"Tim Carter" wrote in message .. .
"Stephen L. Cain" wrote in message
om...
"Tim Carter" wrote in message
.. .


Fatigue.

Usually fatigue damage is followed by fracture, rather than yelding:
the hook would have cracked rather than straightened. If you get a
magnifying glass and look at the broken end of your ribbing, you'll
see a slight necking (decrease in diameter) and a jagged fracture.

Interesting. If a hook experiences fatigue, but only half as much as
required to cause complete fracture, wouldn't the metal would be weakened
and be more susceptible to bending??


I don't think so. Fatigue damage is conducive to fracture, so if you
induce fatigue via cyclic loading, you are increasing the probability
of fracture and decreasing the probability of yielding. There will be
a weak spot where some microscopic defect concentrates the fatigue
stress, and rather than bend the whole thing, the hook will crack at
the weak point.

I like the idea Peter has below: when the hook gap is fully embedded,
the fish pulls against the shank. When the gap gets exposed, the pull
of the fish puts a bending moment on the hook and thus could
straighten it out.

Steve