Quote:
Originally Posted by bd-
I haven't had the good results with circle hooks that others have had. I have used them with live creek minnows fishing for smallmouth, and I've used them for grouper fishing offshore in salt water.
In both cases, I was disappointed to find that I still had some gut hooked fish - certainly more than 1 in 20. Maybe the ratio was slightly lower than with J hooks but not enough for it to be significant. And I felt like when the fish were hooked in the jaw, the circle hook did more damage coming out than a J hook, at least on the smallies. This is mostly because circle hooks tend to be larger and heavier than the very small, fine-wire hooks I use when freelining minnows for smallmouth.
On top of that, it seems like you miss a few more fish with circle hooks. Not a lot, but a few. That was especially true on the grouper - maybe because their mouths are so big and tough.
Overall, I wasn't impressed enough to switch over to circle hooks. I have gone back to J hooks for live bait, and I just concentrate on a quick hookset to avoid gut hooked fish. I also use very small, fine wire hooks for smallies so that on the rare occasions that one is hooked deep, it minimizes the damage.
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Here is a summary from In-fisherman.
http://www.in-fisherman.com/2012/07/...-circle-hooks/
Most of the professional fisheries reports that I have read show decreased mortality and decreased damage from comparable sized circle hooks as compared to j-hooks. Here is a section of the article associated with gut-hooking:
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The summary of studies found that jaw hooking was far more frequent with circle hooks than other types. The incidence of gut hooking with circle hooks is low (generally less than 5 percent). Bleeding also was lower with circle hooks, a factor often related to hooking location.
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I use fine wire circle hooks a lot and that really helps. I agree that the big, heavy circle hooks can be very damaging and are really only useful when fishing a huge bait for very big fish.
The hook set thing is really key and it is hard to get used to. I like setting the hook when I feel a bite, therefore circle hooks are not good in any active fishing method. If your hand is on the rod and you feel the bite instantly, circle hooks are not real good. But if you live or dead bait fish and use rod holders, they work very well. Just don't jump when you see a hit. Wait and pick up the rod when you are sure they are on. Then just reel up and start fighting the fish. No jerking hook set needed. I rarely gut hook a fish even when I let it pull for 30 seconds or more before grabbing the rod.
The circle hooks work very well on catfish jugs also. On these I like to use large (but not thick) circle hooks as most small catfish (less than about 12 inches) will not get hooked at all. And the big ones are in fine condition to release. So I end up with a bunch of 2 to 5lb cats. Perfect for dinner.
Overall, I think they are a good thing for bait fishing, but not if you are actively fishing.
Jim