SANTEC - WIDE GAP HOOK PACK 45703 FISHING HOOK

Santec Wide Gap Hook Pack 45703 Fishing Hook

Gap is the clear space between the point and the shank, and it is the only part of a hook that has to travel over a fish’s jaw for you to stay connected. Everything you put on the hook borrows from it. A whole live prawn, a chunk of cut fish, the body of a soft plastic worm — each one fills part of that space, and on a narrow-bend pattern there can be almost nothing left by the time the bait is rigged. The 45703 is built around that arithmetic: a deliberately wide bend that still leaves usable clearance after a thick bait has taken its share.

The build is high-carbon steel, forged, with a chemically sharpened Eagle Cutting point ground with angled cutting faces and set kirbed, offset from the centreline, so the point finds purchase when a fish comes at the bait from an angle rather than straight on. Forging matters more on a wide-gap hook than most: the wider the gap, the longer the lever the fish has on the point, and unforged wire will start to open. The finish is black nickel with a special treatment coating over the top — dark, low glare, and an extra layer of surface protection over the plating, which is the sensible spec on a high-carbon hook that lives in brackish water. Ten sizes run #14 up to #2/0, so one pattern covers pond panfish through to inshore live-bait work, and packs sit at twelve hooks through the small and mid sizes.

Key Features

• Wide-gap bend — keeps working clearance once a thick bait or plastic body is rigged
• Generous hooking area for bulky natural baits that would crowd a narrow-gap hook
• Kirbed (offset) point for contact on angled takes
• Chemically sharpened Eagle Cutting point with a sharp retaining barb
• Forged construction — important on a wide gap, where the point sits on a longer lever
• Ringed eye for line, leader and standard bottom rigs
• High-carbon steel with a black nickel finish plus a special treatment coating
• Ten sizes, #14 through #2/0, at up to twelve hooks per pack

How To Rig It

• Weedless soft plastic — Nose the point in, bring it out through the belly, rotate the hook and bury the tip just under the skin of the back. Keep the plastic from bunching on the shank; a bunched body closes the gap you bought the hook for.
• Live and whole bait — A single pass through the nose or shoulder keeps the bait swimming and leaves the bend clear. Bulky live baits are what this bend exists for.
• Estuary bottom rig — Running sinker to a swivel, then 60–100 cm of leader knotted to the ring. Let the rod tip load before lifting; a kirbed point wants contact, not a snatch.
• Sizing to bait, not to fish — #14 to #6 for panfish, small bream and pond baits; #4 to #1 for general estuary and jetty rigs; #1/0 and #2/0 for large soft plastics, whole prawn and live bait.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Barramundi (siakap), mangrove jack and grouper (kerapu) on live bait around jetty pilings and mangrove roots; snapper (merah), golden snapper (jenahak) and kaci (sweetlips) on strip bait; croaker (gelama) and catfish (duri) on estuary mud; tilapia, lampam and keli in the fine sizes.
• North America — The familiar wide-gape shape for largemouth bass on plastic worms and creature baits; redfish, speckled trout and flounder on live shrimp; bluegill and crappie at the small end.
• Japan & East Asia — Worm-hook rigs for blackbass, and live-shrimp or live-baitfish presentations for seabass and rockfish (kasago, mebaru) around harbour structure.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Bream, flathead and estuary perch on prawn and plastics in Australia; hamour and sheri on Gulf bait rigs; perch, zander and pike on soft plastics in European lakes and canals.

Specifications

Material: high-carbon steel. Finish: black nickel with a special treatment coating. Sizing runs Western style — #14 is the smallest, stepping in twos up to #4, then #2, #1, and finally #1/0 and #2/0 as the two largest.

Recommended Pairing

• #14–#6: light bait rods, 4–12 lb line, worm, small prawn and pond baits
• #4–#1: general estuary and jetty rigs, 15–30 lb braid with a 20–40 lb fluorocarbon leader
• #1/0–#2/0: 4–6 in soft plastics and live bait, 20–40 lb braid with a 30–60 lb leader
• Match the hook to the bulk of the bait — if the plastic or the prawn covers the bend, step up a size rather than forcing it on