circle hooks

[Roccus]

OK.. who is using them...In my home state of TAXachusetts, they now are mandatory for striped bass fishing with bait.. I have been using them off and on for about 15 or so years, circles have come a long way in the last few years, I have a love hate relationship with them, when they work properly, they can make fishing fun, when the misfire they can make life pretty frustrating...

When it comes to ice fishing, I've gone back and forth for about 5 years now, the lake I fish is LOADED with small mouths, some days they are a nuisance, my problem is, they are gluttons and swallow the bait rather quickly.. thus it's rip the hook out and kill them, or cut and retie, IMHO, neither is the best result, additionally, when it low teens and single numbers. I prefer to release the fish with out removing it from the water so as not to freeze it's gills, eyes or destroy it's slime coat, a circle neatly buttoned to the side of the mouth is IMHO, the best result...last season, I started using Owners Matu light tournament in line circle, in both fresh and salt water, it's very different than a standard circle and has a pronounced gap,  simualr to a live bait pike hook, I like the results ALOT, I've only missed a few fish, which may or may not have been the fault of the hook, but 95% of the fish I hook are buttoned along the jaw hinge in the cartilage, making for an easy hook removal.. this hook seems to have cut down on the annoying problem of the hook turning back into the bait, a problem I have had with several other circle hook types, additionally, I try and run the hook along the top of the bait between the head and dorsal, set in a manner that the point and barb face "astern".. last weekend, the circle hooks made for fast unhooking of a quick white perch blitz, I was able to unhook and rebait very quickly, tallying 14 whites before the school moved on or I could even unleash my jig stick..Saturday, those circles helped me ice more fish, no doubt about it, in the past, I would have had to spend time with my hemostats digging out hooks or retying them, or be fearful that the school would move on before I could jig them up...

discuss.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I hook bait in the same manner.

If I don’t legally haveto use circles I won’t. I love sending a hook home and that doesn’t work so well with them. If I do haveto use them I use octopus circle and find them better to hook up with. Key is just steady pressure til it grabs. I don’t have swallow issues because of my Slammers. I don’t mind them but I won’t if I don’t need too. However in your mentioned ice fishing situation I’d probably go strictly to them especially in the deeper water sets where quantities of bites can be a curse vs  a blessing somedays

[800stealth]

If I'm setting traps for Crappie and Yellows to bring home a bucket for dinner I typically have a wide gap baitholder hook because I'm gonna kill em anyways but when I'm chasing Bass I go to a circle or octopus hook to cut down on deep sets.

[Arctic Addict]

I use the Gamakatsu octopus circle offset hooks on my tip-ups.  I usually jig more than tip up fish but I have found that my hook ups have been solid with circle hooks.  I tend to set the hook much softer    but for me I seem to have fewer mortally wounded fish.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I use the Gamakatsu octopus circle offset hooks on my tip-ups.  I usually jig more than tip up fish but I have found that my hook ups have been solid with circle hooks.  I tend to set the hook much softer    but for me I seem to have fewer mortally wounded fish.

Same ones I use

[HuntnFish603]

Very insightful.
I went to octopus hooks a long time ago and love them! I tried the circle hooks a few years back, and not so much. More misses, ESPECIALLY on the jackers. They just don't seem to work with my style of fishing. Or maybe I didn't give them a fair shot in their desired application.
But I'm sure they have their place, like you described Joe.

[Roccus]

I hook bait in the same manner.

If I don’t legally haveto use circles I won’t. I love sending a hook home and that doesn’t work so well with them. If I do haveto use them I use octopus circle and find them better to hook up with. Key is just steady pressure til it grabs. I don’t have swallow issues because of my Slammers. I don’t mind them but I won’t if I don’t need too. However in your mentioned ice fishing situation I’d probably go strictly to them especially in the deeper water sets where quantities of bites can be a curse vs  a blessing somedays

with ya on the hooks set, I hate the dilly dallying around with the circle, I like to rip some lip!...
I dislike the fact that you need to go a size larger than normal for them to work properly.. and it may or may not scare off finicky feeders..

FWIW... this weekend my lines will all be armed with my old stand bye Gamakatsu  octopus style hooks... leavening  nothing to chance...

[PoolGuy]

I use the Gamakatsu octopus circle offset hooks on my tip-ups.  I usually jig more than tip up fish but I have found that my hook ups have been solid with circle hooks.  I tend to set the hook much softer    but for me I seem to have fewer mortally wounded fish.

X2

[HuntnFish603]

with ya on the hooks set, I hate the dilly dallying around with the circle, I like to rip some lip!...
I dislike the fact that you need to go a size larger than normal for them to work properly.. and it may or may not scare off finicky feeders..

FWIW... this weekend my lines will all be armed with my old stand bye Gamakatsu  octopus style hooks... leavening  nothing to chance...

X2 !!! Same here. That's all I use(except for bass).  I know they work.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

FWIW... this weekend my lines will all be armed with my old stand bye Gamakatsu  octopus style hooks... leavening  nothing to chance...

X2!

[Roccus]

Besides the voluntary conservation of fish other people adore (smallies ) I have seen enough freedoms taken away in my life to know that eventually. Even the live free or die state will mandate circle hooks... as we all know as sportsman' They are coming at us from every angle... I like to be prepared. ..

BTW,  I do not like circle hooks for crappie,  when they are in town" I switch out the hooks, they don't call them paper mouths for nothing.

[mikez]

I don't like circles for tipups. I feel like I miss way more fish. I've always believed the vertical presentation from up on the ice did not pull the hook into the corner of the mouth. Admittedly after a few sessions of missing most of my flags I quit using them and never went back.

It's very rare for me to use live bait in open water but occasionally will when targeting big size largemouth. I do use circles for that. Bass don't mind the oversized hooks either which is another reason I don't like them for ice fishing. Trout won't ignore that bigazz thing.

I never ever use bait for stripers, never have (ok, once as a guest on someone's boat). To me they are the gamefish most perfect for artificial baits. The circle law doesn't effect me at all.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I don't like circles for tipups. I feel like I miss way more fish. I've always believed the vertical presentation from up on the ice did not pull the hook into the corner of the mouth. Admittedly after a few sessions of missing most of my flags I quit using them and never went back.

It's very rare for me to use live bait in open water but occasionally will when targeting big size largemouth. I do use circles for that. Bass don't mind the oversized hooks either which is another reason I don't like them for ice fishing. Trout won't ignore that bigazz thing.

I never ever use bait for stripers, never have (ok, once as a guest on someone's boat). To me they are the gamefish most perfect for artificial baits. The circle law doesn't effect me at all.

Agreed! Though all my 50#lbers have come on bait

[Mascoma]

I use the Gamakatsu octopus circle offset hooks on my tip-ups.  I usually jig more than tip up fish but I have found that my hook ups have been solid with circle hooks.  I tend to set the hook much softer    but for me I seem to have fewer mortally wounded fish.

Yep, same here

[mikez]

Agreed! Though all my 50#lbers have come on bait

Well I have no 50 pounders so there's that. 

Btw, I meant no judgement on bait users. I just don't like it for myself and I'm satisfied with the results I get using flies or lures.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Well I have no 50 pounders so there's that. 

Btw, I meant no judgement on bait users. I just don't like it for myself and I'm satisfied with the results I get using flies or lures.

Absolutely understood and agreed.

My favorite thing to do in fishing is throw plugs and slugs in the surf for bass

[MTPockets]

OK.. who is using them...In my home state of TAXachusetts, they now are mandatory for striped bass fishing with bait.. I have been using them off and on for about 15 or so years, circles have come a long way in the last few years, I have a love hate relationship with them, when they work properly, they can make fishing fun, when the misfire they can make life pretty frustrating...

When it comes to ice fishing, I've gone back and forth for about 5 years now, the lake I fish is LOADED with small mouths, some days they are a nuisance, my problem is, they are gluttons and swallow the bait rather quickly.. thus it's rip the hook out and kill them, or cut and retie, IMHO, neither is the best result, additionally, when it low teens and single numbers. I prefer to release the fish with out removing it from the water so as not to freeze it's gills, eyes or destroy it's slime coat, a circle neatly buttoned to the side of the mouth is IMHO, the best result...last season, I started using Owners Matu light tournament in line circle, in both fresh and salt water, it's very different than a standard circle and has a pronounced gap,  simualr to a live bait pike hook, I like the results ALOT, I've only missed a few fish, which may or may not have been the fault of the hook, but 95% of the fish I hook are buttoned along the jaw hinge in the cartilage, making for an easy hook removal.. this hook seems to have cut down on the annoying problem of the hook turning back into the bait, a problem I have had with several other circle hook types, additionally, I try and run the hook along the top of the bait between the head and dorsal, set in a manner that the point and barb face "astern".. last weekend, the circle hooks made for fast unhooking of a quick white perch blitz, I was able to unhook and rebait very quickly, tallying 14 whites before the school moved on or I could even unleash my jig stick..Saturday, those circles helped me ice more fish, no doubt about it, in the past, I would have had to spend time with my hemostats digging out hooks or retying them, or be fearful that the school would move on before I could jig them up...

discuss.

Hook mine in the same manner as well. Not a fan of the circle hooks at all. Like the Octopus hooks the best!

[Roccus]

Not alot if love for circle  hooks here,  and that's OK, I don't love them either, and I've stated my reasons  for using them, it makes for a great mid week discussion.

As far as Stripers,  I use what best suits my chance for a trophy..under the circumstances I'm fishing under, catching small fish ( under  20 lbs) is easy, those fish are plentiful and eager to eat, the thing blitzes are made of, for the most part. Oversize cows live bye differant rules. ..my favorite method is eel fishing,  it gives me the best chance for a trophy fish, second would  be plug fishing(  I've taken.multiple 50 plus lb fish both ways), but only with one's I've made myself...I've taken some pretty big stripers on flies, up to 38lbs..sometimes even the big girls are keyed in an something specific, and if you lock yourself into one style or method, opertunity passes you bye..

Enough striper talk.. back to topic.

[Coffin Dodger]

If I don’t legally have to use circles I won’t. I love sending a hook home and that doesn’t work so well with them. If I do have to use them I use octopus circle and find them better to hook up with. Key is just steady pressure til it grabs.

Agree with all the benefits of the circle hooks. Due to conservation, they might be the hook of the future? Think of all the years prior to over fishing, the J hook worked just fine.
I never gave myself a chance to get used to them.The tug was the drug for me... on both ends!
Steady pressure is why those circle hooks will never work well on slammers and jackers.

[sorelippin]

X2

X3

[Brownbagger247]

I mainly use octopus style but stopped using the actual octopus circle because that little extra bend may hold a fish better when hooked but I think makes it harder to penetrate the initial hook

[SHaRPS]

The only time I will use circle hooks is if I am targeting Striped Bass. I have no hook up issues with them at all. However, all of the other saltwater species I target have a unique hook style that works much better for them.... fluke, tautog. I will occasionally use circle hooks for trout but if I am targeting trout, I will almost always keep them for the smoker.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I like the kahle style for inshore groundfish

[wabashaw_plumbing]

I use the Gamakatsu octopus circle offset hooks on my tip-ups.  I usually jig more than tip up fish but I have found that my hook ups have been solid with circle hooks.  I tend to set the hook much softer    but for me I seem to have fewer mortally wounded fish.

I recently switched my traps to the gamakatsu octopus hooks and now I’m “hooked”  I find that I get fewer false flags, more often I’m pulling up a fish with each flag. Has anyone tried bridling larger bait? I’ve caught some good sized stripers with bridled bunker, I wonder if smaller baitfish could handle it

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I recently switched my traps to the gamakatsu octopus hooks and now I’m “hooked”  I find that I get fewer false flags, more often I’m pulling up a fish with each flag. Has anyone tried bridling larger bait? I’ve caught some good sized stripers with bridled bunker, I wonder if smaller baitfish could handle it

I don’t just because of temps and that much more time out of water. I just don’t see it needed in ice fishing unless for Pike guys I guess.

[6inBlackice]

I know this is the NH ice fishing site, but *ssachusetts striper fishing was mentioned regarding circle hooks.  A Division of Marine Fisheries employee told me not all circle hooks are created equal. The hooks must be INLINE circle hooks, to which he clearly demonstrated.  My 6/0 Gamas did have a slight offset. I did ask if the state will offer a buy back program...he just stared down at me and walked away.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Yep, the Loons eat the offset kind

[800stealth]

Wait... I thought they only liked the lead flavored ones?

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Haveto use bismuth inline circles over a ounce and 3” long

[6inBlackice]

Wait... I thought they only liked the lead flavored ones?

They do...an ounce or less, they are watching their weight you know.