Welcome to the Fish-On Fire-X Circle Hooks Review. The new Fire-X circle hooks are made by local manufacturers Fish-On who specialise in Bait, Berley, and Tackle. Keen local fishos who have spent countless hours on the water chasing snapper with live feeds on social media and developing innovative products that match our local conditions.
Snapper are a magnificent iconic fish with spectacular fighting and eating qualities that has local anglers out in their thousands every season. For me, the keys to successful bait fishing is understanding the conditions whilst having the right setup and using the right gear. This will include rods, reels, lines, berley, and for some a boat, yak, and sounder. But we often overlook the importance of using quality hooks the connection point between your bait and the fish. Let’s have a look at these Fire-X circle hooks and see what they have to offer. Were going to explore their features, technology enhancements, quality, and cost. So, let’s start with the exciting part and that’s the Fire-X UV technology.
What are UV Glow hooks and why do they work?
We are starting to see a trend on the market of hooks that are finished in a UV glow in the dark paint. This has become extremely popular in soft plastics, lures, and even squid jigs over many years. so, it’s great to see terminal tackle like hooks follow the same trends. The idea is that the glow will attract fish and let’s face it anything that can increase your catch rates is worth giving a go. I couldn’t recall how many times I’ve bought UV soft plastics, lures, or jigs over ones that are not UV.
The deeper you fish the lower the visibility becomes, and this is even more apparent when fishing at sunrise, sundown, and into the dark. Fish are predatory and will react to several triggers including sight. The fire-X hooks stand out with a striking orange color and the orange colour glows in the dark because the paint is UV enhanced. When first getting this, I couldn’t help but flash my UV torch on them and put them in a dark setting and was impressed to see their bright glow. It’s great to see innovation and technology enhancements on products that we have used for so many years.
You can see the UV Glow finish to full effect below. Imagine these in low-light conditions
Does the quality of fishing hooks really matter?
With all forms of fishing, it’s important to use quality components, you don’t want to lose fish because your gear let you down. This is vitally important when chasing a species like snapper which have very tough mouths and strong head shakes.
When you think about it you have likely already invested in a boat or kayak ( maybe ) but even land-based anglers at very least have bought a rod, reel, line, and leader, and yet the most important part of your setup and arguably the cheapest is the connection point with the fish. The critical hookup point and the point where you present a bait. The quality of these hooks are excellent. These hooks are very sharp so do handle them with care and they are chemically sharpened and made in Japan with super strong carbon 80 steel.
Why use Circle Hooks when fishing?
I’ve always been an avid user of circle hooks, Why ?? They generally get a side lip hookup which does a lot less damage to the fish. It’s also a lot easier to carefully remove the hooks and the fish has a much greater survival rate. That’s why I’ve always preferred circle hooks over other types of hooks when bait fishing for snapper and other local species. Often with other types of hooks, the fish will swallow the hooks or become gut hooked which is poor for fish survival rates. The Fire-X circle hooks also have a micro barb again set on a back angle which increases catch rates whilst making removing hooks easier and fish survival rates greater. This is especially good if you planning on releasing a few fish too.
You may not know but hooks generally come as either inline or offset. Inline means the eyelet where you tie your fluorocarbon leader is straight and flat whereas the eyelet on an offset hook is bent back. Inline hooks generally have much higher survival rates so much so that some fishing tournaments worldwide make it a tournament requirement when bait fishing to use inline hooks to minimise impact on the fish.
Fire-X circle Hook Sizes
The Fire-X circle hooks come available in sizes 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0, 6/0.
5/0 is my go to when chasing snapper in Port Phillip Bay and 6/0 is often my go to when chasing snapper in Western Port. Early snapper season when the fish are still quite finicky, I will often drop down to 3/0 and 4/0. Your smaller size hooks are terrific for local species like flathead, King George Whiting, Australian salmon, Pinkies, Snook, Trevally, and more.
Fire-X Circle Hooks Cost and where to buy?
The hooks come in a packet of 25 and cost $24.90 ( currently on special for $19.90 ). That’s great value at less than a dollar per hook. It’s very competitively priced when you compare this against other brands and options on the market. These can be purchased via the Fish-On online store or picked up from 29 Lexton Street, Cooloaroo Melbourne VIC 3048
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If you love chasing local species like snapper with bait then these hooks are an excellent option. A competitive price with a great set of features including UV glow in the dark technology, ultra sharp japanese components, micro barb, and a good range of sizes. Thanks for reading the Fish-On Fire-X Circle Hooks Review. You can see us using this product in the FishingMad Videos. if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email us at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au
