Catfish Hook SCR41

Cox & Rawle SCR41 Catfish Hook

The Cox & Rawle SCR41 is a heavy-duty saltwater hook built for fish that don’t come to the boat quietly. Featuring a distinctive sickle bend and up-eye, this pattern was originally developed for catfish (wolffish) but has become a go-to among UK and European boat anglers targeting tope, smoothhound, blue shark, cod, rays, and bass in smaller sizes.

Forged from high-carbon steel in a 2X short, 4X heavy configuration, the SCR41 delivers serious hooking power without sacrificing gape — the up-eye and sickle bend combine to drive the point home and keep it there through repeated headshakes and long fights. Its short, heavy shank makes it an excellent top hook in pennel rigs, pairing with a second hook to secure larger baits for big-game bottom fishing.

Available in sizes 2 through 6/0, the SCR41 scales from light inshore work up to serious offshore tackle for genuinely large, hard-fighting species.

Best for: Tope, smoothhound, catfish/wolffish, blue shark, cod, rays, bass (smaller sizes), conger

Specs:

• Pattern: Sickle bend, up-eye
• Construction: 2X short, 4X heavy
• Material: High-carbon steel
• Sizes:8,6,4, 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0, 4/0, 6/0
• Ideal use: Boat and shore fishing, pennel rigs

Fishing Techniques

Pennel Rig for Big Baits. The SCR41’s short-shank, heavy-wire build makes it the ideal top hook in a pennel rig — pair it with a matching or slightly smaller bottom hook to run a full mackerel flapper, squid, or bluey bait without it sliding or balling up. This is the standard approach UK boat anglers use for tope and blue shark.

Bottom Fishing for Tope & Smoothhound. Fish it on a flowing trace with a running lead, letting scent drift with the tide. The sickle bend and up-eye promote self-hooking on the take — you don’t need a hard strike, just steady pressure and a raised rod tip.

Wreck and Reef Fishing for Cod & Conger. Size up (8/0-6/0) and fish whole or cut bait hard on the bottom near structure. The 4X heavy wire holds up against abrasion from rock and wreckage during the fight.

Shark Fishing. For blue shark, rig the SCR41 on a wire or heavy mono trace as part of a pennel setup with mackerel or bluey flapper baits, drifted in a chum slick.