Those are 1/0 Matzuo sickle Octopus hook. The 2/0's I got were bad also but the size 1 and 3/0 were good ones. The one on the right is the bad one and the left one is a good one. The bad ones broke with ease where the good ones will bend and take a lot of abuse before breaking.

Thank you Todd for letting me know what to watch for. I got these today and it was rather easy to tell that the hooks were bad ones. I thought I owuld share a comparison of them so others know just in case anyone else uses them.

I thought it would be harder to tell but both bends are way off and the first bend is so severe that it is more a kink than a bend. Hopefully captainshooks will replace the bad ones. Guess 4/6 good sets isn't too bad but would have hated to lose a nice summer run on these.

At least you can clearly tell the good from the bad...how many did you get from CH?

Fish on...

Todd

Only 100 of each size. Didn't go with a big order afraid of having the whole thing being bad and not being able to get my money back or get good replacements. Thakfully the 1's are good because I wanted them for summer runs more than anything and I already have a good number of 1/0 and 3/0.

Tossed all of mine in the garbage as the tips were folding over with ease. Back to gamis for me with zero problems.

That's funny because I don't use Gamis for the same reason. The sickles seem to held up better than EC but worse tha Mustad but the sickles are much sharper than both. The good sickles work well for me even bouncing them off rocks but have to live with the QC I guess. Can't afford Gami's anyway supplying hooks for 3-4 others let alone for myself.

Well Captainhooks came through and are going to replace them. There is a lot to be said about a company that replies that quickly to take care of their customers.

I learned something this morning.Cool stuff.Good luck,
SZ

Do they know the difference between the good and bad?

Fish on...

Todd

I got the email from Jack and he said they know the difference. He said they have dealt with it before and he said they would check this batch to make sure they are not the defective ones. We will see but it sounds like they know. Now if they could just intercept the bad ones before they go out.

It is amazing how easy it was to spot that the hooks were a bad batch, again, thank you Todd for telling me what to look for.

Unfortunately all of the recently manufctured Sickles sold in Matzuo packaging are of the bad bend and wire variety, hence the primary reason for Rvrfshr's departure...

Do you know if CH has 2/0 octo's with the original good bend? I could use a couple 1000 ct. boxes if so.

It's easy to tell what's what if they ship them to you in unopened bulk boxes. Manufacturer origin labels reading; made in Korea=good, made in China=garbage.

I assume they do, they are sending out good ones to me, but I guess that depends on if they have them. Just let them know what you want and I am sure they will go through their inventory and make sure you get it. I have had excellent customer response from them and they always seem very ready to help. Emails are replied to in less than 3 days, often in 1 day.

I have gotten #1, 1/0 and 3/0 from them with the good bend so I would bet there is a good chance they have 2/0 in the good ones.

As for your departure, is that from Matzuo hooks or did you close down your business? I hope it is the earlier, I have been saving up for some items and hope to get some of your new line of hooks when they come out.

Thanks, I will contact CH.

Departure from Matzuo.

Is it a defective batch or a counterfit? I find it hard for a company to manufacture a hook that is completely different, and still call it the same. My guess is counterfit. I doubt the sickle shape can be patented, so it's likely that someone decided to make a cheap knock-off.

Thanks for the info.

thanks for that tip got 300 of them and they are all the bad one's......I've had not a one break but I sure seem to miss a lot more fish with this hook....just wondering if anyone else has the same problem??????

They are not defective batches nor counterfit knock-off's. Matzuo is now having them manufactured cheaper in China, plain and simple.

I purchased millions of hooks direct from Matzuo over a five year period. As soon as manufacturing duties went to China from Korea the hooks were formed using different wire, tempering process and bend...with POS the outcome.

The Sickle hook is indeed patented, yet being knocked off with slight variation(s) by at least four other legitimate companies these days.

Bummer.

Joe,

I've noticed the good and bad formed Matzuo Sickle octopus hooks as well.

Care to enlighten us of the other companies making similar sickle octopus hooks now?

The only other sickle octopus type hook that I know of are the Gamakatsu Big River Bait hooks. Good heavy wire hooks, but 1/0 is the smallest Gamakatsu makes in them so far. I have asked them, it would be great to make them in smaller sizes. We'll see if they do.

The bad hooks will change your hook up ration from what I can see in the design. Bad angles and a lot less point exposure makes for bad things fishing. The differences side by side in real life makes you scratch your head and wonder why anyone would use a hook that looked like the bad ones do. It isn't really easy to tell in the picture but the bad ones, the point is parallel with the shank instead of turned in and the eyes are off along with the bends and the offset being screwed up going one way then back the other. Just totaly screwed up hooks IMHO.

The good sickles are excellent. NEVER have I EVER buried a hook deeper in a the roof of the mouth of a Chinook. Medium weight pole and 12# test buried the hook to the bend and it didn't move. Several Coho and Chinook Landed on them this year and never lost a fish I got to fight missing very few bites. They work just as well with a split ring on a spinner.

Hopefully China will lose the contract to manufacture them, if not, rvrfshr, hurry up with that new line of hooks! Those OEM siwash hooks are awesome.

If you order from Captainhooks, just ask them to please inspect the hooks.

Had horrible luck with those hooks. Even before they were made in China. Bought one batch of small size #4s and broke them left and right on silly little chubs. Never gave them a second chance though.

Although I must say that the design is way better than a standard octopus hook(in my opinion). Now I use the VMC #7356. No offset and you can miss a couple bites here and there, but when you stick 'em you own 'em. Very similar shaped hook.

Just an opinion.

I was not aware of the similar VMC # 7356 sickle bend type hook.

Thanks.

They aren't bad hooks but I like offset ones. Have been made a believer over the past 2 years in it. They are a lighter wire but are tough hooks. I like the VMC's for ocean fishing for perch and bass. A lot more durable in the salt than the sickles seem to be.

As for the "good" sickle hooks breaking, I haven't had a sinlge one break unless I tortured it to death. Compared to EC and Mustad, the Matzuos tested out pretty good and sometimes better with the good quality ones. The bad ones snap like a toothpick. I have never used any below a size 1/0 though so maybe that makes a difference also.