Jewfish & Circles

[Shark Bait]

Hi all.

When fishing squid strips on circle hooks for jew, should I fish with my reel in gear, or free spool with ratchet on.

When I fish squid strips on normal (not circle) hooks for jew, should I fish with my reel in gear, or free spool with ratchet on?

Which hook catches more Jewfish?

I tried standard hooks in free spool, but gut hooked alot of fish. This worries me cause I let most of my fish go & I hate to hurt them. I now use circles in free spool. Works OK. Is there a better way to fish?

Thanks,

Rick.

[humesy]

Hi all.

When fishing squid strips on circle hooks for jew, should I fish with my reel in gear, or free spool with ratchet on.

When I fish squid strips on normal (not circle) hooks for jew, should I fish with my reel in gear, or free spool with ratchet on?

Which hook catches more Jewfish?

I tried standard hooks in free spool, but gut hooked alot of fish. This worries me cause I let most of my fish go & I hate to hurt them. I now use circles in free spool. Works OK. Is there a better way to fish?

Thanks,

Rick.

Jewgaffer will have a word or 2 (or possibly several more ) to say about this.

Over to you Byron

[slinkymalinky]

In all my years fishing I must have caught at least.... ohhh, I don't know.... 1 Jewie (last weekend... can you tell I'm chuffed.... I'm still finding excuses to talk about it!!)

I caught it on a circle hook fished with the reel in gear so I can honestly state that I have a 100% hook up rate & 100% capture to hook up rate with circles vs a 0% capture rate with j hooks or fishing with the reel not in gear.

The statistics don't lie (although sometimes I do)!!

Tight lines, Slinky

[Shark Bait]

Good feeling isn't it.

I caught 1 on plastics for the first time last weekend. An 80mm squidgy fish in black & gold with a 3/8 jig head. The jew was only small at 550 long, but I still smile when I think about it.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Shark Bait

[caine]

jew gaffer will say no to circles "cause jews have a hollow cavity mouth!"

me i dont know, never tried circles.!!

as for in gear or not some say yes some say no. I think it depend on the size of the livey/bait and the size of the jew in the area

[Shark Bait]

Interesting about the hollow cavity mouty & circles.

I used to use gamakatsu octapus hooks, & found I was getting bitten off by ooglies. I also caught a lot of pike eels. Big ones, & they'd bite me off at the side of the boat. I'd go through heaps of hooks & leaders.

When I changed to circles, I stopped catching pike eels. I think the circles may not hook up in their shape mouth. I still catch hammerheads, port jacksons, stingrays as a by catch, but I still catch jews, all hooked in the corner of the mouth. Perhaps I don't catch as many as I used to, but it's easier to release them in good shape because the hooks are easy to get out. I don't go through anywhere near as much gear as I used to either.

Does anybody else gut hook lots of Jews with normal J hooks. Could it be because I fish for jews in free spool. Perhaps if I fished for Jews in with the real in gear, I wouldn't gut hook as many jews with normal J hooks. What are your thoughts?

[humesy]

Interesting about the hollow cavity mouty & circles.

I used to use gamakatsu octapus hooks, & found I was getting bitten off by ooglies. I also caught a lot of pike eels. Big ones, & they'd bite me off at the side of the boat. I'd go through heaps of hooks & leaders.

When I changed to circles, I stopped catching pike eels. I think the circles may not hook up in their shape mouth. I still catch hammerheads, port jacksons, stingrays as a by catch, but I still catch jews, all hooked in the corner of the mouth. Perhaps I don't catch as many as I used to, but it's easier to release them in good shape because the hooks are easy to get out. I don't go through anywhere near as much gear as I used to either.

Does anybody else gut hook lots of Jews with normal J hooks. Could it be because I fish for jews in free spool. Perhaps if I fished for Jews in with the real in gear, I wouldn't gut hook as many jews with normal J hooks. What are your thoughts?

G'day mate,

Sounds like you and I specialise in the same by-catch!

I have caught around 15-20 jewies, always fished in gear using baitrunners (except for the beach) and only had one gut hook. That seems to be the prevailing wisdom from those with more expertise than I. The hook-up is supposed to come from the intitial hit from the fish.

Interesting theories on the circles and pike eels. I figure you have a greater chance of a hook up in the first place using J hooks and that would be my primary concern. Having said that, I lost a biggie this year which I am convinced would have been a hook-up using a circle.

Bottom line is that jewies can be fickle in the way they hit their baits and you just have to do the maths, calculate or estimate the method of greater success (based on your experiences), accept the runs without hook ups and keep putting in the hours.

Cheers

[Shark Bait]

Thanks humsey.

I'll fish both J's & circles & do the maths. Circles in free spool & J's in gear.

I caught my first Jew on plastics a couple of weeks ago. Only small at 55cm long, but put a smile on my dial. So many ways to fish & so little time to fish them in.

Thanks all,

Rick.