how to restore old rusty fishing hooks
Mark Totzke
says:
If you fish in a saltwater environment, you'll inevitably end up with a lot of rusty hooks and lures.
It get's pretty expensive to replace them, especially if you're fishing with jig heads and other lures where replacement hooks can cost an arm an a leg.
The easiest way to keep them in top shape would be to rinse them after each fishing trip and spray them with a bit of WD-40.
Unfortunately I'm not that disciplined - so I usually end up with a lot of rusty hooks.
One way to restore them is to mix up salt and lemon juice until you get a thickish paste.
Then cover and soak your hooks in this solution for a while and scrub them clean afterwards.
A bit of aluminium foil wrinkled into a ball makes a good scrubber to get the hooks shiny again.
Then rinse the hooks with fresh water, let them dry completely and give them a fine dust with oil.
I usually also use a small hook sharpening stone to get them nice an sharp again.
Depends how rusty they are - you might have to do this a few times.
And if they've been rusting away for a few years it might be to late.
Too much rust will weaken the hooks and they might break off when you hook into that big one.
Another tip to get those hard body lures shiny again is to mix up some baking soda with a few drops of water into a thick paste.
Then use kitchen paper to wipe them clean with this paste. It works magic.
I should have done a before and after photo. This is just after the cleaning.
You should have seen them before - it was just one big pile of rust.
How do you guys keep your hooks in good condition?
Do you have any other solutions?
It get's pretty expensive to replace them, especially if you're fishing with jig heads and other lures where replacement hooks can cost an arm an a leg.
The easiest way to keep them in top shape would be to rinse them after each fishing trip and spray them with a bit of WD-40.
Unfortunately I'm not that disciplined - so I usually end up with a lot of rusty hooks.
One way to restore them is to mix up salt and lemon juice until you get a thickish paste.
Then cover and soak your hooks in this solution for a while and scrub them clean afterwards.
A bit of aluminium foil wrinkled into a ball makes a good scrubber to get the hooks shiny again.
Then rinse the hooks with fresh water, let them dry completely and give them a fine dust with oil.
I usually also use a small hook sharpening stone to get them nice an sharp again.
Depends how rusty they are - you might have to do this a few times.
And if they've been rusting away for a few years it might be to late.
Too much rust will weaken the hooks and they might break off when you hook into that big one.
Another tip to get those hard body lures shiny again is to mix up some baking soda with a few drops of water into a thick paste.
Then use kitchen paper to wipe them clean with this paste. It works magic.
I should have done a before and after photo. This is just after the cleaning.
You should have seen them before - it was just one big pile of rust.
How do you guys keep your hooks in good condition?
Do you have any other solutions?
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6 years ago
Haha...If I took all boxes with me on each trip --- I would need a bigger boat !! :)
The trick is, have a fishing tackle box (used box)...and a storage tackle box. The fishing box only needs to hold what you want to use on that trip, so in most cases if it fits in your pocket it is big enough. It only has to hold a few hooks, some sinkers and a couple of swivels etc, and Unce's ya Bobble.
It is like having a shop front with you...But back at home is your warehouse :)
I like your idea though...I am going to give it a try...This is the little reel, it is a 2000. I don't know if salt and lemon juice will work OK on an aluminum spool, but we will find out...
As you can see it is a CX2000R. Frankly, not worth restoring, which is probably why I have not bothered with it yet.
But, it would be interesting to see if your lemon and salt works on this. Also, the reel itself is seized. Obviously, a seized reel means a strip down. This might be worthy of a new Topic. I am not overly familiar with the CX2000R. I assume the R means rear drag, as this little baby has a rear drag. The body looks similar to the IX and RX so I would assume they have used bushes rather than ball races...All right, I will give it a go and see what I can't do with it !!
The trick is, have a fishing tackle box (used box)...and a storage tackle box. The fishing box only needs to hold what you want to use on that trip, so in most cases if it fits in your pocket it is big enough. It only has to hold a few hooks, some sinkers and a couple of swivels etc, and Unce's ya Bobble.
It is like having a shop front with you...But back at home is your warehouse :)
I like your idea though...I am going to give it a try...This is the little reel, it is a 2000. I don't know if salt and lemon juice will work OK on an aluminum spool, but we will find out...
As you can see it is a CX2000R. Frankly, not worth restoring, which is probably why I have not bothered with it yet.
But, it would be interesting to see if your lemon and salt works on this. Also, the reel itself is seized. Obviously, a seized reel means a strip down. This might be worthy of a new Topic. I am not overly familiar with the CX2000R. I assume the R means rear drag, as this little baby has a rear drag. The body looks similar to the IX and RX so I would assume they have used bushes rather than ball races...All right, I will give it a go and see what I can't do with it !!
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