b'HOOKS It does amaze me how strong small hooks are, as I have landed kingfish to 17kg on a 4/0 Trokar twice that was sent down with a snack sized squid bait meant for tarahiki.BURY BARB OR EXPOSE?I can recall an amazing experience when fishing off Pouto Point in the Kaipara Harbour in 2010 when a large 20kg+ kingfish came right to our feet off a rock.We had been surfcasting and at high tide we cleaned our good catch of snapper, gurnard, and kahawai on the rock with the scraps and frames going into the tide.The big king was attracted to this and with super clear water, it circled under us while snapping up the fish pieces drifting lazily around the rocks.I tried catching it on a popper, but it wasnt interested.What happened next was amazing and I wish I had a Go Pro that day to capture it so people could view it.I grabbed a bag of pillies and broke them into small chunks and lobbed it in front of the king which he happily swallowed.I then put one on a 7/0 Suicide hook with the barb exposed, lifted the bail arm so he couldnt feel any weight and placed it perfectly in front of the approaching fish only to watch it very gently inhale the bait and then spit it straight back out!It had felt the barb and Trevally have soft mouths on the top lipeveryone on the rock who witnessed this which will tear easily from their powerfulwas amazed.runs, hooking the bottom jaw as shown inSo, we fed it a couple more pillie this photo gives the best hook placement.chunks and I buried the hook right inside another piece and tried again.This time he swallowed it down and as he turned Hook PartsEagle Claw TK619 to come back around, I closed the bail arm and struck hard as the rod doubled over and reel screamed at high speed.Front Length The kingie busted me off on a large, submerged rock in a manner or mere Eye seconds.That is why he was over 20kg, Point they dont get big without growing smart!Barb This was an important lesson for me Bite to see how a big fish could easily tell the difference between the hooks barb being Gap Bend exposed and hiding it inside a bait.Over the years I have tried both ways often, leaving the barb out or hidden in the bait and both have accounted for plenty of fish.Some days however the fish are just wary and seem to be extra cautious, so Shank you quickly learn to bury the barb and on other days they smash the bait as soon Total Length as it hits the water.Those are the great days and just make sure your knot to the hook is a good one.FIGZ42FISHING IN GODZONE NOV/DEC 2021'