What"s all this fuss about red hooks?

Red hooks are leading in fishing hook sales throughout the country, maybe the world. It"s about the hottest thing going. If you are a walleye fisherman of any note (or of little note), I"m betting you have a box full of red hooks.

I know I do.

But, know what?

I don"t think I catch any more fish on them than I do bronze or black or chartreuse or the rust colored chunks of steel in my splashwell that still resemble hooks .

So, why are we buying them?

-- Probably because somebody said they work.

-- Somebody said they are superior to what we have been using.

-- Somebody won a tournament somewhere on a red hook.

-- Your neighbor uses them.

-- Professional walleye anglers, virtual bedrocks of veracity, say they catch more fish on them.

-- Hook manufacturers are advertising the heck out of them in print, online and on TV.

It"s enough to make you see red.

But, what about the fish?

It"s long been a known fact that the color red is the first to disappear as you descend down the water column.

That means that bright, shiny red hook in your hand will turn to black at about12-feet in most of our midwest waters.

Hmmm.

One selling point is that the flash of red in the hook makes predator fish think they are seeing under the gill flaps of a fleeing bait fish.

Really? For all the supposed logic in that supposition, I really doubt it. I think it takes more than a flash of gills to make a predator like a walleye commit and once they do a little flash of red (or is it black) will make no difference.

So the next question might be, if all the above is true, why has red been incorporated in the makeup of fishing lures since the beginning of time?

Hmmm.

Perhaps it"s because red is more appealing to humans than fish?

Maybe.

When you stop to think about it, most of the lures which traditionally incorporated red in their color scheme are shallow water types. The DareDevl spoon comes to mind, as does the red and white Bass Oreno. And the red and white Lazy Ike.

How many deep diving red lures have survived the test of time.

You got it. None.

So, how do we explain the red hook craze?

I guess we don"t.

I know anglers who swear by them. I know anglers who have said a red hook on the line was the difference between someone catching a fish and a boat partner who could not. I know anglers who won"t wet a line without a red hook.

And, I know hook manufacturers who are smiling all the way to the bank.

A hook called the "bleeding bait" series started it all.

What predator wouldn"t go after a bait that was, well, bleeding?

It all sounds so rational.

And that, folks, is, perhaps, the real secret to the sales success of red hooks.

Larry Myhre is outdoors editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 276-5965 or email at: lfentfish@msn.com