What's stronger, a 5/0 treble or a 10/0 treble?

[Hal Harvey]

This will be a bit like throwing a blender into a frog pond, but here, thrash this one out. We got in Owner ST-76 trebles, and they make ST-66s look lightweight. Yesterday we got the calipers on them and did some comparisons, and not just with other Owners. Quoting from my own website:

" According to Owner, size 3/0 has 2.44mm diameter wire, 4/0s have 2.59mm and 5/0s have 2.77mm wire. We measured up the 5/0s here, and found that hook to have a 21mm gape, with a forged bend that measures 3.0mm x 3.6mm - that's pretty beefy. By comparison, a '6/0' Decoy Saltwater GT treble measures 20mm gape, 2.1mm x 2.7mm; and a '10/0' measures 26mm x 3.1mm x 3.5mm. "

So we have a 5/0 Owner made of metal that stamps out to be 3.0 x 3.6, and a 10/0 Decoy with 3.1 x 3.5 (the same, to all intents) and a 30% larger gape. Logic tells me the Decoy will bend easier.

[Jon Li]

Hi Hal ,

We had good results with Decoy Big Saltwater trebles which I bought in 2003 but terrible results with Decoy GT Special trebles which supposedly a better product , had to return a few dozens of them to the agent in Singapore after finding out they snap n bent in 2004 . I cleaned up the stock of this Decoy Big Saltwater treble from 7Seas shop in Bangkok except 1 bulk box left because the owner of the shop won't sell them for he wants to use them himself . The stock I bought were quickly shared by my fishing buddies in Italy , PNG and USA .

I haven't tried the new Owner yet as I still have quite a few Decoy Big Saltwater trebles so can't comment on which is better but hope ST76 is stronger than ST66 . The ST66 is fine for YFT but not strong enough for big GT and since 2003 I leave them at home whenever I go to Komodo .

Decoy Big Saltwater treble has more pronounced inward turned J shape than ST66 , hence the smaller gape than that of the Owner treble . The batch I bought is no longer produced , according to that shop owner and new batch from Decoy is nowhere near as strong as the old batch .

Jon .

[Brandon Khoo]

well, between the two of you, you've scared me off ever getting the new Decoy GT! I've been using the big Gamakatsu recorders for my big trebles adn they've been good - so far. The ST-76 is quite impressive. I've used them since beginning of the year and I haven't seen one deformed yet. One thng though - there is absolutely no consistency between manufacturers on hook size!

I've atatched a photo of a ST-76 5/0 next to a recorder 8/0. There isn't as much difference as you'd expect in the size of the two hooks.

I'm an idiot - i just realised I posted a picture of a ST-66 next ot a ST-76. Will post another photo when I have time

[Brandon Khoo]

okay - rather than amend his last post, your friendly moderator thinks better he admit he talk #$!@ on his last post. The difference is size between a recorder 8/0 ad St-76 5/0 is signficant. Pretty much what you would expect. Must ahve been dreaming..........   

[Neil Griffiths]

A lot has been said about trebles in the past, what is stronger, what has failed etc.
Having used all brands with pretty good results it's obvious that all can be pushed into failure and some work a lot better than forum threads suggest. Naturally the hook makers could build a hook that would not fail but no one would find them appropriate for their lures.

Technically the smaller of two hooks with the same gauge will be stronger, but as usual, there is other factors involved when you add fish.
Is the gape wide enough to get a decent set into the jaw of a big GT?  If this doesn't happen all bets are off as the bending load will be exerted onto the outside of the gape of the hook rather than into the bend of the hook and the further from the shank that the load is applied the easier it is for the hook to be bent. Naturally, sharpness will be involved here too, but that is a given with the hooks under discussion.
ST-66 and 76 are good and cheaper than most (when are they going to bite the bullet and make bigger ones) but for the big jobs I have had best results from GT Recorders, the only down side is the price and a requirement for the angler to keep the pressure on because of being barbless.

[Luke Wyrsta]

I have had best results from GT Recorders, the only down side is the price and a requirement for the angler to keep the pressure on because of being barbless.

Thanks god for barbless Neil. Hooked up to a beefy Red Bass in only a few feet of water a few days ago. Windy conditions plus a fellow anglers leader wandering precariously saw the leader get caught on the Stella bail arm and subsequently winded on to the spool. The rod tip almost got destroyed!

Ended up losing the fish - if the hooks weren't barbless i could bet my left arm that coral bommie would've been $100.00 richer!

All hell would've broken loose if it had have been a GT of some size