# Who uses circle hooks ?



## solatree

Although I don't fish with bait that often from my kayak, I'm becoming more of a fan of circle hooks. I especially like the Mustad Demon light gauge circle hooks which have no offset. Have done well with these on snapper and salmon from rocks and beach. For the kayak, I like the idea of setting one rod in the holder with bait and a circle hook - and actively using a second rod with lures. Have still had some fish gut hooked on the circles, but mostly the fish are very easy to release.


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## grinner

long line tuna fishermen certainly use them. most of the pros seem to like them for live bait. i would imagine they would/should hook more fish in the lip especially bigger bream on bait who tend to take off with the bait and drop it if they feel any pressure, one would think they should go thru the lip easier. having said that i always use mustad baitholders for bait because the 3 little barbs hold everything in place 
cheers pete


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## cummins

are very good for big fish i found smaller type fish don't get hooked :lol:


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## kayakity-yak

Love em when I use bait, but I havent used bait much since getting into plastics. They're great for leaving un-attended rods, and great for releasing fish. Can be a pain getting a prawn on one, but you work out the technique. Do you strike when you use them Solatree? I heard you weren't supposed to as it will pull the hook straight out and wont grab. I always left my rods in holders all the time anyway so I don't know.


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## Feral

Caught hundreds of Bass and Yellas on Circle hooks, only ever got mouth hook ups. Best thing since sliced bread I reckon. I favour the mustad wide mouths.


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## GoneFishn

When using circle hooks the key is not to strike. I use circles about 98% of the time for Snapper, Gummies, Bream and Whiting. It does take a while to get out of doing the strike motion, especially with whiting. When using circle hooks with whiting I usually just cast out then a very slow retrieve then when you feel a bite just wind a little bit faster or lift the rod but not to fast. But the main advantage of the circle hooks is when you are using a sleeper rod (baited rod just sitting in rod holder) the fish will hook them self  The reason you must not strike is the fish needs to pick up the bait and turn so the hook has a chance to lodge in the corner of the mouth, when striking the hook does not have a chance to do this, you will still get some fish if you strike but when you just let them take the hook on there own accord you will get a very good solid hookup. One last thing DO not over load the hook with bait you must have the barb well exposed.


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## solatree

kayakity-yak said:


> Do you strike when you use them Solatree?


I try not to strike but if you are holding the rod, its very tempting. When I feel bites, I just wind a bit, very slowly, until it feels as if the fish has taken the bait, at which stage I lift the tip and wind harder to lodge the hook. Seems to work well on agreesive biters like salmon and snapper. 


GoneFishn said:


> When using circle hooks with whiting


Good to hear of success with whiting too. The smallest circle hooks I've seen are 2/0 - and look too big for whiting. What size and sort do you use GF ?


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## Shufoy

arpie said:


> It is also important to tie the circle hook on correctly, so it turns properly in the fish's mouth
> 
> Usually it is by snelling the hooks.
> 
> 
> 
> RP


Never heard that before, had no idea how you tie them on was important.. I usually snell the top hook, and tie the bottom for most of my snapper/mulloway rigs. Why is the snell important, as opposed to a uni-knot for example?


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## GoneFishn

solatree said:


> GoneFishn said:
> 
> 
> 
> When using circle hooks with whiting
> 
> 
> 
> Good to hear of success with whiting too. The smallest circle hooks I've seen are 2/0 - and look too big for whiting. What size and sort do you use GF ?
Click to expand...

I have been using the Mustard Demon Light Gauge Circle hooks in the size#1 or the Black Magic KL#1 red. The Black Magic being slightly heavier gauge Still no problem hooking the fish but the red coating does come of quickly, which then leaves you with a shiny gold looking hook, still catches fish  








You can use a standard knot to tie circle hooks such as a Blood knot or any other you dont have to snell the hook.


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## solatree

Thanks Kelly - also found this link to Adventure Bound ..http://www.adventurebound.com.au/review ... hooks.html
Like you, the link also mentions great success with circle hooks on King George Whiting - as well as emphasising the tying that both you and Arpie mentioned.

cheers


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## Redfish

I was messing around at the "big catch" apollo bay and had 2 snelled owner circles with a big pipi on it. I got 2 whiting on the one bait, but balanced out by dropping a couple of others.

I use circles a lot for snapper and reef fish, snelled with a whole pillie or similar. They work fantastic, but sometimes if a fish is nibbline and the rod tip hasn't yet loaded, just feed a little slack line so the tentative fish can swallow the bait and hold on! Usually they just hook themselves, it just takes a bit of getting used to just leaving the rod in the holder!


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## solatree

Do the smaller sizes work ? - Smallest I'd come across previously was 1/0 - but found some size 4 (and even size 6) today at BCF - the size 4 look the goods for king george whiting.


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## AJD

Use them all the time Andrew. Great for both live and dead baits for doing exactly what you suggest - putting 1 line down with a bait and flicking lures about. I use them as they almost always get a mouth hookup but also because they seem to be less snag prone in reef areas than the old j hook.


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## solatree

solatree said:


> Do the smaller sizes work ? - Smallest I'd come across previously was 1/0 - but found some size 4 (and even size 6) today at BCF - the size 4 look the goods for king george whiting.


They were the goods !










All caught on size 4 Mustad Demon circle hooks.

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=32079


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## solatree

I am still a fan of circle hooks - I recently got my first decent size, yak caught snapper - a pair, both on unweighted circle hooks (one 1/0 - the other 4/0).








One of these had some mono protruding from its tail

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
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On gutting found, these









Of the two fish I caught that day, the one with the hooks in its tummy was 4 cm longer but weighed a shade less than the other - I put it down to the trauma of having a pair of hooks in its stomach.

A very good reason to give circle hooks a go - I just use a single hook and the hook up rate is good . I'm sold on them.


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## kiwipea

Also from the kiwi website. This is about how to present bait to circle hooks









 * Scale and fillet your bait
* Cut bait into strips
* Put the hook through the bait at one end of the strip, penetrating the flesh first then through the skin.

Note: Do not choke the bight of the hook and don't hook your baits through the centre of the strips as this can cause the bait to spin and may twist and tangle the traces

Works good for me I use circle hooks all the time and have high percentage of lip hooking

kp


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## Pookie

I know this is an old thread but was linked tyo it form the other thread re: cirlce hooks

bit fo a random question relating the the photo pictured, what type of knot is that which is used?

It looks fancy but how does it go in regards to keeping strength compared to the standard fishing knot?


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## solatree

Snelling is pretty traditional - the version shown I think is used by NZ long line fisherman.
Here are a couple more.
http://www.netknots.com/html/snell_knot.html
http://www.netknots.com/html/snell_traditional.html

Its not the type of snell thats important, but the use of a straight eye and having the line coming out the right way from the eye as shown.


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## skorgard

solatree said:


> Although I don't fish with bait that often from my kayak,


Well I know that it was a while back.......... but you seem to have mastered the art.............


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## Barrabundy

I have a stock of 7/0 circle hooks I use for live baiting. I will probably go back to the traditional J shaped hook because I feel the hook up rate is less with the circle hooks. I haven't proven it and there may be no difference but I'm going to change anyway. I can eliminate unwanted bycatch with the size of the live bait so pretty much anything that has a go is coming home with me anyway so not worried too much about gut hooking.

<edit> just realised the hooks I've got are wide gap and not circle although I do have some circle hooks as well.


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## bnsyak

I'm sold on them, the mustard light gaugecan take a lot of abuse,
as for catching smaller fish the other day i landed half a dozen bream which were lucky to reach 10-15 cm on a circle with a prawn,
all bar one were hooked in the lip


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## solatree

mingle said:


> Is there any difference in the effectiveness of the different designs?


A number of web sites recommend the inline - staight eye - circle hooks (ie bottom hook) and thats the type I use, snelled in the way described in this thread - not really sure if they are better, but they have delivered for me - and for others that have fished with me when I've given them one of my rigs.


mingle said:


> I would think that the octopus-type hook with the turned-down eye would be much easier to snell...


Nup - both the same to snell.


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## gbc

Personally I wouldn't snell any hook that didn't have a downturned eye, and I'd never snell the lower, or last hook in a float baiting (live bait) rig.
I use circles in paternoster and other strip bait rigs, but for floatlining livies I still use livebait hooks for what I believe are better results there. Snell the top hook and uni the lower so that the rig wants to pull straight.
Proper long line hooks do not have an eye, they are just bent over at the top. Snelling is the only way to tie them and I'd guess that's crossed over to N.Z. amateur long lining/kiting.


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## solatree

gbc said:


> Snell the top hook and uni the lower so that the rig wants to pull straight.


Each to their own. Advice from the late Neil Tedesco (host of Adventure Bound) is that it should not pull straight but pull in a circle- ie
"_The defining feature that makes a circle hook different is the fact that the point is turned sharply in towards the shank of the hook, understanding the way in which the hook sets is very important when rigging as it can make all the difference. It is important to always try to tie the line in a snood around the shank and feed the trace back through the eye so the hook actually aims even further in the circle position . The idea is to lock the hook in the corner of the fish's mouth so by tying the hook this way it has to twist around inside the fish's mouth as the line tightens. If the hook is tied in the normal fashion to the eye or left swinging on a crimped loop it may exit the mouth of a fish without catching on anything as the line tightens. Sounds like a big risk to take, but let me assure you, if you rig correctly success will not be far away_."








See http://www.adventurebound.com.au/review ... hooks.html


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## Murdoch

Been reading a bit about circle hooks lately as it's always a bad feeling pulling in bycatch that is gut hooked, and tested some out yesterday.
I was initially worried that fish with smaller mouths may not hook so well, but this proved wrong.

Using 5/0 inline Owner circle hooks with squid and slab bait yesterday from a boat, I landed 2 good sized catfish, and 2 bream over 35cms. All were hooked through the edge of the mouth / lip, and all were easy to release. (in fairness I released the catfish into a bucket prior to turning them into crab bait :lol: )

The other thing I liked about them is that once hooked, I was a lot more comfortable that they wouldn't throw the hook. It would be pretty difficult for a fish to dislodge on.

It's only a few fish, but I am going to give these hooks a fair go for a while. The 'don't strike - let the fish hook itself' tip worked, and when I was getting nibbled and get antsy, a strike would leave me empty handed. I did strike one of the catfish, but slowly and whether this made a difference of not I can't say as it may already have had the tip through the lip.

Tied them with a 'snood' knot which seems to be similar to a snell knot. Link to video is in the above post, and it was a useful read.


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## solatree

Murdoch said:


> Using 5/0 inline Owner circle hooks with squid and slab bait yesterday from a boat, I landed nd 2 bream over 35cms.


 :shock: 
Gee - are you sure ? 5/0 is a big hook for bream - 1/0 or 2/0 is usually my max when targetting bream. The Owner inline circle hook is agood bit of gear. Got plenty of snapper on them.


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## Squidley

I'd believe it though I wouldn't do it, I've had a snapper that size eat a squid head on a 5/0, and then the gauges are so different from brand to brand


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## Murdoch

5/0 for sure. SSW In-Line Circle Hook - Model number 5179-151 - by Owner.

I was surprised as well, as I bought them to drift baits out the back for tuna this summer. Wasn't targeting bream (or really anything in partcular), but wanted to give them a go and was pleasantly surprised.

Like most things people suggest or recommend - if you're keen then give them a go and see if they're what you're after.
Big thumbs up from me anyway.


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## solatree

Murdoch said:


> 5/0 for sure.


On reflection, I have caught a whiting on a 5/0 baited with a half pilchard








So perhaps I should not have been surprised - Well done the bream


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## Artie

Ive also given them a go this year, Im not convinced that they are that efficient. Loads of missed hookups it seems. Ill keep at it for a while before I go back to the more traditional style J hook.


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