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