DECOY - AH-1 AREA HOOK TYPE I MADE IN JAPAN

Decoy AH-1 Area Hook Type I — Black Nickel, Made In Japan

The AH-1 is the original model in Decoy's Area Hook series, the range of Japanese single hooks made by Katsuichi for area trout fishing — the managed still-water ponds where anglers work small spoons and micro plugs for stocked rainbows. Those fisheries almost always restrict anglers to single hooks, and a factory treble on a 1–3 g spoon is the wrong tool anyway: it fouls the line, damages fish going straight back, and upsets the balance of a lure weighing a couple of grams. It comes in black nickel in three sizes, #6, #8 and #10.

Key Features

• From Decoy's Area Hook series, developed for area trout spoons and micro plugs
• Three sizes — #6, #8, #10 — to match hook mass to light lures
• Black nickel finish
• Made in Japan by Katsuichi
• Meets the single-hook rules in force at most managed trout fisheries
• Works as a treble-to-single conversion on other small hard baits and spoons

How To Fish It

• Rear hook on a spoon — Fit it to the tail split ring with the point riding upward. Count the spoon down to the depth the fish are sitting at, then wind at the slowest speed that keeps the blade wobbling. Takes feel like a soft loading of the rod, not a knock.
• Front hook on a micro plug — Mounted at the belly ring with the point facing forward, a single sits cleaner than a treble and hooks fish in the front of the mouth on a slow, twitchy retrieve.
• Count down and change layers — Pond fish hold at a depth that shifts with light and temperature. Change the count by two or three seconds each cast until you find the level, then repeat it.
• Set softly — Lift into the fish instead of striking. One point is doing all the work, so keep steady pressure and a light drag.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Trout ponds are rare here, so it is used mainly as a single-hook conversion on micro spoons and plugs for hampala barb (sebarau), tilapia and small stream fish, and at catch-and-release ponds where trebles are banned.
• North America — Stocked rainbow, brook and brown trout in put-and-take ponds and streams, plus crappie and panfish on micro spoons.
• Japan & East Asia — Area trout is the fishery this hook was designed for: rainbow trout, donaldson and larger stocked trout in managed ponds, on 1–3 g spoons.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Stocked rainbow and brown trout in Tasmania and Victoria; commercial trout fisheries in the UK, Germany and Italy, and perch on small spoons in European lakes.

Specifications

Recommended Pairing

• Ultralight spinning rod rated around 0.5–5 g with a soft tip
• 2–4 lb nylon or fluorocarbon, or PE 0.2–0.4 braid with a fine leader
• 1–3 g spoons and micro plugs; match #10 to the lightest spoons, #6 to larger lures