circle hooks

[john/r]

hi, how is the feeling on circle hooks these days are you favouring them
john

[Lowrider]

Never used them,i thought there were designed for long lining

[The Great Wallsendo]

have got a minor theory that they're costing me fish every time I use them...the rationale being thus:

They're used to try and hook fish either in the lips or in the scissors of the mouth a lot more frequently (or at least that is what I've assumed their design is for)...however I have a feeling that they are also costing me that "self hooking" effect that a normal hook can provide

...or have I just spouted complete cr*p and got the whole circle hooks thing wrong

[davem2005]

Tony,
I bought some last year but like you I have never got round to using them for the simple reason I have not tied any new traces up.

When they arrived I did not like the look of them so used the conventional ones. I have since read more about them and will be giving them a go on my next outing. These are shark hooks by the way.

The longliners are VERY efficient catching machines and if circlehooks reduced their catches they would not use them.

They are actually designed to increase your chances of self hooking...which is what longliningisall about, but they are designed to catch in the sciccors or lip which has srious implications for catch and release fishing.

The fish takes the bait and swims off. The inturned hook is pulled out of the fishes throat without sticking but as it passes around the fishes lips or scissors it turns and the point of the hook takes hold. Hey presto a shallow hooked fish.

I have got to agree though...its hard to change what you trust but many people swear by them. Particularly big game anglers.

Cheers
Dave

[marksworld]

i have a few rigs made up with circle hooks and have caught and lost fish on them but the ones i have caught fish on the hooks have been easy to remove and for some reason they seem to come back in peice from kelpy ground




cheers
mark

[Phantom of Hook House]

I've been reading the forum for a few weeks but being an exiled geordie (20 years in London) I haven't posted before (anyone want to know about fishing the kent coast or Bewl water for Trout I'm your man!).

Circle hooks I've experimented with a lot. To catch, the fish has to swim away with the bait in its mouth, ideally pulling across the corner of it's mouth so the hook catches in the scissors. This makes them ideal for flatties but I'm not convinced for round fish, especially if they are being a bit finicky ?

If there are a lot of fish about and your using a multi hook rig, they work well, and I can see the benefits in kelp/snaggy ground because they won't snag up anywhere near as easily as a J hook.

There are some "semi" circle hooks around which are a compromise and may give you more confidence, but you may as well use a normal hook if your going to do this.

They key to using circle hooks is NOT striking. If you strike all you'll do is pull the hook out of it's mouth. To set the hook you have to wind in and tighten into the fish, allowing the circle to find its hold.

They are unbeatable for livebaiting!

[fishfinder]

Excellent first post mate and welcome to nesa

[Phantom of Hook House]

Thanks, Don't know why I'm down as a Junior member! Maybe I'll be groomed!?

[fishfinder]

Just relates to amount of posts mate

[willywetegg]

Welcome to NESA Phantom, thanks for the info.

Jim.

[john/r]

hi, is the pulley rig not a good rig to use with circle hooks, someone said to me once that the circle hooks are not very good for worm baits, this circle hook thing is totaly opposite to what i used to do ie i used to bend the point outwards same angle as the barb obviously you have to be very careful bending hooks you dont want bits flying off in direction of your eyes. other thing here is as well on the subject of hooks the modern ones you cant bend or sharpen them like the older hooks, i used to prefer the viking hooks but now becoming harder to obtain.
john

[Phantom of Hook House]

no probs. Circle hooks are great down here in shandy drinking land when your fishing a match and the whiting are about. Once a fish has hooked itself it rarely gets off so you can leave a 3 hook rig out for 15 mins and often come back with 2 or 3 fish. They are brilliant for dabs as well. Full circle are the best but are a nightmare to thread a worm onto. I really don't see me using them for cod because we usually only get 1 or 2 a session so not enough action to experiment, but theres a few more fish around this year with a commercial ban in the channel (not quite a ban but commercial boats are limited to 20 stone a day).
Biggest tides of the winter down here next weekend so planning a long session down at Dungeness/Dengemarsh Saturday into Sunday. Last good tides a week ago we had 15 codling between 3 of us in 7 hours which is good for the south east these days (all between 2.5 and 3.5lb). Down here we're hoping for south westerly blows and dirty water, otherwise it's small whiting city and a waste of time! Bigger fish usually show by now so here's hoping!

[The Great Wallsendo]

Welcome to NESA mate

[Topfly]

Welcome Phantom, Good info, and nice to get your views on circles. I think we get stuck in our ways up here and wait till a fish bites a couple of times then strike. If you just chuck your gear out with circles on, you might as well go to the pub for an hour, then come back and check your gear lol sounds good to me. no dis-respect,they are probs good for match fishing..

[RossW]

Can you buy really small circle hooks? Like size 4, 2, 1, 1/0? I thought they were just for big stuff