Vanfook ME-31B Minnow Experthook Single Hooks, Medium Wire Inline Eye for Minnow & Jerkbait Lures, Stealth Black, Size 5, Pack of 16, Japanese

• INLINE EYE FOR MINNOW LURES — The straight inline eye sits flush with the hook hanger of minnow-style hard baits, whatever their size or shape; the hook lies perfectly along the lure body, maximising action on the pause and improving hook-up rate on short-striking trout.
• MEDIUM WIRE GAUGE — Strong enough to hold trophy stocked rainbows and wild brown trout; light enough not to throw off the sink-rate of finesse minnows. Vanfook builds the same shape on thicker wire as the ME-41B — take that one for bigger fish, the ME-31B for the finer presentation.
• STEALTH BLACK MATT FINISH, WIDE GAPE — The non-reflective Stealth Black finish reduces flash in clear water, and Vanfook's unique wide gape form is made for trout that respond well to minnows, maximising hook-up probability on tentative takes.
• PACK OF 16 — 16 hooks per pack; available in Size 4, 5, 6, and 8. Size 5 sits between sizes 4 and 6; Vanfook publishes no fitment for it, so as our own guidance take it for minnows of roughly 65–75mm, where a size 6 rides slightly shallow.
• CURVED POINT, MADE IN JAPAN BY VANFOOK — Every ME-31B carries Vanfook's curved point and comes ready to fish barbless just as it is, with no tuning needed and nothing to crush flat or file off — well suited to catch and release. 16 hooks to a pack.

Vanfook designed the ME-31B for one job: fishing minnows for trout without the usual hook troubles. Its unique wide form is there to eliminate the three classic accidents of minnow fishing — hooks tangling with each other, a hook wrapping over the back of the lure, and a hook picking up the line — whatever the size or shape of minnow you fish. The eye is a true inline eye. In Vanfook's own words, that means a stream minnow needs no special tuning: the ME-31B hangs in line with the lure and fishes barbless just as it comes. The wide gape does the hooking — Vanfook rates this pattern for trout that respond well to minnows, and the shape is made to convert tentative takes. Medium Wire is Vanfook's own name for this model's gauge. It is the finer of a documented pair: Vanfook builds the same shape on thicker wire as the ME-41B for bigger fish, so the ME-31B is the one for lighter line and a more delicate presentation. The colour is Stealth Black, a non-reflective matt black that does not flash in clear water, and the point is Vanfook's curved point. In the UK that makes it a natural fit for small stillwaters fished area-style for stocked rainbow trout, and for wild brown trout on streams; it works on perch and chub minnow lures too, on ultralight rods and light line. Hook rules vary by water, species and season. Some rivers, clubs and fisheries ask for barbless hooks, a single hook on lures or a maximum hook gape, and many waters have no such rule at all, so always check the byelaws and the fishery's own rules for the water you are fishing. It is supplied barbless as manufactured, with nothing to crush flat or file off. Vanfook publishes no size-to-lure table for the ME-31B. What it does publish is a list of Japanese area minnows that leave the factory with an ME-31B already fitted, and our size guidance comes from those fitments. Size 5 has no published fitment of its own, so this band is our own guidance: it bridges sizes 6 and 4, suiting minnows of roughly 65–75mm where a size 6 rides slightly shallow. Made in Japan by Vanfook and supplied as a pack of 16. Also available in sizes 4, 6 and 8.