DECOY - AREA HOOK TYPE IV ERIC AH-4 FISHING HOOK MADE IN JAPAN

Decoy AH-4 Area Hook Type IV "Eric" — Made In Japan

Area trout is the Japanese managed-pond game: small stocked still waters, 1–3 g spoons, 2–4 lb line, almost every fish released. Those fisheries allow single hooks only, and want them fine, sharp and barbless or micro-barbed so a trout goes back undamaged. Decoy's Area Hook series is Katsuichi's range for exactly that, each pattern answering a different moment in a session.

The series divides along a distinction Japanese anglers make constantly: nose (ノセ) and kake (掛け). A nose hook lets the fish hook itself — you keep winding, the rod loads, the point turns in. A kake hook is set by the angler — you lift or sweep and drive the point home. The AH-4 Eric is the kake pattern, called by Katsuichi the new standard hook with the emphasis on hooking.

Eye, shank, gape, throat and point are balanced around the ideal of easy to hook and hard to shake, with rigidity added on top, and the shape carries a vibration characteristic meant to make rainbow trout bite the hook itself rather than the blade. It is a fine hook, but the section carrying the load is strengthened, so it does not open under a stiff rod. Flat-forged to maximum wire hardness, NS Black finish.

Key Features

• The hook-set (kake) pattern of the Decoy Area Hook series
• Eye, shank, gape, throat and point balanced for easy hooking and low shake-off
• Fine wire, but reinforced where the load falls after hook-up
• Flat-forged wire, hardness raised to its limit, NS Black finish
• Twelve hooks per pack, made in Japan by Katsuichi

Which Area Hook To Tie On

• AH-4 "Eric" — kake. Strike it. For a firmer rod and an angler who converts bites himself.
• AH-6 "Spic" — nose. EX Fine, narrow gape, long shank; sets on the wind, for fresh fish after a release.
• AH-5 "Kunai" — angular, three corners and four straight lines, for deep blind spooning over larger trout.
• AH-1 and AH-2 — the round-bend default and the barbless spooning specialist.
• AH-7 "Front" and AH-9 "Floria" — for vertical fishing, hook set at the front of the spoon.

How To Rig It

• Rear hook on a spoon — Fit it to the tail split ring, point riding upward. Count the spoon down, then wind at the slowest speed that keeps the blade wobbling.
• Set the hook yourself — Unlike a nose pattern this one is built to be struck. Lift firmly but smoothly as the rod loads; the reinforced bend takes it.
• Long casts with 3–5 g spoons — Katsuichi recommend #4 for heavier spoons worked at range over unpressured fish away from the bank.
• Size to the lure — #10 for the lightest micro spoons where hook mass changes the wobble, #6 as the general choice, #4 for larger blades.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — No managed trout ponds here, but the same hook suits high-pressure commercial ponds and light lure work: tilapia, small carp species, jetty fish on micro spoons, small hampala barb (sebarau) in streams. Many local catch-and-release ponds ban trebles.
• North America — Stocked rainbow, brook and brown trout in put-and-take ponds, plus crappie and panfish on micro spoons.
• Japan & East Asia — The home fishery: area trout on managed ponds, this pattern for anglers who set the hook rather than wait.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Stocked trout in Tasmania and Victoria; commercial trout fisheries in the UK, Germany and Italy; perch on small spoons.

Specifications

Model AH-4 Area Hook Type IV "Eric", made in Japan by Katsuichi (Decoy).

Recommended Pairing

• Ultralight area rod around 0.5–5 g; a slightly firmer tip suits this pattern better than a very soft one
• 2–4 lb nylon or fluorocarbon, or PE 0.2–0.4 with a fine leader
• 1–3 g spoons for #10 and #6; 3–5 g spoons for #4
• Light-class split rings sized so the hook swings freely