Circle Hooks?

[Firetrap]

Has anyone used circle hooks on their tip ups?   I'm willing to try it, I'm just not sure there is enough tension on the trip mechanism for the circle hook to set.

[MEMAGGIENCOMET]

I have cricle hooks on my Beaver dam tip ups and love them.  You dont even really need to pull on the line real hard like you do with a treble hook to st the hook and they are easier to get out of a fishes mouth.

[Rather-B-Fishin]

yes, fished them for a few years with mixed results.
in theory you would expect them to be perfect but have lost several nice fish either right at the hole or on the slow pull.
i switched back over to #6 and #10 red treble VMCs.
i think the biggest issue with circles not working well is the very picky gap size to the size of the bait, the proportion has to be just right in order for it to work, bait too big or deeply hooked and there is no chance of a #6 or 8 circle working, if you go to a bigger hook the profile of the hook gets big real fast.
experiment maybe you will have better luck

[jimmyclaude]

I switched to circles on my trout sets with trout worms or spikes. I went from 10% hook up to 90%.... 

[Yukoner]

....i think the biggest issue with circles not working well is the very picky gap size to the size of the bait, the proportion has to be just right in order for it to work, bait too big or deeply hooked and there is no chance of a #6 or 8 circle working, if you go to a bigger hook the profile of the hook gets big real fast.
experiment maybe you will have better luck

Your thinking is exactly right.  That is the size hook I use, too, and if the bait is too big it slides around the circle too far and the point won't get in.  Keep the bait size smaller and they work fine.

Here's a 2/0 circle rigged with half-cooked macaroni for whitefish.



They work great with a minnow or piece  of cutbait for pike and burbot.  Put the hook through the bait twice from one end, leaving a good long bit exposed beyond the hook, and you will hook up almost every fish that takes.

And remember, you don't set the hook with circles.  Just take up the slack and begin to retrieve the fish.  This is important for the circle to pull into the corner of the jaw properly.

Ted

[Bear32]

  I've had great results with Owner circles.

[spotail]

I experimented with circle hooks several times and they are not for me.  I have lost too many fish because the hook wasn't set that well.  It might be my fishing style that causes my poor success.  For me, trebles work the best for pike and single octopus hooks for trout, crappie, and perch.  I have not caught enough walleye on tip ups to decide what style hook is the best.

[Firetrap]

Thanks for the replies....   In Montana, where I live, we can soak tip ups over night and have 6 lines in the water at a time in the lakes I use them.
I use circle hooks for Catfishing and slip bobbers in open water and I keep the bail closed to let the circle hooks set themselves.
From what I understand there has to be a little resistance and I wasn't sure the trip mech on the tip up would provide enough resistance to properly set.
The lakes I fish have no size requirements on all species and the overnight hook ups would some times be gut hooks.   After catching the 10th Hammer handle pike I get sick of digging for trebles. They are not as bad if I use bigger 3x size 2 and 4 but I would like to have the corner of the mouth like I've experienced on open water.

[stevek]

The tripping mechanism won't set the hook unless it's real tight, better to have the fish not detect it. With a circle hook as you likely know you don't use a fast jerk to set the hook but rather slow steady pressure. One place a lot of people err is that after a few seconds of steady pressure you want to apply a firm force to ensure the hook has good penetration through the lip/jaw. On a softer mouthed species it isn't as big a factor, but with a fish like a pike you need to make sure you have the hook set well after allowing enough time for the hook to find the corner of the mouth.

[Loudmouth879]

i use them especially for trout makes a 100% difference just my .02

[nswiken]

Maybe the rubber band method would work well with a circle hook on a free spooling tip up.  It would apply that steady pressure as the fish swims off.  Just a thought.

[Firetrap]

Please explain the "rubber band method"  a little more in depth.   Thanks

[stevek]

Maybe the rubber band method would work well with a circle hook on a free spooling tip up.  It would apply that steady pressure as the fish swims off.  Just a thought.

Some fish like walleyes will grab a bait with their teeth and swim a ways, then drop it and suck it back in. That would make me hesitant to use the rubber band.

[nswiken]

Set your depth that you want your bait to hang, then let out another length of line.  Say 2-10 feet.  Loop a light rubber band around the line at that point, forming a two half hitch with a loop.  Stretch the rubber band loop around the tip up spool. Wind back up to your desired depth, and set your tip up.  The fish will take the bait/hook and swim away.  After the two to ten feet, the rubber band will engage, giving resistance which may be the right amount of resistance to drag the circle hook into the corner of the mouth.  No hard tug.  When the fish feels the hook bite, it will theoretically make a run for it, snapping the rubber band and playing out line.   

Another little trick is to put a small shirt button on your line as your depth marker.  Feed the tip up line through a couple of the holes in the button so that you can slide the button up and down the line once you get your depth.  Some tip ups have a wire line guide that swivels around the spool so the button should be outside the wire loop to allow the fish to run and avoid fouling. 

[jimmyclaude]

I have heard that the rubber bands work well on lakers.  There are a few threads from the Maine boards about them.

[dave b.]

there is a thread on the tip up page about the rubber band tip scroll down aways. I just started using circle hooks and the rubber bands, Initial results are positive.

[potatomansoup]

Your thinking is exactly right.  That is the size hook I use, too, and if the bait is too big it slides around the circle too far and the point won't get in.  Keep the bait size smaller and they work fine.

Here's a #6 circle rigged with half-cooked macaroni for whitefish.

(Image removed from quote.)

They work great with a minnow or piece  of cutbait for pike and burbot.  Put the hook through the bait twice from one end, leaving a good long bit exposed beyond the hook, and you will hook up almost every fish that takes.

And remember, you don't set the hook with circles.  Just take up the slack and begin to retrieve the fish.  This is important for the circle to pull into the corner of the jaw properly.

Ted

Hey Ted
I came across this today and intrigued on the use of Macoroni for whitefish, not meaning to hijack the thread can you tell us how you do it? I see the hook set up, but do you jig that? do you chum with macaroni?
I am fishing for them tomorrow for the first time and love the idea of using this...
Clay

[Firetrap]

I like thread hi jacks!   My ADD encourages it

[Yukoner]

Well, then, with your blessing, Firetrap, I will respond to the question. 

The macaroni needs to be cooked just enough to allow the hook point to penetrate.  Anymore than that and it will not stay on the hook. It is fished by simply laying it on the bottom.  It will only stay on the hook for a few minutes if you try jigging it.  The fish pick it up off the bottom, and hook themselves when they swim off. 

When I lived in Ontario, fifty years ago, they used both macaroni and pot barely to chum the holes for whitefish.  We used salted minnows for bait, and caught a lot of fish that had the chum in their stomachs. They were obviously healthy, some of the chum was digesting, and some pretty fresh.  That's where the idea came from to use the Mac for bait.

BTW, the hook in the picture, beside the penny, is a 2/0, not a #6.  Don't know what I was thinking when I posted that.

Ted

[steven girard]

Working great!

I use them in a different size  , for sturgeon fishing on open water season!

[potatomansoup]

I am also impressed that someone found a use for a Canadian Penny! Thanks for advice!

[Yukoner]

You're quite welcome.  Let us know how you make out with it.

Ted

[Skipper]

I've played with circles quite a bit. They have a few applications where they really shine, but tip-up fishing is not one of them. I will go further by saying they are the single worst choice you can make for toothies like pike.

[3beagles]

I've played with circles quite a bit. They have a few applications where they really shine, but tip-up fishing is not one of them. I will go further by saying they are the single worst choice you can make for toothies like pike.

I have been having good success of late for pike using circle hooks.  l like to release the fish that aren't hooked deep and circle hooks allow me to release more pike than trebles.  I do miss a few more pike using them, but I don't really care about that.  Many of them are released without even taking them out of the hole.  I have yet to have one bite me off and  don't use wire leaders.  I am starting to like them more the more I use them.
Mike

[Skipper]

I had a 30-40 percent hookup rate.... I call that epic failure. I speculate that the line snags on teeth and never gets the hook where it needs to go. It seemed like the fish I did catch were very small (under 5 lbs), so I wonder if my hookup rate with larger fish was even lower.

[3beagles]

I had a 30-40 percent hookup rate.... I call that epic failure. I speculate that the line snags on teeth and never gets the hook where it needs to go. It seemed like the fish I did catch were very small (under 5 lbs), so I wonder if my hookup rate with larger fish was even lower.

I have not noticed a huge difference in the hook up rate.  I believe it may be down by about 10%.  In those instances when I fail to hook the fish I think it is because I didn't wait quite long enough for the pike to take the bait.  My fault, not the circle hook.
I have caught pike up to (estimate) 9 lbs or so.  I don't know for sure because I was able to release the fish without taking it out of the hole with a pair of pliers.  I've caught small ones and decent ones but so far no monsters on the circles.
Mike

[jimmyclaude]

I don't go for the toothy critters too much. I use the 6 & 8 circles on trout and perch and crappies.  I would think a 1/0 or 2/0 like they use for salt water would be better for pike.

[Bear32]

I had a 30-40 percent hookup rate.... I call that epic failure. I speculate that the line snags on teeth and never gets the hook where it needs to go. It seemed like the fish I did catch were very small (under 5 lbs), so I wonder if my hookup rate with larger fish was even lower.

 What brand and size hooks are you using?  Just curious. I've had the opposite results with circles.

[Yukoner]

I don't go for the toothy critters too much. I use the 6 & 8 circles on trout and perch and crappies.  I would think a 1/0 or 2/0 like they use for salt water would be better for pike.

Actually, a 2/0 circle hook is not that big.  The one beside the penny, in the picture I posted, is a 2/0 circle.  Having said that, that size will hook and hold big pike without any problem.

Ted

[Yukoner]

Hey Ted
I came across this today and intrigued on the use of Macoroni for whitefish, not meaning to hijack the thread can you tell us how you do it? I see the hook set up, but do you jig that? do you chum with macaroni?
I am fishing for them tomorrow for the first time and love the idea of using this...
Clay

Well, Clay, how did you make out? Did you give the macaroni a try? 

Pictures!  We need pictures!

Ted