A bobber does not mean someone poking their head into a tub of water trying to grab an apple. A cork is more than a stopper for your favorite bottle of wine. And a float is not just a thing people ride during a parade. Actually they often pertain to a method of fishing used by millions of anglers throughout the years. It seems every angler has their own method or style and one of the most productive showed up several years ago… the popping a cork.

Historical papers indicate people used various floats, bobbers, or corks as early as mid 1800’s with evidence that somewhere around 1844 Norwegian fisherman used small egg-sized floats. Into the 1940’s, glass floats became popular and where used to support larger commercial fishing nets. However, for today most commercial and sport fishing applications have been replaced by aluminum, plastic, natural cork and Styrofoam.

Corks, bobbers, floats or whatever you call them still serve the same purpose for today’s anglers. Whether a small boy with a cane pole and a can of worms, sitting on the bank, fishing for bream, a family fishing for bass, snook or redfish or a commercial trawler night fishing for swordfish…at some time or another they use some form of tackle suspension or strike indicating floatation.

Over the last few decades, someone came up with the idea of popping their corks on the surface like a lure. To their amazement they discovered it could serve more than one purpose. Not only could the bobber indicate a strike, but when popped on the surface it attracted otherwise uninterested fish. This new method of attracting fish also attracted the attention of tackle manufacturers. And soon capitalized on the idea by creating what is known today as a Popping Cork.

A relatively simple design it soon became the must have float in every anglers arsenal, especially those targeting saltwater species like spotted sea trout and redfish. The idea was to generate enough attention as to attract an unsuspecting fish. As they investigated the commotion there was a tasty morsel of food.

This new method worked so well in fact, the cork soon took on a shape of its own and almost immediately began showing up in tackle shops everywhere. Each brightly colored oval or cigar shaped cork had a stainless steel wire shaft threaded through round plastic and brass beads. Now when popped it not only created commotion on the surface, but as the cork slid up and down the stainless steel shaft striking the beads it made a clicking sound.

This little fishing novelty helped anglers catch thousands of fish throughout the world. It did however have one drawback the stainless steel shaft. After a period of time it would bend and the cork would not slide properly.

For years after the invention of popping corks, all was well in the fishing industry and they sold like hot cakes on a cold winter’s morning. Just think… now we had it all, a strike indicator, a fish attractor and the small brass beads added weight which meant further cast. Could our fishing lives get any better?

Sensing a need for new and cutting edge product several tackle manufacturers revolutionized the popping cork market by creating a totally new design. This completely new style of popping cork not only offered the standard oval and cigar shapes, but one had a concave top designed specifically to move more water.

Not only did we have a new design it went a step further and corrected the one existing drawback. Instead of using stainless steel shafts they used Titanium which enabled it to spring back to its original shape.

We now understand more about floats and popping cork how do you use it? Everyone quickly develops their own techniques, but here are the basics.

1. Tie fluorocarbon leader, under the cork to keep your bait about a foot off the bottom. Depending on the bait you’re using you might also place a small split-shot 8 to 10 inches above the bait.

2. Make your cast allowing everything to settle in the water, much like using a topwater lure.

3. While keeping your rod tip down at about a 45 degree angle periodically snap the rod tip using your wrist. This allows the cork to displace the most water and when done properly the cork should make a gulping sound.

4. Allow the cork to settle for about a minute or two and repeat the process until everything disappears.

5. Finally, when the strike comes do not snatch back on the rod, instead quickly take up the slack, get the line tight and give a short quick tug to set the hook.

Three rules to fishing: Bait your own hook, clean your own fish, and tell your own lies…

No one is certain when we began experimenting with hooks. However archeologists estimate the oldest ever found was about 9,000 years old. Called a “gorge,” it’s actually one of earliest tools used to catch fish. It was a piece of wood, bone, or stone about an inch in length, pointed at both ends and secured in the middle to the line and covered with some kind of bait. When a fish swallowed the gorge, a pull on the line wedged it across the fish’s throat.

At some point they began changing the design to create the curved “J” shaped hook commonly used today. Scientists in Norway have discovered a cache of such hooks made from bone and estimated to be 7,000 to 8,000 years old.

Fish hooks where developed to meet the demands of different fishing techniques and species. If you want to catch it on a hook and line there is something available.

How Big Is Enough? Small hooks catch big fish and also do less damage. I have friends that fly fish and the fish they catch on the smallest hook is outrageous. They all confirm it’s not uncommon to catch big fish on small flies. Experienced live bait anglers will tell you to judge the size hook by the size of bait. If you’re using small baits, the last thing you want is to weigh it down with an oversize hook.

For snook or redfish I use #1 or 1/0 circle hook when using small live pilchards and for inshore snapper a #1 or #2 circle hook works great. However, when it comes to Tarpon or sharks I’ll up size depending on the species and size. As an example on not oversizing; we continually catch large hundred-plus pound tarpon on 4/0 – 5/0 circle hooks.

The most common argument about hook size usually relates to the “straightening of the hook.” Believe me when I tell you, a good quality hook and properly set reel drag will not let a hook straighten. In ninety percent of the cases a straightened hook relates to hook quality and drag setting, rather than size.

Hook Size: What the numbers actually mean is simply formula used to define hook sizes. Sizes are based on a nominal hook size of zero. Hooks with a number followed by a zero “increase” in size as the numbers go up. Hooks not followed by a zero, “decrease” in size as the numbers increase.

Here’s an example of increasing size hooks: 5/0 hooks are one size larger than a 4/0 and two sizes larger than a 3/0. On the other hand, a number #5 hook is one size smaller than a number 4 and two sizes smaller than a number 3 hook.

Nearly all manufacturers follow this basic numbering system to indicate the increase or decrease in hook sizes, but with many different styles or patterns. Unfortunately there is little standardization for overall styles. What may be a size 4/0 in a Mustad or Daiichi may not be the same as a 4/0 in a Gamakatsu.

Treble hooks also follow this sizing convention; a treble is described by the size of any one of the hooks. For example a 4/0 treble hook is made up of three 4/0 hooks, while a number #4 treble is made up of three number #4 size hooks.

Multi Hooks: It is my opinion that treble and double hooks should be banned from fishing, because they do too much damage to fish and sometimes fishermen. If you are into catch and release you cannot in any perception of good conscience use treble or double hooks. What about lures? They can work with single barbless hooks. Suppose lure manufactures decided to go along with this idea, it would cause some reconfiguration and balancing adjustments, but would ultimately save money and time over conventional trebles. It would also save thousands of fish.

Extra Strength Hooks: The “X Factor” or other measurement used in identifying hook styles. These hooks are designed to provide as much strength as a hook one or two sizes up. Hooks marked “2x strong” or “2x” are made from wire as thick as the next size up, while a 3x hook is as thick as a hook two sizes up.  As an example a 2x – 4/0 hook has a wire thickness and strength of a 5/0 hook. A 3x – 4/0 hook has a wire thickness and strength of a 6/0 hook.

The other common x standard is the length of the hook shank. A ’2x long’ hook has a shank twice as long as standard hooks of the same size. A ’3x long hook’ has a shank 3 times as long as the standard sized hook.

A less common variant are ‘wide gape’ hooks. A wide gap is one where the gap or distance between the hook point and hook shaft is wider than the standard hook. Sometimes the wide gap hook is described as ’2x wide’ and the hook should have a gap twice as wide as the standard hook.

Wire, Forged or Stainless Hooks: Standard wire hooks are made from wire that is bent into shape, the point sharpened and barb added. The wire retains its rounded shape throughout the hook.

Forged hooks, once the shape has been made, the sides of the shank and bend are flattened making them much stronger than wire hooks, but more expensive. They are commonly used in saltwater by big game, trophy and competition anglers.

Although stainless hooks will not rust as fast as non-stainless hooks they have some disadvantages: they are softer and bend more easily, loose their sharpness, more expensive and because they do not degrade they are more harmful to fish that break a line.

Here’s a tip for you: Never store used hooks with new ones, especially around saltwater. Try to keep the new ones in their packaging until needed.

Sharpening Hooks: Two or three years ago the standard advice was to sharpen your hooks before using them. It was thought that new hooks where not sharp enough to use straight out of the package However, most hooks today are chemically or laser sharpened and trying to re-sharpen them actually dulls them.

Sharpening anything produces heat and too much heat reduces temper, and softens the material. This is true with hooks to much heat can lead to bending or breaking points. Always use a slow deliberate stroke being careful not to remove too much metal from the point. There is a fine line between a sharp point and a weak point. If there is not enough metal at the point, it can break or bend.

Barbs: Do we actually need hooks with barbs? It seems that barbs were initially introduced, not to hold fish, but to stop the bait from coming off the hook. A common thought is that barbs are there, so it’s harder for fish to get off the hook. Truthfully, you do not need a barbed hook to catch fish; just keep your line tight. It’s worth our reconsideration whether barbs are really necessary, since it does considerable damage when removed.

My point here is, in the days of catching fish to eat, it was natural to reduce the chances of losing your dinner. For anglers and anglerette’s today, the individual challenge is more important than the meal. Demonstrate your angling skill by using barbless hooks; after all you never let the line go slack, and if you do; oh well, that one got away… go get another one.

One final point about barbs; the first time you sink a barbed hook into a part of your body, and have to go through the drama of removing or having it removed, you will become a barbless believer.