Looking for Circle Hook Suggestions for Northerns

[mccabedoug]

I am looking for specific suggestions for a hook for northerns that does not kill the fish.  I usually use large single hooks, and unfortunately, lose many more than I catch.  I do not wish to use trebles since I catch-n-release.  I've heard that "circle hooks" are a compromise between losing fish and gut/gill hooking them.

Can anyone suggest specific size/brand/model number of "circle hook" hook for tipup fishing with large shiners for northerns?   
 
Thanks.   

[grumpymoe]

get a hold of barleydog or fishermanjake on the alaska forum. they use circle hooks or have had a fair bit of experience with them. grumpymoe

[Bob_D]

I don't think you will have any better luck with them, then you do with singles. The theory with circles is you line needs to slide to the corner of the fishes mouth in order to work. Works well with fish that don't have large teeth...unlike pike. The fish they work really well with are fish that inhale their food, like bass. If you really want to C&R and have good success, use a quick strike rig and stick them quickly. I am almost 100% C&R on pike and I use a Mustad treble hook with one point cut off, so it's a dual hook. I don't miss many fish and it's easier to unhook them. I also use floro leaders (50#) so if I do get a deep hooked one I can cut the line. I caught over 150 pike last season and I kept 3...2 were bleeding badly and one had damage to it's eye from being caught earlier in the year. Also..the smaller the hook, the less problem you will have with bleeding. A #4 or #6 Mustad 3551 are good choices. Just remember, the smaller the hook, the easier it is to streighten.

Bob

[Barleydog]

I performed a rather "un-scientific" experiment last year with circle hooks and pike.  My results were horrible!  I use circle hooks for most of the salt water species found in Alaska, and they are simply unbeatable!  All of these species are rubber lipped, soft mouthed, or toothless critters that were very easy to hook on circle hooks.  Pike are quite a bit different from the rubber mouthed halibut or seabass.   I couldn't catch hardly ANY pike with a miriad of different sized circle hooks.  It was in the realm of 25 or so flags to 1 fish landed!  Trust me it was not technique, (although I am not claiming to be a master angler!)  I have found that Pike are less apt to hook themselves on circles since thier mouths are sooooo tough, boney, and toothy!  After posting a question on the forum last year, (why I had troubles hooking pike on circles.)  I had several other folks like Esox confirm my position was indeed valid.  Pike and circle hooks are a bad combo.  I know you can catch pike on circles, just not as easy.  Kinda bummed, because I really like to release most of the pike I catch, (except for a couple eaters.)  If your really interested in catch and releasing pike maybe you can try a snelled octopus hook?  They are similar to a cirlce without the turned beak.  A 2/0-6/0 octopus has worked for me this year, (on two trips.)  I had used the octopus hooks rigged just ahead of the dorsal fin of a 5-8" frozen herring.  Probably had 15 flags or so with a 90% hookup rate!  Most of the fish were hooked in the corner of the mouth or slightly deeper.
Otherwise, (when I'm not messing around trying to make a better mouse trap) I strictly use the same rig as Esox's posted rigs.   They are great rigs that require little skill in hooking fish especially if you fish with young kids and rookies.  Just remember to avoid galvanized or chromed hooks if you plan on leaving the hook in the fish.  -Good luck!  Barleydog

[mccabedoug]

Thanks for the replies, guys.   

Let me get this straight, if I use a quick strike rig that has two #4 or #6 Mustad hooks with one prong cut off of each, I should get more successful hook-ups and fish that are able to be released with little harm.  To use these correctly, I simply set the hook as soon as I get to the hole...no waiting which could result in the pike swallowing one or two treble hooks.

I am using 50# fluorocarbon leaders that are 2 feet long.

Does this sound accurate?   

[Bob_D]

With a quick strike rig you han set the hook right away. I use smaller bait and a single (dual point) hook. With smaller bait (4"-5") there is a good chance I'll get hooked up if I get to them early. My hook is in the middle of the bait...like so..

[WVBoy]

I will have to say that I have heard every positive and negative to almost every rig that people use out there for catching pike.And I cannot disagree with any setup if it catches you fish and you can release them safely.This year my buddy and I are experimenting with about 4 kinds of hooks and 3 different leader systems for Northern over about 50 tip-ups.I have some 5/0 octopus circle hooks made by Gamaktso that are red and some of eagle claws ultralight circle hooks that have a special slick coating for penetration.I have caught over a dozen 4-7lb. on the octopus/circles, each one of these fish were hooked in the front top or bottom all the way through there lip. Which I find really freaking weird but exactly what I was looking for since I am using a fluro leader. The eagle claws have caught about another dozen all were hooked in the corner of the mouth one of the fish was a 13.3 lb. The only difference between these two hooks was that one has a turned back eye. Both of these hooks work awesome and we have not lost one fish that we have hooked up yet 8)The most important thing to remember is to try to resist setting the hook, instead just put the brakes on until you feel tension then give a little pop.I have switched to the circle hook from a straight single hook with a snelled steel leader and so far so good. I am not going to swear by this system yet but it is working awesome so far.I will report what system works the best with my setup later.

[mccabedoug]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions & comments.  I am heading out tomorrow and I have rigged my tipups with quick strike rigs: a #4 hook tied to the end of a 2+ ft fluorocarbon leader (40#).  I have a #6 treble that is the other hook and is not tied to the leader, rather it slides up & down.  I'll report my findings on Monday. 

[mccabedoug]

As promised, I tried the quick strike rigs on Saturday.  The results are a mixture of good news and bad news. 

First the bad news: these are not exactly "catch & release friendly" setups, IMHO.  Every other fish had swallowed a hook despite me getting to the tipup in less than 2 - 3 minutes.  It is not humanly possible to get to them any quicker as I had them spread out over close to 1/4 mile.  I ran to them through 4" of snow. 

Good news is that I had a 100% success rate in catching the fish.  Nothing to it: you get to the tip-up, pull it out of the water, gently set the hook and "fish on!"  No waiting, no guessing, just a hooked fish. 

I cut the leader with every swallowed hook.  Good thing I used mono leaders.

I did not cut a prong off each hook.  Maybe that'd be better.  Nor did I pinch down the barbs.  That'd be something to try.

All in all, I had a blast catching a fish on every flag that popped.  I just wish that I could do it without hurting the fish.  Maybe that is simply not possible and I am asking too much.

Next time I am going to compare tipups set-up with:

a) 2 trebles with 2 prongs each

b) Rigs that only use a single treble hook

[Bob_D]

2-3 minutes!!!!!    If you really want to practice CPR, you need to be able to tend your traps better. 1/4 mile is way too far. JMO

[mccabedoug]

I was fishing on Lake Champlain and I had 11 tipups in the water.  My brother-in-law had 15.  With 26 total tip ups, you gotta spread 'em out. When all is said and done, from end to end, it had to be several hundred hards (hence my 1/4 mile estimate).

This year there is only 4 - 6 inches of snow on the ice so getting around is not too hard.  I think we've all been out there when there is 12" - 18" of snow on the ice.  In those common circumstances, even if you spread your tip ups out over only a 100 yards, it's going to take a couple minutes to get to them trudging through a foot and a half of snow.  Add a few years to your age and assume that you do not have a 4x4 or snowmobile.  I then want to see you get to a tip up in 30 seconds. 

And, when it's really, really cold and you are in your tent trying to ward off frostbite, I may only look out every couple minutes.

I'm assuming that you're just kidding that 2 - 3 minutes is a long time. 

[Bob_D]

No, I'm not kidding. I fish Lake Champlain and between my wife and I we sometimes set a full 30 traps if it's slow. If it gets busy we pull traps, so we can tend to them in a timly manner. Just because the law says I can have 15, does not mean I always fish that many. I'm 31 years old...I don't use a quad or a snowmobile....and I'm at me flags in under 1 minute...usually under 30 seconds. If I can't tend my traps because it's too cold, too busy, etc...I pull some.


If you let a pike chew on a bait for 3 minutes, I don't care what you use for hooks, you are still going to gut hook them. Quick strike rigs are for strikes on the initial run. If it takes 3 minutes to get to your flags, the fish most likely will have swallowed the bait and be on it's second run looking for more food.

[Yooper]

Esox,
I was wondering if you have any photo's of a fully rigged bait on a quick strike rig and/or a picture of a quick strike rig, so I can get a better idea of how to make one/rig a bait
 
We are only allowed 2 tip-ups per person in Michigan

[Bob_D]

Yooper,
I'm sure there are a lot of different ways to tie them, but here are a couple of ways I know how....

This is an adjustable rig. It's good if you use different size baits a lot. It's only drawback is you need a little more of a hookset since the trailing hook can slide a little. It is basiclly a short piece of line attached to your main line with a clinch knot. I tie the sliding knot to a small srcewdriver, slide it off, slide it onto the main line and snug the knot. I use heavy floro(50#) and if I were to tie the knot directly to the line it would be too tight and would curl the line as I slide it back and forth. After the adjustable line is on your main line, then you can tie the hook to your main line.



The other is a fixed rig. Just tie a tag line to the eyelet of your main hook and tie a hook to the tag line. This is not adjustable, but the second hook does not move on the hookset.


I don't use either. I use smaller bait (4-5") and a double point hook. I get to my flags quickly and decide on when to set the hook depending on what the fish is doing. I caught over 150 pike last year and kept only 2 of them, both had the hooks in the gills.

Let me know if you need more info.

Bob

[Yooper]

 :)Thanks much, quick qustion. Does the main line hook go through the back just behind the dorsal? and does the adjustable attach near the head?

I use mainly smelt/ herring and once thawed out they tend to sit in the water kinda bent/limp. In your experience is this a problem

Thanks again for the Pic's
                               Blake

[Bob_D]

Yooper,
I don't think it makes a difference which direction you put the hooks on that rig, as long as they are spaced out. I don't use herring or smelt so I can't help you there, but I don't think the fsh would mind it being bent. If there is any current, it might give the bait some action.

Bob

[grumpymoe]

yooper   see barleydog's recipe for firm smelt in this section under "smelt soaking". keeps you smelt/herring firm. grump