"After losing several halibut this year to lesser hooks, in Sept 2004 while kayak fishing near Ketchikan, Alaska, I landed a 183# halibut using Emperor 6/0 Ringed Big Game hooks, Seeker's lightest Inshore rod, and a Shimano Trinidad 14 reel. The fight lasted many hours, and halibut are masters at throwing hooks. The hook never came loose, and in the end I had to literally cut it out to free it. After years of frustration with cheap halibut hooks, these are a dream come true. It rains 160" a year here and rusty hooks are a constant problem, but not any more. Alaskan halibut will put all your gear to the test, and from now on my tackle box gleams of gold!"

Howard McKim, owner of Ketchikan Kayak Fishing
www.yakfishalaska.com

“ I caught a 140lb marlin from my kayak on 5/18/2004. Fishing out of hotel Punta Colorada located on Baja's East Cape. The fish was landed on a Seeker Rod, Shimano TLD 15 loaded with 20lb Ande line, a 80lb Seagar fluorocarbon leader and a 6/0 Emperor gold plated hook.
The fish was hooked, fought, and landed from my kayak. A panga was used to get me to the fishing grounds twenty miles offshore.I then trolled a live mullet behind my kayak. The fight lasted 2 1/2 hours. On this day I baited two Marlin and one Sailfish.
The fishing during the week leading up to this catch was a bit slow but I did catch some nice Roosters up to 45lbs. I managed the largest and most fish on this trip from our group of five kayak anglers. We were all fishing the same line class and fluorocarbon leaders, the only difference was my choice of the gold hooks from Emperor tackle. Was that the deciding factor in my catching the most fish plus the Marlin ? I'm not sure, but I am not taking any chances, I will be using gold from now on.“

Jim Sammons - owner of La Jolla Kayak Fishing
www.kayak4fish.com

Hurricanes, Bigger Fish Foil Teen’s IGFA Record Try

When 13-year-old Chanelle Innis of San Diego noticed a vacancy in the IGFA record book in her age category for Corbina, she did what any red-blooded girl would do. She set out to establish a record. As with any world record attempt, there were a lot of ups and downs. This attempt did not yield a record, but Chanelle still considers it a positive experience.
After a few days surf fishing in Del Mar, and landing countless barred surf perch, Chanelle hooked into a small corbina using an Emperor #4 baitholder hook with a live sand crab. Both Chanelle and her dad use Emperor hooks because their light weight makes bait act more lively, and because their gold color seems to attract more fish. Timing her pulls with the surging surf, Chanelle brought the fish to the beach, where it was measured and photographed.
Although it was not a big fish by any stretch of the imagination, it appeared to weigh more than one pound (IGFA minimum) and that it would qualify for a record shot.
The fish was photographed on site, bystanders were enlisted as witnesses, and the fish taken to a local supermarket for weighing. Chanelle held her breath as the corbina was weighed: 1.15 pounds. Barely big enough, but worth submitting.
Over the next few days, Chanelle rounded up all the materials to make her IGFA submission. She dropped it all in the mail and waited.
A few weeks later, her hopes were buoyed when she learned that the IGFA ichthyologist had certified the catch and sent the application to the IGFA president for signature — she even saw her name on the IGFA Web-site under “records pending.”
Then all hell broke loose — in Florida, that is. A series of four hurricanes battered the Florida coast, and bogged down all IGFA record processing. Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. Then the bad news came. During the delay, another girl submitted a bigger fish. At the 11th hour, Chanelle’s fish was beaten, her record attempt denied.
But Chanelle took it all in stride. She figures her record attempt taught her a lot about the nature of competition. The young angler is eager to try again in the summer of 2005, and is eyeing several possible categories at which to make another run using Emperor hooks.

Chanelle Innis, CA San Diego

"Well, the first time I used the golden hooks I was impressed. I just got off a trip fishing for Albacore. The bite had shut off a week before. We managed to get limits of Albacore and almost limits of Yellowtail. The amazing thing is I shared my hooks with everyone who wanted to try them. After the first 8 fish were caught on Emperor Gold plated stainless steel hooks the deck was screaming give me the gold! It was a riot. Needless to say we used every single hook. Not only was I a believer from past trips but the entire crew and passanger list on the Tracer became believers. I only wish I had brought more. You must try these hooks. I think the gold makes a big difference, I know the weight is a definite advantage but I also think the small diameter of the hook doesn't hurt the bait so therefore you have a lively bait.

Linda Hicks, Accurate, National Sales Manager
www.accuratefishing.com

“Just wanted to let you know that I converted about 10 anglers to gold hooks on our Saturday trip aboard the New-Lo An. There were 30 anglers aboard and 45 yellowtail were caught.
Althought it was a "pick" all day, I was consistantly hooked up using just the Emperor 2/0 and 3/0 gold hooks and fly lining a sardine. I was the only one to catch my limit of 5 yellowtail.
People were asking me about the gold hooks and I gave out the ones that you provided to me. By the end of the day about 10 anglers were using the Emperor product and getting bit.
I do believe that the hooks have increased the number of fish I have hooked and landed since March of this year.”

George J. Valenzuela - Proprietor (aka Tunabelly)
www.senortuna.com

"Thank you for the treble and drop shot hooks. I put the treble hooks on my Norman crank bait and caught a 6.5 lb fish. I also caught several other bass during the tourney.
Reluctantly, I have to share my testimonial with my fellow competitors. These reflective hooks are the best hooks I have ever fished with. They give plastics, and crank-baits life.
I might add that my partner and I won the Castaic Lake night tournament on June 4th with a whopping 20.79 lb of fish. My big fish could not resist that crank bait dressed with your hooks. The drop shot hooks produced several fish in the 2.5 lb range."

Kenneth Owens, South California

Rolling out the largest gauge hooks in the Emperor Tackle line, Beverly “Bajabev” Seltzer and her three boat mates hauled in some formidable Pacific halibut to turn the tide in their favor in the 4th annual Penn Reels Alaska Grand Slam tournament.
Over the course of the three day tournament, May 16 – 18, hosted by Kingfisher Lodge in Sitka, the four contestants each exceeded their personal best in halibut to add coveted pounds to their scores. Seltzer went on the place 4th overall out of 44 anglers, and second in the halibut division, owing much to her 127.5 pound halibut caught on day two using one of Emperor’s gold plated 17/0 circle hooks.
“I replaced the stock circle hooks on the boat’s halibut leaders with ones I brought from Emperor Tackle, and was rewarded with two fish over 100 pounds, plus others I chose to release. I don’t think I personally caught a halibut under 60 pounds! I also jigged up some nice yelloweye rockfish with octopus hooks from Emperor. In just the past month, I’ve had the chance to use Emperor Tackle hooks from the Coronado Islands to the Farallones to Alaska with great results every time.”

Bajabev, Northern California
www.bajabev.com

"Went out on Saturday out of Dana Point with my wife's brothers and his family visiting from Florida. I thought I would rig up each outfit with different type hooks to see if there was a difference between them. We fished with live bait and all were 1.0 circle hooks. Our first hook up was on the emperor, a nice size barracuda, nothing on the other 3, baited the emperor and dropped down and hooked up once again. Switch all the line but 1 to emperor circle hooks and hooked up on all 3. None of the other hooks caught any fish!! Emperor definitely works well and I look forward to fishing with them in the future. Thanks."

Danny Duran, CA Dana Point

“I tried one of those new gold plated hooks on some kelp bass last week and was getting slammed.”

Jack Innis, fishing and boating writer, San Diego, CA

“I bought a pack of your #2 circle hooks at the Long Beach tackle show and they are the beat "Calico" hooks I have ever used.
I have been fishing calicos for about ten years and your hooks doubled my catch. Thanks.”

Stanley Malin, Wheat Hills, AL

“I was a skeptic at first, but after a day spent casting and bouncing hard rock bottom for lingcod, I’m now a believer! My first three casts using your gold plated 5/0 circle hook on a hefty metal jig all produced lingcod. After a day of abuse like this, the hook is still looking great and is ready to fish again.
I can’t wait to venture out with the Live Bait Hook and Super Live Bait Hook series to see how it performs on serious big game action.
This summer, I want to try some of the 5/0 double hooks coming soon. I have a feeling they’ll be excellent for tuna trolling.”

Bajabev, Northern California
www.bajabev.com

“Halibut were easy to set and board. Baits were very active because they could swim. Even caught surf perch and corbina in surf. Fish like gold. My hook hasn’t started rusting in weeks.”

Ed, California

“Hit a school of white sea bass. Our baits swam faster and lived longer with these hooks. After weeks in tackle box, no rust!”

Mark, Chula Vista, CA

“Caught lingcod, sandbass, even calico bass on the surface of kelp. Hooks are very strong, sharp, light and amazingly rust resistant.”

John, South California

“I used these hooks and caught yellow tail and albacore. Amazed how light they are and how long they last without rusting. Mackerel even hit bare hooks with no bait.

Bob, San Diego