Ok, question... why does it seem like every lure in Bass Pro and Cabelas now has red hooks, red skirts, and red everything on it? The marketing hype is insane on this stuff! I've fished a lot and seen a lot fish. I can't ever remember seeing a red fish go by. Ok, I know the idea is to imitate blood, but helloooooo if you've ever noticed, if something is bleeding underwater the blood dissapates really fast - so fast that you're unlikely to see it for more than a few seconds. Anyone here ever seen a bloody shad swim by? How about a bloody trout or a bloody crawdad or a bloody minnow? This whole red thing just seems so silly to me. That's my rant for the day :)

I've noticed that too. Must be the pistachio syndrome. I remember talking to a snack delivery driver maybe 20 years ago about the red pistachios. I guess from a marketing test that was done, the nuts dyed red outsold the naturals more than 3 to 1. Maybe the lure industry is hoping for the same results?? I doubt the fish are gonna be as much attracted to red hooks, as humans were to red pistachio nuts!...but the fisherman might be!!:-)

You'd figure if they have the means to anodize a hook red the have the means to make one that has a stealthier look about it. Anodize one dark green, or come up with a way to paint one with a light flat green. But then again that wouldn't add to the sporty look of thier soft plastic topwater with flames on it, unfortunately it would only deduct from the gayness factor of the bait. The real kicker is they actually make sales on these things. So for all as much as Johnny Thibadeux from Louisianna makes fun of me for my oversized reels, 8ft. poles and $100 dollar baits. Well I'd have to say I laugh at him just as much for his NASCAR quantum reel, flamming topwaters and neon blue 20lb stren.

Andrew

http://www.webspawner.com/users/bigdaddybasspimp/index.html

I think under certain circumstances a red hook can make a difference.But remeber, red is the first color to fade to black with in a few feet in the water column...so these baits that dive much past 4 foot...yep...the hooks look black.I made some spinnerbats about a year ago with wire I dyed red with blade dye...They did look really nice..but the blade dye wears right off..I'm surprised they aren't making red wire for spinnerbaits....and when they do..remember you "read" it here first ..(Pardon the pun..couldn't resist)..Nathan
www.Bettencourtbaits.com

The red craze is very interesting, but in another much smaller segment of the industry they are attempting to establish a craze for 24K goldplated hooks for fresh and saltwater. A friend tried these 24K goldplated hooks in Alaska and Mexico (all salt)and did very well, but that guy almost always does well in those places. So, I merely conclude thus far that 24K goldplated hooks will not likely deter a bite in deep water. I wonder what the manufacturer thinks gold looks like to a big ling or Pacific halibut a few hundred feet deep in Alaska?

Rob: I agree with you but for one thing; I thought the ''red' color was to imitate red "gills" not blood. I shy away from the red craze personally as I too think it's mostly hype.

Dan

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"

Deo Vindice

i'm a believer, at least for senkos. At my home lake here in Austin. I fish the same shallow water set of boatdocks that are in a small secluded area off the main lake. I hit this area probably 40 times a year, with the same setup,,,,6 inch wacky senko on a 4/0 bait hook on a 25lb flurocarbon leader on a mono main line. I fish it all times of the year. Two years ago i made my usual flipping pass thru the docks. There is probably 30 slips in 2 to 4 feet of water. i caught a fish or two. I had some of the red hooks and thought, Why not. I did not have much confidence at first. I used the same bait hook in red, and got bit again like it was my first pass thru the area. The next time out i swear i got bit more, and it increased my confidence. That spring i caught a 27inch 10.6lb spawned out female out of one of those boat slips on the red hook. I had one set of tires that i'd flip to each time...about 70% of the time i'd catch what seemed like the same 3lb fish. I started calling this fish "Rerun". I fished some small jackpot tourneys on the lake, and i'd tell my partner that on the way back to the weigh-in that we needed to stop and catch "Rerun". And Rerun was there both times!

Red is simply a good contrast color under certain conditions. All colors filter out to gray/black depending on light intensity, water turbidity and depth. Red is the first color to fade followed by orange, yellow, blue, green and chartreuse. As far as a fish are concerned, color is simply degrees of contrast under specific conditions. Red works on surface or shallow running lures in sunlight conditions for instance, because red appears black looking from a dark subsurface to a lighter sky and contrasts with the lighter colored portion of the lure. Red fish! Male salmon turn red during the spawn. Why? Contrast! They stand out from the lighter colored female's. Why do bass hold in shaded areas? Not to hide. Prey simply stand out better looking from dark to light. Most lure colors are made to catch fisherman not fish. Remember all those fish missing your white topwater? They can't see it very well. A surface lure would work much better if it was reversed painted or painted all red or black, but they wouldn'd sell many. A red and white striped crankbait would work better under low-light conditions than a natural colored one.

It because all other marketing ideas have been exhausted!

Does it help? Who knows, and nobody really will know unless some sort of peer reviewed research is conducted. First pass nothing, second pass with red hook, bingo. Doesnt really mean much, maybe some other more important variable changed slightly, some variable that humans cant detect. There are way too many variables for when and why fish bite, and its been proven that the human brain can only process x number of variables at one time, beyond that we just cant do it.

Presentation, timing, knowledge, and confidence is what puts fish in the boat. And if you have confidence in red hooks, then use them. If you truly believe a red hook will increase bites, you have great confidence when throwing them, you fish better, the results are better and for most the end result is that it was the red hook, not the other things. I do have red hooks, only cause they were given to me free, and I do use them and I do catch fish on them. But I really think that any positive effect from them is miniscule compared to the other variables involved.

PS: while sitting on the couch bored, I found a beer bottle cap in the couch. I got to fiddling with it and by the end of the night I had what looked like a good spoon. First cast I caught a brown trout, Im gonna market this thing and get rich. You all know what Im talking bout.

Personally I think the red hooks are kinda dumb, yet I still bought some. I think they may accualy help when drop shotting in clear water. I am sure who ever came up w/ this idea for red hooks just looked at the walleye hooks and noticed they have every color under the sun and decided they would work well for bass too.

I really like the color red or even pink when fishing for a reaction strike, yet I will only fish these colors alone like solid red or pink. I have made some red and pink senkos and cought tons of fish w/ them.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

All I know is if I'm going bass fishing in Texas I make sure I have a ton of red baits with me. For some reason the Texan bass love red! I haven't had too much luck down here in So Cal unless it's at night, but other than that it seems to not make a difference. For a reaction bait I think color has less to do with it than anything. I've been in wide open bites where you think the color has something to do with it...nope just something flying by them and they eat it