When chasing big saltwater species, changing out treble hooks with inline hooks is the safe and conservation-minded modification for catch-and-release sportsmanship. It’s no surprise then that VMC®’s new Coastal Black® inline hooks are now the leading choice of top captains.
“Conservation is a huge part of what we believe in,” says Capt. Rick Murphy in a recent “Inventive Fishing” Video. “And [hook] shapes and sizes are all part of this decision-making.”
Removing a single inline hook – rather than a treble hook – from a big fish’s mouth puts less stress on the fish, greatly improving its chance of survival upon release. Inline hooks also present less of a danger than do treble hooks to the angler removing them.
“The great part about this is that you, as an angler, when you go to grab that snook and as he shakes, you’re only going to have to worry about single inline hooks instead of the traditional treble hooks,” says Murphy, a longtime Rapala pro and host of Sportsman’s Adventures and the Chevy Florida Insider Fishing Report.
VMC’s Coastal Black inline hooks complement several exciting offerings in Rapala’s 2017 Coastal category, a line-up of new inshore, near shore and offshore tackle. The entire Coastal Black line-up of hooks feature micro-thin layers of black finish to withstand the harsh conditions of saltwater fishing.
“The best saltwater hooks just became even more potent,” says George Poveromo, host of George Poveromo’s World of Saltwater Fishing on NBC Sports Outdoors. He’s long relied on VMC hooks “as a huge part of my saltwater fishing arsenal, for catching everything from snook and tarpon on up to marlin and broadbill swordfish,” he says.
Chemically sharpened, the innovative new Coastal Black hooks are engineered to be three to five times more corrosion-resistant than traditional black finishes. “They last longer than any black-finish hook in the market,” Murphy says. “Now we can have a single hook that makes so much more sense because it’s also not going to rust. … By replacing trebles with these hooks, or by buying the lures that come with these inline hooks, it’s going to be a home run for you as an angler.”
Innovative engineering makes Coastal Black inline hooks both sharp and strong. “There’s been a multi-step chemical process in order to shape the point of this hook and it makes it very, very strong,” Murphy explains. “It’s 20 percent stronger than tin.”
VMC’s Inline Single 4X and Single 1X hooks are both made from forged high-carbon steel, feature a wide gap and needle point. The 4X strong hooks are available in seven sizes: 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, 5/0, 6/0 and 7/0. The 1X strong models are also available in seven sizes: 6, 4, 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0 and 3/0.