what is the smallest jig for a sickle hook?

[Brent]

I do a lot of ultra light  fishing, what is the smallest jig/sickle hook combo out there?

[ctom]

The smallest I do is a 1/32, #8 hook. I'm sure those who shoot 1/64 or 1/80, 1/100 can get smaller hooks done but I've never needed anything lighter than 1/32.

[pjmcla]

I have not gone below 1/32 and #6.  Crappie.com may have someone that goes into the 1/64ths.  That's where I would start anyway.   Around here 1/32 - #6 is small in a jig.  Number 8 hooks get throat hooked more and most folks don't like that. 

[ctom]

The only time I use a #8 hook is when a plastic is small and a #6 makes the presentation clumbsy.

[RonDon]

Smallest I've done for someone is 1/100 with a #10 sickle.  You can get a #12 though.  Personally I never go below an #8 and that's after some tight eyed gills!

[crappiezilla]

1/100 with a size 10..... I seen some on ebay otherday it may have been a typo but it said 1/1000.

[Brent]

Ok some of my interest in this is because of all the talk about the sickle hook, Why is everyone wanting these? what is the benefit?

I look at pictures and it appears there is less gap but more bend than an Aberdeen hook  

[pjmcla]

Brent;
The sickle hooks are needle sharp.  Also; the hookup ratio is higher and they seem to stay hooked better.  I do not understand the physics, but they tend to hook deeper and in the top of the mouth as apposed to the mouth edges.  This is a big advantage for crappie fishing.  I know on skipjack fishing my catch ratio is much higher with sickles ( 1/0 ) than any aberdeen I have tried.  They have a lot more trouble trowing the sickle.

[crappiezilla]

The hook gap is also wider than a regular aberdeen

[Brent]

I got some great jigs from Crappiezilla, first night trying them and I like them, the baits sit very well on them, they are super sharp, the weights worked out perfect, the 1/80 and 1/64 oz jigs allow the FRY baits to glide, I'm using the Berkley Nanofil, which floats an Aquatek invisaswivel and a 2 foot leader of floro. This allows me to float the bait over the tops of the weeds for long distances.

So now the challenges and questions;
1)Anyone use these for gills? I was getting a lot of short hits, switched to a Cubby 1/32 ball head jig and started hooking up with the gills in the area.
2) Anyone else notice there really is no barb on these hooks??? Is this normal?

[ctom]

I fish sickles down to a size 8 and have no issues with not hooking sunfish at that size so I can't imagine the hook being an issue at 1/64 or 1/80. You don't say which "fry" you are using, but the 1.75" on those small jigs may not be the best combination. The nano fry would team up just fine on the tiny jigs.

I've had nothing but problems in the past using that cubby tackle. The jigs you mention have the most brittle hooks on earth...Chinese ingenuity at the finest. I've had crappies and sunfish break off the hooks at the head as well as have had those fish snap off the eyes. The hooks snap like toothpicks if they need straightenening. I suspect that the long shanked cubby hooks allow hook-ups to flourish since they are a size 10 in a 1/32 head and are about 1/8" longer than a standard industry hook.

[Brent]

1.75 and the 2.5

[ctom]

If you're fishing that large of a fry and cannot seem to get hooked up on sunfish, there's the prblem, not the hook size. Even a 1.75 small fry is big for the average sunfish. Sunnies over 8 1/2" are maybe the lower end of the size range able to easily get these longer and thicker baits in the mouth consistently. And when they do the hook has to have adequate gap to grab skin or meat to hold on.

[Brent]

Ctom,
have no problem on hooking sunfish or gills with the Cubby or even tube jig heads, been fishing this way for years, just wasn't going with the sickle hook,
I switched from the sickle to the Cubby last night and started bring fish into the boat, same baits nothing else was changed except jig head

[ctom]

I fish only sickles anymore, but to be honest I don't target sunfish. The sunfish I catch are all incidental fish that hit on crappie, and sometimes even bass, baits. I don't see many small sunfish since most are hooked while swatting at the larger baits.

Most of the people who fish for sunfish while in my boat are using sickles and have no hooking issues with them. For them its more of a plastic size issue rather than a hook size issue.

Do you ever fish main lake suspended sunfish? A lake I fish in the summer has lots of deep water and when the thermocline dips into the depths the big sunfish suspend over the deep water, often only 5 or 6 feet from the surface. Just tossing a bait out under a float set at 5 feet and drifting is a very productive way to get them. My buddies drift the sunfish bite while I go deep and jig the crappies that like the deep water under the sunfish.