THE FINER POINT OF GETTING HOOKED

Until recently it was standard wisdom that any new hook wasn't really sharp, and needed a few good wipes on a whetstone before use. That's still true of many brands, but today's top-range hooks are so sharp when they leave the factory that any human attempt to sharpen them further actually has the opposite effect.

A recent test on the average weight needed for a hook to penetrate past the barb showed that French manufacturer VMC's hooks, which required 19.83 grammes of pressure for penetration, ranked slightly above second placed Gamkatsu of Japan, which required 20.67 grammes of penetrate. By contrast, American Eagle Claw hooks required 52.9 grammes of force to penetrate, and Norway's Mustad hooks 71.9 grammes. Its only fair to say that the test was carried out by VMC, but one can be sure that if the other manufacturers could have found any fault with the results, they would have done so.

VMC stands for the family firm of Velard Migeon et Cie (and co), which was founded 80 years ago on the Swiss border in the Alsace region of France, and which now turns out millions of hooks a day. All are made from the finest Vanadium/carbon steel before going through an exclusive French tempering process and then being given a point unique to VMC.

Most hook points are formed by a grinding process, which breaks the fibres of the steel and weakens the hook. VMC's "Needle Cone" technology works on the principle of gathering the metal fibres and squeezing them towards the centre, thereby making the hook tip the strongest part of the whole construction. VMC plastic worm hooks found quick popularity with bass anglers in South Africa, but the company produces a wide range of hooks, from deep-sea big game products and rounded carp hooks right down to barbless size 30 hooks, so small that a dozen could fit on a thumbnail.