Gamakatsu: The Affordable Hook for Carp Fishing

When Resistance Tackle closed down its website the cost of carp fishing increased. There are other sources of carp gear, but in my experience when there are fewer sources prices tend to rise. So I decided to begin looking for ways to reduce the cost of some of the basic carp fishing supplies.

I decided to look for some more affordable carp hooks. My normal hooks sell for about $8 per 10 hook pack. I found the Gamakatsu G Carp Wide Gap hooks, which are fairly new to the carp tackle scene, although Gamakatsu has been making fishing tackle for many years and is very popular in other fishing styles and fishing pursuits - think bass, crappie, blue gill, walleye.



My new carp fishing hooks in size 6

These hooks have similar features to other "brand names" known for carp tackle in Europe. In fact the G Carp hooks have a lot in common with the Korda wide gap hooks I have been using very successfully for a couple of years.

10 pound common

PTFE coating, wide gap, micro barb, and upturned eye are all key selling points of the G Carp hooks.

I have been testing the hooks now for a few sessions and I really like them. And at a 50% discount compared to the Nash and Korda equivalents I can afford to buy a lot more of them too!
Here is a carp I caught on the hooks from the packet above earlier in the weekend.

In the interest of full disclosure and so you can benefit from my testing and experimentation, when I re-order more G Carp hooks I will be getting them in size 4.

I spent some time looking for them on Amazon, Wacker and Carp Kit but they seem to be in short supply right now.

I suspect the size 4 hooks will provide an improve landing percentage by ensuring a quality hook hold and therefore a reduction in hook pulls.

I will continue testing these hooks and will update my results here on the blog from time to time.

Gamakatsu Wide Gape Super G-Carp

Gamakatsu Wide Gape Super G-Carp hooks

My primary hook for the past couple of seasons has been the Korda Wide Gap in size 4. I purchase them from a carp fishing vendor for $7.99 per pack of 10.

When Gamakatsu introduced a specially designed carp hook series I decided to explore whether they might work for me as either a substitute or replacement for the Korda hooks. I have been testing these Gamakatsu Wide Gape Super G-Carp hooks for my last couple of carp fishing sessions. The G-Carp hooks sell for 50% less than the Korda's I have been using.

My only regret is that when I requested feedback from another well-known carp fishermen who has been using these G-Carp hooks exclusively for several months as a "tester" he recommended a size 6 hook. After using the hooks for a couple of sessions I wish I had picked up some size 4's instead.

I have landed a few carp using these G-Carp's, but I have experienced some unexpected hook pulls too. With the Korda's, I had a streak of more than 6 months without a hook pull. In the past couple of sessions I have had 3 hook pulls with the Gamakatsu's. I do not think it's a fair comparison though at this point. While the size 6 G-Carp's are close in size to the size 4 Korda's, the G-Carp size 6's are slightly smaller.

I regret this experience because I do not think it's a good indicator of the potential these hooks provide. Compared to the Korda wide gap's they are very similar. The structure, point, shank and overall design are quite close to the Korda's.

When I place my next order for some carp fishing tackle I am definitely going to include some size 4 G-Carps in the mix. Once received my testing will continue.