The discussion of the Eagle Claw products being somewhat snubbed by the fishing community of today in the opening post. My take is that Eagle Claw wasn't improving their hooks while other manufactures made improvements in better performing hooks until the recently Lazer Trokar hooks to enter into the bass fishing market. Overall each manufacture does have their bottom of the barrel products and I feel that EagleClaw occuppies a lot more of the bottom of the barrel in today's market. Each person just has to be a bit more selective of the products they choose to purchase. Like overall avoid the bronze finish hooks if possible. Buying the Lazer Sharp brand and you'll hook up with more fish and not have to worry about rusty hooks comes around next time you open the tackle box.

Everyone fishes differently for slightly different reasons other than catching fish. Like bass anglers vs carp anglers, trout anglers vs walleye anglers, etc.,...The choice of their products is tailored to their style of fishing. The performance merits of a hook requirements in artificial lures generally deserves better than the standard bronze hook.

Eagle Claw occupies a lot of the bottom of the barrel in today's market? Im going to call BS on that one. Highest selling hooks on the market Bob. Do your research.

Eagle Claw occupies a lot of the bottom of the barrel in today's market? Im going to call BS on that one. Highest selling hooks on the market Bob. Do your research.

Capt. Q. You've done the research for all of us or lack of it. Which community did you asked when you said Eagle Claw is snubbed by fishing community?

My research goes:
Mustad logo: #1 Best Selling Hook Brand since 1877

Eagle Claw logo: Fishhooks Made in USA

I'm just gonna assume that Eagle Claw can't claim to be #1. I guess I just see the ailses of premium Mustad fly hooks at a fly shop. I see all the bass lures made with Mustad or Gamakatsu hooks. I see all the Walleye bait hooks in Mustad, VMC, Gamakatsus, and Owner hooks. I'm just not seeing Eagle Claw making any presence there. I page through Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops catalog and see very little of Eagle Claw hooks. A page of cheap bulk bronze hooks for Eagle Claw, but there's like two pages of bulk Mustad hooks.

The retailers are letting us know that Eagle Claw is really at the bottom of the barrel. I merely only reflect the consensus of what everybody else as consumers and retailers are telling everybody else. I think I understand if you've never use any other hook than an Eagle Claw. I suppose you can be forgiven for such ignorance. Go to your respectable Ma and Pop Tackle Shop and ask them which is the best hooks. None of them will tell you Eagle Claw. If you're asking your Walmart or Fleet Farm employee, then you're asking the wrong community. Then ask any of them why is Mustad the #1 Best Selling Hook Brand since 1877? That's becuase they really are.

If you fish in the rain once and get all your tackle drenched.  First hooks to rusts are going to be those cheap Eagle Claw hooks.  They rusts on you even before you get around to drying them out at home.  Well maybe the NAFC free baithooks will probably rust first, but you probably really can't get any cheaper than that.  LOL's.  Then you'd be replacing them, unless you've got some Eagle Claw Lazer Sharps or Featherlights that didn't rust before you get a chance to dry them out.  You buy a Mustad Ultrapoint or VMC chrome vanadium and you have peace of mind that these hooks won't go rusting on you if you've didn't get to dry them out that day.

below is taken from fanglersurvey.com. I know that this is not the end all of lists but it says something. it has eagle claw razor sharp hooks as the #1 purchased. I am not sure if all brands were included and it does not mean that they are the best. This was from their 2010 survey. I do not know how many were surveyed or their demographics. I usually buy other brands such as gamatsu for replacement hooks. hope this helps a little.

BTW if you sign up to do these surveys you are put in a drawing for a $100 dollar gift card to the outdoor retailer of choice each month. can't beat that for 5 minutes of your time.

Top rod brand: Shakespeare (12% of all purchases)
Top reel brand: Shimano (19.4% of all purchases)
Top rod and reel combo brand: Shakespeare (23.6% of all purchases)
Top fishing line producer: Berkley (12.8% of all purchases)
Top hard bait brand: Rapala (25.7% of all purchases)
Top soft bait brand: Zoom (13.3% of all purchases)
Top spinner bait brand: Strike King (16.7% of all purchases)
Top hook brand: Eagle Claw/Lazer Sharp (28% of all purchases)
Top sinker brand: generic (29.7%), Water Gremlin (12% of all purchases)
Top fly rod brand: LL Bean (25.6% of all purchases)
Top fly reels brand: Orvis (17.5% of all purchases)
Top fly combo brand: Pfleuger (6.5% of all purchases)
Top fly line brand: Rio (32.1% of all purchases)
Top fly leader brand: Rio (31.2% of all purchases)
Top fly tying material brand: Wapsi (14% of all purchases)
Top fish finder or sonar brand: Humminbird (34.7% of all purchases)
Top tackle box brand: Plano (45.5% of all purchases)
Top landing net brand: Frabill (33.4% of all purchases)

The one problem I have with surveys is you never know the size of the sample or how the respondents were selected. There is an old saying that "figures don't lie, liars figure". Any survey can be slanted by careful selection of the sample population. An example would be the difference in results of a survey on lures conducted among Mn walleye fishermen vs a survey using Ga bass fishermen for a sample. Mustad's claim to #1 is probably based on worldwide sales. Go to Europe and I doubt you would see Eagle Claw hooks anywhere. Tom

How true Tom. Thats why I made sure to say that in no way this was scientific. There could be several reasons to these #'s one that I can think of is that there may be lots more retailers that sell these such as those stoeres that do not specialize in fishing gear. slippery bob made metion of asking any mom and pop tackle store and you would get a different answer. onother thing is a comparison between folks who only fish on occasion or do not live and breathe fishing like alot of us do. I found that alot of the items categories on this survey do not jive with my own opinion or what i would expect from the industry such as the top purchased fly rod brand being LL Bean. makes me wonder who exactly is being surveyed. I just got in on this web site a few days ago. I have my own opinion on eagle claw hooks. I do not purchase too many hooks, mostly just to upgrade lures and to tie flies. I do not bait fish too much.

Brian

My father used nothing but Eagle Claw hooks and so did I for the longest time. One day we were out of hooks, I was old enough finally and went to the local sports shop, saw the many different Mustad hooks and VMC hooks. All so shiny and very sharp looking. The Eagle Claw hooks were sold out or very slim pickings during the hot fishing season. So thought I try some Mustad hooks and it was day and night difference in terms of hook quality. Back then, there wasn't even the Lazer Sharp brand of Eagle Claws. The next time we went to the local sports shop to stock up, I picked two packages of VMC cone point chrome vanadium hooks. My father the electricioner always said chrome vanadium tools are better, so I reason that the same would be true for steel hooks. Those VMC cone cut points were insane sharp. Back then VMC hooks was made in France. Not sure about Mustad. Being the Eagle Claw customer for the longest time, I also bought some of the first Lazer Sharp hooks along with some of the first Featherlight hooks. Those were pretty good, but then Mustad introduce their Ultra Point hooks. The VMC hooks were kind of heavy duty. The Mustad Ultra Points were the best balance of sharpness, weight, and price. This is kind of where Eagle Claw just took a back seat for me. I never have to worry about rusty hooks anymore.

Well I'm not going to make any claims of being a world class fisherman but I'm certainly well above "weekender" status(even if the weekend is the only time I have to get out to fish) but I will say that Eagle Claw hooks have been alright for me. For example, I have a few packages of Lazer Sharp worm hooks and many different Mustad worm hooks including Ultra Point hooks and I have to say that the Eagle Claw hooks seem to perform just about as well as the Mustad hooks. They are still sharp, haven't bent or corroded and I catch fish with them. The same can be said for some Eagle Claw treble hooks I got for some crankbaits. I usually prefer Mustad Triple Grip or Ultra Point hooks, VMC, Xcalibur T3 or Owner Stinger hooks, but the Eagle Claw hooks were actually in stock at WalMart so I tried them out. They are sharp(they hook fish), the barbs aren't any bigger than any other hooks I have(that was mentioned in another post), the welds are good, they haven't bent or corroded and were cheaper than my other hooks of choice. I also have some regular old Eagle Claw bronze bait holder hooks I sometimes use for trout and panfish and they work fine. They don't corrode any more than any other bronze hooks I have and I catch fish with them. I have some Gamakatsu nickle plated hooks that corroded in a short time period and they are in the same tackle box as the bronze Eagle Claw hooks that have yet to corrode. My point is that Eagle Claw hooks seem to be generally good. I catch fish with them and they are usually less expensive than most of the accepted top quality brand hooks. They are of much better quality than other "cheap" hooks and seem to me to offer a good value of price and reasonable quality. They aren't the best hooks I have used but they certainly aren't the worst either. If every hook available cost the same for the same quantity, I'd choose other hooks first over Eagle Claw but I also have no problem using the good quality American made Eagle Claw hooks I already have. Besides, I'd go broke if I only bought Owner hooks. They would be my top choice because they're really good but VERY expensive too.

Top rod brand: Shakespeare (12% of all purchases)

Wow I had no idea!

ATTENTION
I am now selling all of my gloomis rods for 25% of their original cost so that I can upgrade to the superior rod manufacturer previously listed.

*end sarcasm*

Hello there Captain Quantom.
Interesting topic you have come up with here.
I have an old Eagle Claw LW-LW that was the first real worm rod that I bought back in my tournament days.
Nice rod, well built and still catches fish. I also have a couple of Eagle Claw graphite rods.
One is a 6.5 foot medium action. Again a very well built and balanced rod.
The Rod that I use most out of all that I have is a 5 foot ultralite Eagle Claw graphite.
I fish for Walleye and Bass most often and this little rod works just fine.
I use jigs in 1/16th to 1/4 oz and I can feel a fish fart with it.
I bought this rod about 20 years ago and it is still going strong.
The biggest fish that I have landed so far has been a 20 lb Carp, not bad for an ultralite.
I have had the G-Loomis, St Crox, nice rods but over priced IMHO.
I have a few Limaglass rods that I like and a couple others but its the little ultralite that gets used most.

Now for the Eagle Claw hooks.
I have been pouring my own jigs for 35 or so years.
I started with the Eagle Claw jig hooks back then as we did not have much of a selection at that time.
As the new brands came on the market ,I would try them out.
Owners, Gama's , and many others but I still pour Eagle Claws.
They work as well as any of the so called super sharp hooks.
I will say that a few years back I got some eagle Claw hooks that were sub par.
The eyes were not closed all the way but I have also had some of the expencive brands with the same defect.

Thanks for the post Yellow Bear! I agree that for the money you pay for Eagle Claw products you get quality as well. My 7'0 Eagle Claw Red Eagle is my go to rod for bass and trout and I love it! The thing must be 15 years old or older and still casts like a dream after all these years.

Seems many of you are confusing popularity with quality. Not to in any way slam Eagle Claw but their products are not exactly top end stuff, just good affordable stuff. I don't need a survey to tell me that 80% or more of anglers buy tackle based more on price than quality and appearance being the #2 criteria. Shakespeare sells a lot of rods to occasional anglers most of whom wouldn't know a good rod if it bit them.

I am loyal to their brand because their products are of a high quality, affordable and they have never let me down! I had the same rod for over 15 years. I used it every year. If that isn't quality than I don't know what is!

dont confuse quality with durability just because a rod lasts a long time doesnt make it quality dont get me wrong i own several eagle claw rods and they are dependable durable rods however when compared to higher end ( and more expensive ) rods the difference is nite and day for rods designed to do similar things sensitivity and feel is much better in the higher end rods. iown some pfluegers and 1 loomis and unfortunately the eagle claws i own arent near the quality of those. that being said i still consider the eagle claw rods are a good affordable option for most as far as there hooks i think they are decent but i dont find them spectacular but i do use them because they are usually the most affordable i admire someone who has as much passion as u do for a product line however ther is no right or wrong answer to this question what one person sees as quality someone else ( like me for example ) sees it as durability. in my opinion most people consider eagle claw products to be middle of the road to lower end products. does that make them a bad product no but definitely not the best . just one mans opinion ps i consider myself to be a real fisherman if it swims i fish for it

Posted By duckman on 15 May 2011 01:54 AM
dont confuse quality with durability just because a rod lasts a long time doesnt make it quality dont get me wrong i own several eagle claw rods and they are dependable durable rods however when compared to higher end ( and more expensive ) rods the difference is nite and day for rods designed to do similar things sensitivity and feel is much better in the higher end rods. iown some pfluegers and 1 loomis and unfortunately the eagle claws i own arent near the quality of those. that being said i still consider the eagle claw rods are a good affordable option for most as far as there hooks i think they are decent but i dont find them spectacular but i do use them because they are usually the most affordable i admire someone who has as much passion as u do for a product line however ther is no right or wrong answer to this question what one person sees as quality someone else ( like me for example ) sees it as durability. in my opinion most people consider eagle claw products to be middle of the road to lower end products. does that make them a bad product no but definitely not the best . just one mans opinion ps i consider myself to be a real fisherman if it swims i fish for it

  I really appreciate your honesty and your opinion. Thanks for the post!

   Here is an equal love of mine! But that's for a whole different topic that is coming soon!

Whew!!! Y'all wore me out.

Posted By wmiket on 15 May 2011 09:51 AM
Whew!!! Y'all wore me out.

I know! Sometimes these forums can get pretty heated considering it's just about fishing!

I'm a personal fan of Ugly Stick.  In my opinion, those rods are the most durable and are of the highest quality.