Aberdeen hook

Two features define it. The shank is long, which gives you something to grip when a bluegill has swallowed the bait, and the wire is thin, which makes it sharp and easy to set with light gear.

The thin wire also bends open under steady pull. Snag an Aberdeen on a stump and you can usually pull it straight rather than break the line, which means you lose one cheap hook instead of the whole rig, the split shot and three feet of line.

Size 6 to size 8 in an Aberdeen, a split shot and a worm is the setup that catches more first fish than any other rig in freshwater. Two published pond guides land on almost exactly that rig independently, which is a fair sign it is not just tradition.

The one thing to watch is that the same thin wire which bends free of snags will also bend under a genuinely large fish. That is a fine trade for bluegill and a poor one if a channel catfish takes the bait.