line above the lure. Too much length and "flop" in the hook/swivel combination. It is one reason I prefer BBs instead of other flutter type jigs that use a split ring and hook attached to one end of the lure. The sink rate and size/length of hook, I assume, need to be in very close balance with the BB jig. Adding weight with a heavier hook (cut trebel) or more metal (swivel/ring) changes the dynamics, it seems to me.

I'll take my answer as "no welded/soldered/brazed/forged siwash hooks", try using the tiny split rings I spotted at the back of my tackle box, and play around with hook size and length. A bit difficult to get over the thickness of the eye wire, otherwise an easy option to try. My concern is that I will have the same issue with Gamakatsu and Mustad worm hooks throwing senkos weedless to bass at Banks this spring. I wish all my worries were this simple...

There are some heavy welded type rings available at places like Seattle Marine that would probally be stronger for than "tiny split rings" for the application you are concidering.

These are available in very small sizes.

There are also many shorter shank siwash hooks on the market from manufctures like mustand and eagle claw that you may find more sutiable.

Good luck with the search

I routinely loop hooks on to a loop of FireLine on stinger style flies and amputee-style loops ala Twitch.

Even the commercially made Gami/Owner/Matzuo octopus hooks with a closed eye still have a gap/slit where the eye is formed closed. A thin single strand of FireLine will wedge itself in there.

The solution for me is to tie a short bumper as if you were trying to snell that hook for a mooching rig to "crowd" that gap/slit with a turn or two of bulky mono.

VOILA, no way in hell the braid will ever work its way thru that gap. NEVER!

I have used the small triangular split rings for just such application quite successfully. Swivels were too heavy as were the heavy duty split rings, both of which pull the hook away from the BB, however the fine wire triangular split rings seem to have little effect. I would think that oval split rings in the smaller sizes would work also.