| I was asked one day "what about all those fish that | | | | Gamakatsu Live Bait - Corrosion started after 4 days |
| get away and end up swimming around with a hook in | | | | Thereafter up to day 10, apart from some continuing |
| their mouths ?" | | | | mild surface rust and furring on the Duratin hooks, |
| Well, undesirable as it is, it does happen and aboard | | | | everything seemed to stabilise and nothing much |
| our Gamefishing vessels, we always use hooks made | | | | happened. |
| from Duratin when using real baits, bait / lure | | | | On day 10, the Maruto SS1920 Stainless Steel hook |
| combinations or in a lot of our wahoo and large marlin | | | | finally showed some discolouration and then on day 12, |
| lures. Duratin, I explained, in contrast to Stainless Steel, | | | | some minor rust spots on the eye and shank. |
| corrodes rapidly in seawater so the hook quickly | | | | On day 14, all the hooks were tested with the 5lb |
| deteriorates and falls out or is ejected by the fish. | | | | weight and all passed with flying colours. There did not |
| It then occurred to me that I had never actually seen a | | | | appear to be any deterioration in strength in any of the |
| study of just how long it takes to corrode a hook to | | | | hooks. |
| the point where it is likely to drop out or be expelled by | | | | After 21 days the hooks were removed, lightly wiped |
| a fish so I conducted an amateur bench test: | | | | with a cloth, photographed and strength tested. |
| I selected a range of hooks we most commonly use | | | | All hooks showed widespread corrosion except the |
| aboard our game boats. I included only one Stainless | | | | Gamakatsu Live Bait and the Maruto Stainless Steel |
| Steel light gauge (Maruto SS1920) as a comparison to | | | | hooks which only showed slight corrosion on the hook |
| the Duratin hooks. | | | | barb and bend. The Duratin light gage SL12S was the |
| The following hooks were tested: | | | | most heavily corroded. A second SL12S that was |
| 1. Mustad 7766D (Duratin) - 8/0, rigged baits and skirted | | | | dipped in salt water each day but suspended in air |
| lures for wahoo | | | | corroded far more heavily than the one suspended in |
| 2. Gamakatsu SL12S Saltwater fly big game hooks - | | | | salt water - presumably because of the increased |
| 10/0, Light tackle rigged baits for sailfish | | | | levels of oxygen in air verses a still container of |
| 3. Mustad 39960D (Duratin) Tuna Circle hooks , 13/0, | | | | seawater. |
| rigged baits for marlin & sailfish, | | | | Dispelling My Duratin Myth |
| 4. Maruto SS1920-2X Stainless Steel, 6/0, mall to | | | | The results were a bit of a surprise. The Stainless |
| medium skirted lures | | | | Steel hooks performed as expected however the |
| 5. Gamakatsu Live Bait hooks, High Carbon Steel,6/0, | | | | Duratin hooks lasted significantly longer that I thought |
| Deepwater jigging / Bottom fishing | | | | they would. In fact, after 21 days suspended in salt |
| 6. Mustad 7794BD Treble, 1, Small Bibbed Minnows | | | | water, despite some surface rust, they were as strong |
| Each hook was crimped to 100lb monofilament line | | | | as ever. Even the barbs were still intact. |
| using a 1.6mm Brass double sleeve and suspended in a | | | | CONCLUSION |
| container of seawater. Containers were made from | | | | In reality, a hook in a fish's mouth would have constant |
| cutting the top off plastic drinks bottles, screwing them | | | | movement of seawater over its surface which would |
| down to a bench and using the tops to hold the | | | | accelerate corrosion however the only way for us to |
| bottoms. The seawater was refreshed daily and the | | | | test this would be to suspend the hooks in a live well. |
| hooks inspected at the same time each day. To test, | | | | I didn't want all that rust in my live well ! |
| each hook was removed, held with the shank | | | | I had observed that a Duratin hook, used at sea and |
| horizontal, point down and a weight of five pounds | | | | put away without a wash in fresh water is basically |
| was suspended from the bend of the hook near the | | | | useless within days. This led me to believe that, if left in |
| barb to see if it had weakened sufficiently to bend or | | | | a fish, the hook would deteriorate rapidly and fall out |
| break. In the case of the treble, the weight was | | | | within days. |
| suspended from only one of the hook bends. | | | | I was quite wrong. Duratin hooks survive much longer |
| RESULTS | | | | than you think. We will continue to favour Duratin |
| Gamakatsu SL12S - Corrosion started within 1 day | | | | hooks because they do rust out much faster than |
| Mustad 7766D - Corrosion started after 2 days | | | | Stainless Steel hooks however I stand corrected on |
| Mustad 7794BD Trebble - Corrosion started after 2 | | | | their rates of corrosion if lost fish. Its not a matter of |
| days | | | | days, it's a matter of weeks. |
| Mustad 39960D - Corrosion started after 3 days | | | | |