hooks Why not circle hooks?

[MainframeJames]

Hi Raiders,

I have seen a lot of talk about how circle hooks are great for fish hooking themselves in the corner of the mouth. For me, this seems ideal no matter what kind of fish or whether you want to keep them or release them. But of course, if circle hooks were the be-all end-all then everyone would only use circles and shops wouldn't have endless rows of other hooks. This brings me to the questions:

First, if circle hooks are so great, why doesn't everyone use them? What don't they work for? What are they actually designed to be ideal for?

Second, are there any other designs of hook that would work to ideally cover the situations where a circle hook would be weak?

[rickmarlin62]

i personally only use circles on marlin and tuna as they are wellsuited to the way these fish feed and the relative size of their mouths..on marlin I use them for live baits either slow trolling or drifting and for trolling skip baits bridled...the main use for them is the positive hookset..ie not falling out during headshakes..and the ease of releasing the fish in good condition..not gut hooked and bleeding...I fish for many and varied species and in many styles and prefer normal hooks for all my bait fishing..this is my personal preference and many other anglers will have different views...I have tried circles quite a few times but keep going back to J hooks as they work and have done for millions of anglers all over the world for many years...rick

[dirvin21]

The problem with circle hooks is the fish has to swallow the bait ....which does work well with live baiting but doesn't work so well with fish that like to pick eg bream. Whiting

When the fish does swallow said bait you have to let it swim off and load the rod up itself you can't strike it...it requires a lot of dicipline

[Berleyguts]

I try to usual circle hooks whenever possible, depending on the bait used and the fish targeted. Used circles on Thursday at Broughton and every fish, snapper or bloody sweep or sergeant baker was cleanly hooked in the corner of the mouth. It makes for easy release and maximum survival rate.

[savit]

I think circles were initially designed for commercial tuna fishing and later  became common for recreational/consumer use. Different brands have different design of circle hooks. I used Mustad 'demon perfect circles' in various sizes for long time and I stopped using them due to very low catch rate (others may have different experience). Now I fish usually gangs (or snelled hooks), catch rate is up while 95% in the mouth as the fish usually does not swallow the whole gang. Easy to release the fish - as with circles. Note, I fish mostly land-based.

Why not so popular - in my opinion, circles are more for 'passive' fishing, as dirvin21 mentioned above it requires a lot  of self discipline, you have to wait,  you cannot strike etc., so fishing with circles is not always fun.

 

[rickmarlin62]

another problem with them is not really being suited to lighter lines as it takes pressure to pull the hook into place...we tried them on snapper and had dismal hookup rates as their mouths are too hard...got a few jew but the jury is still out  I would rather use snelled or a sliding extra hook as the hours put in for a run test my nerves trying circles...rick

[JonD]

I liked using circles fishing with my kids when they were young, it stopped them deeply hooking fish. The secret really is just hooking bait so that lots of hook is left exposed. I also believe you get a better fight from any fish that is simply hooked in the corner of the mouth over gut hooking ( not that j hooks always gut hook ).

Now that my kids have grown up and have become very good at hooking fish they prefer the excitmeant of striking and feeling that rod load up when it all comes together. For most billfish we use circles (swords we use j hooks ) also we only use circles on kings.

You can see how quick and easy my kids used to hook up small fish using mushy prawns from a local jetty. 

 

[MainframeJames]

I've always been pretty bad at setting hooks. Probably something I will improve with experience. Maybe circles would be an option for a less attended line while I'm spinning. I can get a bit bored just watching static rods, so maybe I'd get the best of both worlds that way. 

For other hooks, they all seem to be pretty much variations on the theme of J. Some have barbs, some have longer shanks, etc. Anyone have particular favourites or specific features/attributes that stand out as extra effective or desirable?

[JonD]

I really like the bkk hooks, they are incredibly sharp and one of the oldest hook manufactures but in all honesty any sharp hook is going to do the job most of the time. Most of my circles are mustads in variouse strengths and gauges.

[Sea Ranger]

anyone know of jig heads with circle hooks?

[savit]

20 minutes ago, Noo2OzFish said:

anyone know of jig heads with circle hooks?

Just googled them, they do exist and look a bit unusual.

[rickmarlin62]

we trialed soft head pusher style lures on marlin with circles in them..they work on blacks but were terrible on stripes..different styles of feeding when they hit lures...you use just enough drag to hold lure in position without pulling line off reel..allows fish to grab lure turn then hookup..rick

[New Signing]

7 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said:

we trialed soft head pusher style lures on marlin with circles in them..they work on blacks but were terrible on stripes..different styles of feeding when they hit lures...you use just enough drag to hold lure in position without pulling line off reel..allows fish to grab lure turn then hookup..rick

Might have been successful if fished from a rigger with plenty of drop back rick. I cant see them ever being a real option for lure fishing though particularly with the variety of fish encountered trolling lures

[rickmarlin62]

as I said   we trialed them...not using them anymore on lures..but standard fare on skips n livies...they worked on the corners where they could grab them and turn with minimal pressure.enough to stop the spool from letting line. but riggers pulled them away from the fish..rick

[MainframeJames]

Thanks for all the info guys, much appreciated.