Nurturing Those OCD Tendencies with BKK's Titan Series

Introduction: In that confusing, over-saturated category of terminal tackle, how many of you stick to the big names and call it a day? I get it, it's difficult to branch out and take a chance on a new hook, swivel, or snap when a connection to those vital bites is on the line - literally. My foray into BKK's OCD Tackle System last year afforded me the opportunity to take a close look at some of the brand's hook shapes designed for bass fishing. I've since fished some of those hook shapes and that experience has allowed me to build confidence in the brand and their product. However, one shape that was not included in that box was the shape that actually brought my attention to the brand in the first place - the Titan Diver.

The hook that introduced me to BKK, their Titan Diver

Background: I'm a big proponent of weighted hooks (more popularly referred to as swimbait hooks) with a blade attachment. Rigging something like a Keitech Fat Swing Impact, Megabass's MagDraft Freestyle or their Spark Shad, can result in a very rewarding day of fishing. My theory is the flash gets their attention, and the profile and vibration of the paddletail seals the deal. However, most hooks with weights along the shank with or without flashers attached have that weight positioned towards the hook tie, the top of the hook. I stumbled upon the BKK's Titan series while searching for something different - a swimbait hook with the weight further down the hook towards the bite (also referred to as the throat).

The Impetus behind my search for a light in weight, 3/0 sized hook with a flasher, Megabass's Spark Shad 3.6 (new size debuted in 2025)

This configuration creates a different fall with soft plastic swimbait bodies, but, if the weight is right, also opens up potential use with other baits like the popular, big, flat, gill shaped soft plastics (e.g. Deps's Bull Flat) and the slowly increasing in number of backslide baits (e.g. O.S.P.'s DoLive Beaver). My first foray into hooks with this weight placement was Zappu's Bredy Weedless Underspin and their larger Blading Pile Driver. At the time of my investigation, I was on the hunt for a lightweight, bladed hook, in about a #3/0 size. The Blading Pile Driver would have been just the ticket, and it is offered in the size I was seeking. Unfortunately, that size wasn't available at TackleWarehouse early in 2025. I could get the 3/0 in Owner or Gamakatsu, but weight size and placement wasn't right. This all led me to take a chance with BKK's Titan Diver Hook.

After all that effort to find the right hook for the Spark Shad 3.6, the bait combo only made it out for one trip last year

The impetus behind this very specific search for a relatively light, 3/0 weighted hook with a blade? A new size in an existing bait - Megabass's new (for 2025), three point six (3.6) inch Spark Shad. It was the size I didn't know I needed but finding the right hook really delayed my opportunity to fish it. Once I discovered and acquired the BKK Titan Diver in 3/0, everything aligned for one trip on the water. Then, as review priorities inevitably took over, my carefully curated bait setup got pushed to the back of the tackle pile and forgotten for pretty much the remainder of the year. However, one thing with the BKK Titan Diver really stuck with me, and that's what inspired this deep dive into what I discovered to be an entire series of hooks.

The center pin BKK uses for their Titan Series snaps on and off instead of screwing onto the hook eye
 

"The Hook": Similar to how a clever lyric or beat to a tune you want to shake, but can't, keeps playing in your brain, i.e. the hook, one simple little innocuous feature on the Titan Diver had me scrambling for a good week of how I might be able to install something similar on the rest of my wide gap hooks - a silicone bait keeper. This keeper isn't installed at or near the line tie, BKK uses their own version of a centering pin there. No, this keeper is located along the bend of the hook and resembles an egg sinker only it's silicone and instead of sliding along your line, it sides along the bend of the hook.

This egg shaped piece of silicone around the hook near the point helps keep the back of your baits in place

Simply snug it up the back of our bait and voila

After you rig your soft plastic in weedless fashion, simply snug the egg shaped, silicone keeper up against the back of your bait to keep it in place. This little feature reduces the number of times you need to re-rig the bait between casts and seems to extend the life of soft plastics reducing accidental or premature tearing. I don't know if this is an original design or not - so many ideas in the fishing industry are borrowed from one another. I do know it's the first time I've seen this feature on a hook and now I can't fish this style hook without one. All of BKK's hooks in their Titan Series have this keeper on the hook.

Time to gather some data

Some sizes of the Titan Diver are available with a gold blade

BKK Titan Diver: Now to the actual piece of tackle that inspired this deep dive (no pun intended - maybe). BKK's Titan Diver is the Rider hook with a lead weight and spinner attached. It is intriguing to me because it is more than just a hook for swimbaits. It's a great way to breathe new life into your favorite soft plastics. For example, rig a creature bait of some kind with this hook and given the placement of the weight, you could potentially have a backsliding rig. Throw a stopper on your line, followed by a punch skirt and you have a bladed swim jig.

The Titan Diver is available in a wide range of hook sizes from 1/0 through 10/0, with most featuring a relatively light lead weight. As with the Titan Rider, I took the liberty to take some measurements of the Diver hooks and presented them in the table above. I figured it'd be useful to know the total weight for each offered size along with the measurement for the gap since this will differ from the bare hook (Titan Rider).

From left to right : BKK's Titan Driver, Gamakatsu's Spring Lock Spinner SB Hook, Owner's Flashy Swimmer, Zappu's Blading Pile Driver

A Quick Comparison: At some point in the past couple of months, Zappu's Blading Pile Driver in that 3/0 size finally became available through my tackle shop of choice, TackleWarehouse, so I added a package to one of my Winter time re-stock orders to compare it with the Titan Diver. I also acquired, or already had on hand (yes, sometimes stuff just magically materializes within my storage bins of tackle) similar style hooks from Owner and Gamakatsu, so I figured why not take some measurements and share them in the table below. It's always good to have more data points when deciding on terminal tackle.

The BKK Titan Diver+ (shown here without blade)

BKK Titan Diver+: Finally, where the standard Titan Diver is a good, minimal weight alternative for more than just soft plastic swimbaits, the beefier, Titan Diver+ is more firmly entrenched as a hook for our favorite paddle or wedge tailed swimmer. At first appearances, the hook looks very unrefined with an egg shaped weight along the shank. That is, until you realize that weight is made with the flexibility to be repositioned by the angler. There are flexible gaskets (likely silicone) on either end of the weight that pull out allowing you remove the weight (the weight is slotted on one side) and reinstall elsewhere along the hook's shank to fine tune your presentation.

The Titan Diver+ comes with two hooks, two different weights, one blade, and spare silicone bait keepers

You can more easily see the spare bait keepers in this photo (between the blade and sinker)

Each pack comes with two hooks, two weights, one blade, and two spare bait keepers. One of the hooks is fully assembled. The other is missing the weight and blade. The second weight in each package is a different size than the one already rigged giving you the flexibility to change things up. Missing, however, is a spare blade to go with the spare weight. Not sure why BKK didn't just add another blade in the package. In any case, once you discover the flexibility of how to rig the Titan Diver+, concerns about its unrefined appearance quickly dissolve. The BKK Diver+ is offered in sizes 6/0 through 18/0.

The second hook in the Diver+ packaging does not have a weight attached. Here you can see the weight stoppers and bait keepers more easily

Conclusion: The fishing world can be a terrible place for someone with OCD. Something as simple as a familiar bait in a new size can inspire a deep dive into, of all things, hooks. In my limited time fishing BKK's Titan Series, the hooks have performed well for me thus far. What I appreciate though, are the thoughtful touches like that silicone bait keeper and the flexibility in rigging the Diver+'s weight.

Not just for swimbaits, you can breathe new life into your favorite soft plastic by fishing it with a light weight bladed hook like the BKK Titan Rider

If you choose to give one or more of Titan Series hooks a try, hopefully, armed with the info in this article, you can more easily find the size that suits your needs. Why does information like actual hook size dimensions have to be so difficult to find? In years gone by, you could simply visit your favorite tackle shop to compare and contrast in deciding on the right sized hook. Today, even if that were an option, the likelihood of your favorite shop having the selection of hook brands available to inspect would be very low. More than likely they'd just have the big names available which would have meant missing out on an interesting little series of hooks like these.

BKK's Titan Series from left to right : Titan Diver, Titan Rider, Titan Diver+