Why Hook Keepers Help

This rod building guide to hook keepers covers the development of various hook keepers within the revolution of rod building, and the functional benefits of today's best-selling models.

How Hook Keepers Provide More Protection

Despite the purpose of a hook keeper seeming constrained to its name, this tiny fishing rod accessory can have many functional benefits besides just housing the hook's pointy end. Varying in model as well as results, hook keepers were born from advancements in fishing practices as well as rod building concepts.

Hook keepers are common features on many fishing rods. Although these little components often go unseen, choosing the correct hook keeper for you can boost to your custom fishing rod and its performance with additional benefits. Hook keepers are known and named for housing the hook itself, but each model also performs to preserve the integrity of rod guides and ceramic insert rings.

After pulling the bait down to the initial stripping guide, some anglers mistakenly rest their hook on the rod guides. We don't recommend this method for two reasons. First, make sure you take slack from the reel before prepping your hook for transportation because pulling the bait is one of the easiest ways to break your rod.

Second, the hook's friction and tension on the guide's frame or its ceramic insert ring causes severe reductions in both strength and performance. Preserve these high-performance and often expensive components by mounting a handy hook keeper on your custom rod. When it comes to hook keepers and their benefits, this is just the beginning because many models and their designated benefits can be found below.

Whether developed from sheer demand, alongside a fishing technique, or as an engineering innovation, hook keepers are a minor cost and construction with major improvements for any custom fishing rod.

The Standard Hook Keeper

Widely referred to as the standard, this stainless-steel hook keeper is a popular option given its basic benefits. To begin, its double footed design warrants a sturdy mount to the rod blank. This helps you trust the hook keeper to maintain the hook until its next use. As briefly mentioned before, the Standard Hook Keepers works hard to hold the hook, while preserving the integrity and performance of rod guides as well as their ceramic insert rings.

Standard Hook Keepers come in either small or large sizes that are available in black, gold, chrome, TiChrome, and TiGold. Standard Hook Keepers are components that can be chosen to look great, but perform even better.

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The Single Foot Hook Keeper

The standard design satisfied many anglers, but others knew hook keepers could do much more. The answer was the Single Foot Hook Keeper since it is much easier to mount, yet just as strong in performance. With the purpose of preserving guides and ceramic inserts by maintaining the hook, these hook keeper's benefits are just getting started.

Secured by only wrapping the top foot, the Single Foot Hook Keeper relies on the bottom portion as an open, clip-like mechanism to click the hook in place. As simple as sliding the hook underneath this clip, the Single Foot Hook Keeper continues to grow in popularity as a fast and easy solution to storing the hook, especially while moving between fishing spots.

After securing the hook in place under the Single Foot Hook Keeper, its clip design keeps the hook and bait suspended away from the rod blank. This prevents the hook and bait from scratching, or damaging the blank's surface.

These Single Foot Hook Keepers come in colors like black, stainless, and TiGold, so that they look great while bringing its added benefits.

The Fuji Folding Hook Keeper

Once made for fly fishing rods, the Fuji Folding Hook Keeper was developed to protect dry fly hackles from any damage, but now this model has been strengthened to suit all fishing applications. Fuji's new Folding Hook Keepers are manufactured with a much thicker wire and larger body to meet every angler's needs despite their fishing application.

Along with maintaining the hook and preserving rod guides, the Fuji Folding Hook Keeper also folds into itself while you fish. Collapsing back on top of itself allows the Fuji Folding Hook Keeper to be virtually unnoticed as it lies almost level with the rod blank.

These innovative hook keepers provide a highly functional component on any fishing rod, not to mention they look great in both black plated chrome and silver non-plated chrome.

The Drop Shot Hook Keeper

Known for its creation accordingly with the drop shot technique, the Drop Shot Hook Keeper looks nothing like the standard model and that's because it has a very different origin. The drop shot technique was developed in Japan, but once it arrived in the U.S., this style of fishing began incorporating a unique hook keeper to match its technique.

Although intended as a Drop Shot Hook Keeper, this model has an open hook hanger design that became popular for its quick, convenient hook storage. The Drop Shot Hook Keeper is perfect for housing the hook and the bait, while also avoiding any damage to either one. Today, these hook keepers are celebrated for not only preserving the hook, guides, and ceramic rings of a custom rod, but especially for preserving plastic baits.

Ideal for Texas rigs, the Drop Shot Hook Keeper lets anglers attach their hooks and move from spot to spot without damaging, removing, and replacing plastic lures. Pushing the hook through your worms on a standard hook keeper design severely limits the lifespan of plastic lures, while the Drop Shot Hook Keeper maintains both the hook and the worm without ever interfering the rig itself.

Coming in black or silver, the stainless-steel Drop Shot Hook Keeper is a great option guaranteed to save your resources whether that be guides, ceramic rings, hooks, or even plastic lures.

If you love rod building and its limitless possibilities, check out the Hook Keeper Assortment Kit. This exclusive kit features 35 various standard and drop shot hook keepers in chrome, black, and gold, all organized in a divided storage case.

Choosing the Right Hook Keeper

Seen in the benefits inherent in each hook keeper model, choosing the right design for your custom rod will advance the protection of your equipment, and enhance your overall fishing experience. Whether you're just moving spots to catch more fish or storing your gear until next weekend's fishing trip, make sure you have the best hook keeper to help where you want.