Is this a standard or heavy 3/0 sickle?

[Shoemoo]

I was looking at the sale items on Cabela's web site and came across this:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home...s-Sickle-Hook-SalmonSteelhead-Jig/1672764.uts

It's obviously a Matzuo hook with the sickle bend and that teeny barb. They're the only ones that make jig hooks in the sickle style AFAIK. It looks like a standard wire to me, but the description says "Ultrastrong 3/0 black-nickel hook won't bend when you hook a large fish." I thought Matzuo had discontinued all the extra strong sickle hooks? 3/0 is within the range of standard wire sickle sizes, so is Cabela's fudging on the "ultrastrong" part?

 

[plateboater]

Appears to like the normal sickle

I was looking at the sale items on Cabela's web site and came across this:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home...s-Sickle-Hook-SalmonSteelhead-Jig/1672764.uts

It's obviously a Matzuo hook with the sickle bend and that teeny barb. They're the only ones that make jig hooks in the sickle style AFAIK. It looks like a standard wire to me, but the description says "Ultrastrong 3/0 black-nickel hook won't bend when you hook a large fish." I thought Matzuo had discontinued all the extra strong sickle hooks? 3/0 is within the range of standard wire sickle sizes, so is Cabela's fudging on the "ultrastrong" part?

 

[Hawnjigs]

2x & 3x Sickles are mysterious, & I think they're custom runs since I've never seen them offered for sale outside of specialty Pacific NW retail vendors. Cabela's is capable of custom run aquisition obviously, & I would GUESS they're knowledgeable enuf to correctly label "steelhead/salmon" specific gear. Hard to tell from the pic tho.

Last I checked about 3-4 years ago, Matzuo direct had a few thou 2x black Sickles inventoried, so they apparently continued production after the big cutback in 2006. I again GUESS that these were custom order production over-runs, due to the limited quantity available.