A general guide to what baits you can use on the size of the coarse fishing hook. Bear in mind that manufacturer sizes of hooks can vary quite significantly. What may be a size 14 hook with one manufacturer could be a 16 with another.

Ok. Your going to choose a hook to catch your fish; how do you decide what size of hook you are going to use?
Do you choose a hook to match the fish you are going to catch or a hook to match the bait you will be using?
The answer is really a mixture of both!

Examples:

your target fish are gudgeon - using a size 4 hook with a 20mm boilie would unlikely catch you a gudgeon - the bait and hook would be too large.

you are fishing for carp of around 20lb - a large lobworm on a size 24 hook (if you could get the lobworm to stay on the hook) would be taken by the carp but a size 24 hook would unlikely hold the fish.

As with all things to do with fishing it all comes down to trial and error. Always try to match the hook to the bait.

Barbed Fishing Hooks

I recommend all anglers fish using barbless hooks. The advantage of using barbless hooks is that they are easy to remove and do not harm the fish as much as a barbed hook could..
If you only have barbed hooks you can use a pair of pliers to crush down the barb.

I believe that barbs were initially introduced to stop the bait coming off and not to hold the fish on once hooked.

Hook Size	Baits used on the hook - use this as a guide only
26	joker, bloodworm
24	joker, bloodworm, squat
22	joker, bloodworm, squat, pinkie
20	maggot, caster, punched bread, hemp, double pinkie
18	maggot, caster, double pinkie, punched bread, hemp, tares, redworm, mini-pellet
16	double maggot, double caster, punched bread, pinch of bread paste or paste bait, redworm, dendrobaena, sweetcorn, expander pellet, hemp, tares
14	bread flake, bread paste, paste bait, double maggot, double sweetcorn, worm, dendrobaena, cocktails, pellet, expander pellet, meat
12	bunched maggot, bread flake, bread paste, paste, meat, double sweetcorn, worm, dendrobaena, cocktails, chum mixer, meat, mini boilie, peanut
10	paste, meat, bread crust, chum mixer double sweetcorn, meat, chum mixer, 10mm boilies, tiger nut
8	lobworm, paste, bread crust, bread paste, meat, triple sweetcorn, 10mm boilies, 14mm boilies, 2xchum mixer, maize, tiger nut, 14mm pellet
6	lobworm, paste, bread crust, lip hooked live bait, meat, 14mm boilies, 20mm boilies, 14mm+ pellet
4	lobworm, paste, bread crust, lip hooked live bait, meat, 20mm+ pellets, 20mm+ boilies
2	lobworm, paste, bread crust, lip hooked live bait, meat, 20mm+ pellets, 20mm+ boilies

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