Off set circle hooks

[Fab1]

I’d like people theories and views on these hooks as today I had a size#1 on with prawns or squid with barb fully exposed getting good bites and weight on rod but no hook up.

  I’m new to it and read you have a firm drag set,cast then sort rod in holder.When you see the rod buckle over you grab rod and start winding.But no hook up.

I’ve read only use inline circles and to use a snell knot.I know how to snell but I have trouble getting away from my nicely tied uni’s or locked half blood knots.

cheers.

[Larkin]

I had similar results when chasing snapper - couldn’t hook up - switched to standard octopus/suicide and my hook up rate increased. I do prefer the circle hooks for live baiting though - snelled 

[noelm]

Never been a fan of Snelling hooks, but, that's just me, getting bites and no fish in Lake Illawarra will almost certainly be small Bream/Snapper grabbing the bait and trying to get away from their mates! or worse, Toads that have a tiny mouth, but take a bait like a much bigger fish, but hardly ever get hooked.

[Volitan]

I think most people respond to fish activity on the circle hook much too quickly. You need time for the circle hook to turn over in the fishes mouth and the fish to turn around and swim away from the anglers position - so the trace aligns with the fish’s body and the hook is dragged across the edge of the fishes mouth. For this to be effective the hook must pull itself into the set from behind (well, almost) - pulling from in front will pull bait and hook out of the mouth without hookup.  
 

remeber circle hooks were originally used on longlines - so completely unattended. When they first came on the market we called them Japanese longline hooks.
 

I think the idea about snelling circles comes from the fact it aligns the hook differently, curling back towards the trace rather then with the shank aligned with the trace as you would want with a j hook. The idea is that the alignment of a shelled hook gives it a head start in setting itself. I don’t think it’s important - or would have much of an effect unless you are using very heavy mono traces on small fish.

straight circles align better in a fish’s mouth - pulling the hook into the corner in line with the trace. Offset circles will twist and buck as they pull across a fish’s mouth, or so goes the theory.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Volitan

[Fab1]

2 hours ago, noelm said:

Never been a fan of Snelling hooks, but, that's just me, getting bites and no fish in Lake Illawarra will almost certainly be small Bream/Snapper grabbing the bait and trying to get away from their mates! or worse, Toads that have a tiny mouth, but take a bait like a much bigger fish, but hardly ever get hooked.

I know how to snell hooks and to me it looks like the line gets caught/rubs on the opening of the hook eye which isn’t great thus I never snell hooks.I use uni,clinched or loop knot for everything pretty much.

2 hours ago, Volitan said:

I think most people respond to fish activity on the circle hook much too quickly. You need time for the circle hook to turn over in the fishes mouth and the fish to turn around and swim away from the anglers position - so the trace aligns with the fish’s body and the hook is dragged across the edge of the fishes mouth. For this to be effective the hook must pull itself into the set from behind (well, almost) - pulling from in front will pull bait and hook out of the mouth without hookup.  
 

remeber circle hooks were originally used on longlines - so completely unattended. When they first came on the market we called them Japanese longline hooks.
 

I think the idea about snelling circles comes from the fact it aligns the hook differently, curling back towards the trace rather then with the shank aligned with the trace as you would want with a j hook. The idea is that the alignment of a shelled hook gives it a head start in setting itself. I don’t think it’s important - or would have much of an effect unless you are using very heavy mono traces on small fish.

straight circles align better in a fish’s mouth - pulling the hook into the corner in line with the trace. Offset circles will twist and buck as they pull across a fish’s mouth, or so goes the theory.

Fantastic explanation mate.I think I’ll stick with j hooks for now.

[noelm]

I have always kind if wondered if a circle hook has a 50% chance of not turning into the fishes jaw, but actually pointing away and not connecting? I have used circles, and fully understand the concept, and know they work, it was just me "wondering" They were used on long lines mainly because once a fish is hooked, they are much harder come loose/out, the shape kind of ensures once connected, it will stay connected, plus almost all hooks are in the corner of the mouth, making removal easy with no lost gear or time.

[JustJames]

My understanding of using circle hooks (as mentioned above) is that you let the fish catch itself.

 

Based entirely on my own prejudices, I am convinced that more people lose fish by striking than set the hook by striking.  I'm a firm believer in letting fish catch themselves.  I set a moderate drag and pick up the rod when it has nice bend in it and the reel is playing the song of my people.  I've had good results with circle hooks, and their advantage for the fish is that you are (apparently) less likely to gut hook the fish.

[big Neil]

Lots of my mates use circle hooks when bait fishing in the river, I have NEVER done so. Apart from the ambiance of sitting in the boat, which is tied to a tree (for shade), I can think of nothing better than "reading" what's happening beneath the water, and striking AT THE RIGHT TIME to hook the fish. Using circle hooks, in my type of fishing, would then have to be called CATCHING... for there is much less skill involved in simply winding the fish into the net. I'll stick with my preferred method, thank you.

Regarding "gut hooking" the fish...yes occasionally that happens, and it's not ideal, but I can't remember the last time that I killed a fish as a result.

As you can appreciate, I am no expert on circle hooks, but I take the well presented points by Volitan to be pretty spot on.

bn

[rickmarlin62]

Biggest problem is a small problem  unless the fish has the hook n bait down in its throat it wont catch in the mouth  i tried them on snapper and they are useless in my opinion  they are great on tuna marlin n big kings but not so good on smaller species with hard mouths as they bounce out instead of catching

[Volitan]

On 11/25/2022 at 10:28 AM, noelm said:

I have always kind if wondered if a circle hook has a 50% chance of not turning into the fishes jaw, but actually pointing away and not connecting? I have used circles, and fully understand the concept, and know they work, it was just me "wondering" They were used on long lines mainly because once a fish is hooked, they are much harder come loose/out, the shape kind of ensures once connected, it will stay connected, plus almost all hooks are in the corner of the mouth, making removal easy with no lost gear or time.

Given that the fish’s mouth should be closed at this point as it is swimming off, the circle should work regardless of which way it faces.

I think the biggest problem with circles is too much bait. They don’t work well where the hook and bait just become one big ball in the fish’s mouth. Naturally that stops the turnover effect. If you watch YouTube videos on professional long liners you’ll probably be surprised by how little bait they use on a hook.

[noelm]

Don't need to watch YouTube videos on longlining, been there many times. I know circle hooks work, and 100% agree about the bait, I was just kind of dreaming about the possibility of the hook being turned away from the corner of the mouth, instead of into the corner.

[Rebel]

Some great info above.

I have  circles. Don't use them much.

Prefer Sucide & long shank.

I just seem to get better results.

Cheers.

[noelm]

It's kind of funny, there is literally hundreds of hook shapes and sizes, and all work, for some reason, I have only three types of hooks now in general use, simple 4/0 suicides for Snapper, 540 size 1 French hooks for Bream and plain old 4200 in 4/0 for Flathead, all relatively cheap and easy to get. Over the years I have used dozens of different styles, but for some reason, I have kind of gone back to the "old days" when it comes to hooks.

[PaddyT]

Offset circles are actually not allowed in gamefishing comps because they gut hook just as much as old fashioned j hooks, not sure if that translates to bread and butter fishing but probably does. 

[Fab1]

33 minutes ago, PaddyT said:

Offset circles are actually not allowed in gamefishing comps because they gut hook just as much as old fashioned j hooks, not sure if that translates to bread and butter fishing but probably does. 

They might want to tell the stores selling them then.All I know is mine are broken as I can’t gut hook,mouth hook or bum hook anything with them.Well not as easily or as much as j hooks anyway.

  I just wanted to give them a go as I was curious and wanted to fish multiple rods instead of one like I normally do as there’s not much room on a 4.2m boat that’s a runabout as you know.

[Pickles]

Hey @Fab1, I use circle hooks almost exclusively, (but not off set, so more like a “tuna hook”) the only exception is when livebaiting with Yakkas and squid, when I use Mustad Hoodlum hooks (usually 7/0).

But the key to success with circle hooks is to let the fish hook themselves as @Volitansays,  I don’t touch the rod until the rod tip is almost in the water (boat fishing) and I the fish is swimming away. The reason Ilove circle hooks is that 99% of the time, the fish are hooked in the side of the mouth and very easy to get the hook out and release if not being kept. If you strike, much of the time the hook is pulled out of the fish’s mouth without engaging.

Only my opinion - many folks do not like circle hooks.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Pickles

[Fab1]

47 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Hey @Fab1, I use circle hooks almost exclusively, (but not off set, so more like a “tuna hook”) the only exception is when livebaiting with Yakkas and squid, when I use Mustad Hoodlum hooks (usually 7/0).

But the key to success with circle hooks is to let the fish hook themselves as @Volitansays,  I don’t touch the rod until the rod tip is almost in the water (boat fishing) and I the fish is swimming away. The reason Ilove circle hooks is that 99% of the time, the fish are hooked in the side of the mouth and very easy to get the hook out and release if not being kept. If you strike, much of the time the hook is pulled out of the fish’s mouth without engaging.

Only my opinion - many folks do not like circle hooks.

Cheers mate.I’ll get straight ones to try.