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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 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...
FWIW... this weekend my lines will all be armed with my old stand bye Gamakatsu octopus style hooks... leavening nothing to chance...
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
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.
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.
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.
X2
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
Wait... I thought they only liked the lead flavored ones?