Jaypeegee, with regard the little hook sharpener. I believe the term sharpen may be a little misleading. What the sharpener actually does is remove a bur should the point be turned hitting something hard. I believe the hooks come as sharp as they can be and any effort to improve on that would be fraught with danger.

If you purchase a knife it is usually very sharp and then dulls with use. By using one of these modern so called sharpeners they actually grind metal from the blade and over time are actually wearing the blade our. Now put that same blade in the hand of a craftsman he will hone the blade on an oil stone and install a true edge.

I have never heard of a dull hook catching better than a sharp hook but there are all sorts of theories with angling. My guess would be along the same line as the best rigs: if you have confidence in what you are doing - it usually works.