Hook Size Chart

Complete reference for fishing hook sizes and species recommendations

How hook sizing works: Regular sizes count down — size 1 is larger than size 10. Once you pass size 1, the scale switches to "aught" (/0) and counts up — 1/0 is larger than 1, and 5/0 is larger than 1/0.

Size	Gap Width	Shank Length	Best For
32	1 mm	3 mm	Midges, tiny dry flies
28	1.5 mm	5 mm	Midges, nymphs
24	2 mm	6 mm	Small dry flies
20	3 mm	8 mm	Trout flies, panfish
16	4 mm	11 mm	Panfish, crappie, trout
12	5 mm	14 mm	Panfish, perch, small trout
10	6 mm	17 mm	Trout, crappie, small bass
8	7 mm	19 mm	Trout, bass, walleye
6	8 mm	22 mm	Bass, walleye, catfish
4	9 mm	25 mm	Bass, walleye, catfish
2	10 mm	28 mm	Large bass, catfish
1	11 mm	30 mm	Bass, pike, salmon
1/0	12 mm	32 mm	Bass, pike, striper
2/0	13 mm	35 mm	Pike, striper, drum
3/0	15 mm	38 mm	Large game fish
5/0	18 mm	45 mm	Saltwater, large catfish
7/0	22 mm	55 mm	Shark, tuna, grouper
10/0	30 mm	70 mm	Big game offshore

Recommended Hook Sizes by Species

Panfish / Crappie

Size 8-12, light wire Aberdeen

Trout

Size 8-14, single egg or dry fly hooks

Largemouth Bass

Size 1-3/0, offset worm or EWG

Smallmouth Bass

Size 2-1/0, finesse or drop shot

Walleye

Size 4-1/0, octopus or live bait

Catfish

Size 1/0-5/0, circle or kahle

Pike / Musky

Size 2/0-5/0, treble or single inline

Photo by Deane Bayas / Pexels
Salmon / Steelhead

Size 1-3/0, octopus or siwash

Redfish / Snook

Size 1/0-4/0, circle or jig

Tuna / Offshore

Size 5/0-10/0, circle or J-hook