DECOY - AREA HOOK TYPE II AH-2 (MAT BLACK & FINE RED) MADE IN JAPAN

Decoy AH-2 Area Hook Type II (Matt Black & Fine Red) — 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. Single hooks are a condition of fishing at those venues, and because the fish go back, fine wire and no barb matter as much as sharpness. The AH-2 is the barbless spooning specialist of Decoy's Area Hook series, and carries its widest size range, #4 down to #14, in two finishes.

Katsuichi built it backwards from the hooking mechanism of a spoon. The eye is set roughly 15° higher than a conventional hook, the point sits in a specific position relative to it, the gape has its own shape, and there is no barb — so the force you apply travels into the point with nothing lost. A barb must be pushed through tissue before a hook seats; without one, fine wire buries on contact. That suits 2–4 lb line, where little force is available, and lets a fish go back undamaged.

The raised eye also keeps the hook point-up in the cup of the spoon rather than lying against the blade, so it works vertically as well as on the retrieve. That places the AH-2 between the two halves of the series: fine enough to behave like a nose (ノセ) hook, which the fish loads onto as you keep winding, yet it also answers a kake (掛け) set, where you feel the bite and drive the point yourself.

Key Features

• Barbless single hook designed only for area spooning
• Eye raised about 15° so hooking force reaches the point without loss
• Gape shape worked out to stop fish holding and slipping off
• Fine wire that sets on contact and does little damage to released fish
• Point sits upward inside the cup; suits wound and vertical spoons alike
• Six sizes, #4 to #14, in Matt Black and Fine Red; made in Japan by Katsuichi

Which Area Hook To Tie On

• AH-2 Type II — barbless, fine, widest size range. The release-first choice, and the one for the lightest line.
• AH-1 Type I — the original round bend, the default treble-to-single conversion.
• AH-4 "Eric" and AH-6 "Spic" — the kake and nose patterns for the retrieve: set it yourself, or let it roll-hook on the wind.
• AH-7 "Front", AH-9 "Floria" and AH-5 "Kunai" — the vertical front-set specialist, the hook that does front and rear equally, and the angular pattern for deep blind spooning.

How To Rig It

• Rear conversion on a spoon — Fit it to the tail split ring, point riding upward, and wind at the slowest speed that keeps the blade wobbling.
• Keep tension — A barbless hook drops out the moment the line goes slack. Keep the rod loaded through the fight and the netting.
• Front set for vertical work — Move it to the nose ring, lift and drop the spoon under the rod tip, and watch the line for the bite.
• Size to the lure — #14 and #12 for the lightest micro spoons, #10 and #8 as general choices, #6 and #4 for heavier blades and bigger fish.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — No managed trout ponds here, but barbless fine wire is what high-pressure commercial ponds and catch-and-release lakes ask for: tilapia, small carp species, jetty fish on micro spoons, small hampala barb (sebarau) in streams. Many venues ban trebles or require barbless hooks.
• North America — Stocked trout in put-and-take ponds and on barbless-only stretches of river.
• Japan & East Asia — The home fishery: area trout on managed ponds, where barbless single hooks are usually mandatory.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Stocked trout in Tasmania and Victoria; commercial trout fisheries in the UK, Germany and Italy.

Specifications

Model AH-2 Area Hook Type II, barbless. Made in Japan by Katsuichi (Decoy).

Recommended Pairing

• Ultralight area rod around 0.5–5 g with a soft tip that keeps tension on a barbless hook
• 2–4 lb nylon or fluorocarbon, or PE 0.2–0.4 with a fine leader
• 1–3 g spoons on light-class split rings the hook can swing freely on
• A rubber-mesh net, which a barbless hook drops out of cleanly