Live lining ?
 

Preventing gut hooks, what are some of the methods people are using with success ? I know treble hooks arn't working. Where are you hooking your bait

Bob, for bunker, I hook a 4X Gami 7/0 hook in the back, in front of the dorsal, about an inch - inch and a half down. I've never gut hooked like this and dont have a lot of misses. When I have inexpericned guys or family, I do the same thing but with a 8/0 circle hook. I tell them just to reel once the bass takes it. Same sucess rate.

Circle hooks usually in the corner of the mouth. Count to 3 maybe 5, any longer increases the odds of a gut hook. Shimano Baitrunner reels, no big hook set just start reeling!

Bob, I have less deep hooking with big octupus circle hooks. Only using conventional reels. Not letting them run much, just engaging the spool with drag set tight. No big hookset. The fish hooks itself. Hooking macks in the back, just behind the gillplate. You will have some drops with the circles, but will have far fewer fish you have to release with a hook lodged too deep to remove.... Trebles come back 7/13.

i had a bad route of 3 fish in a row gut hooked. Felt awful about it.
Switched to circles and its been much better.

Thanks everyone, Circle hooks it is

there was an episode of "hunt for big fish" that was all about different rigging methods for live bait to prevent gut hooks. the episode was geared toward musky but the ideas could be applied. i think he found that a bridled circle was the best method. makes sense when you think about the mechanics of it.

Circle hooks have a much lower rate for gut hooking ... but a lot of anglers use trebles and never gut hook ... it's all in how and when you set the hook on the bass ... hook is is through the nose of the bait ... it doesn't matter what hook you use if you are not setting the hook properly.

which is my problem... i have too much room for error. circle hooks help with my sucky fishing skills. nothing hurts more than seeing a dink bleeding all over your deck and there's nothing you can do. Hurts my soul every time.

its also great when your taggin sharks... right in the corner and if you get the cheap ones you can straighten the hooks right out if you get a good grip.

Bob,

Didn't we use big Gami circles to live line herring back in the day? I'm pretty sure we hooked em through the eye socket - in one side and out the other - and I don't think we had problems hooking the fish that day. :uhuh:

I use a small treble in the head and out the eye straight to mono. live bait gets inhales a lot, if the hook isn't visible, it's usually supper, if I'm not keeping it, I just cut the line, retie a hook and try again.

Scoobe, Bunker and Mackerel have fatter heads so it makes it harder to put a single hook thru it's eye sockets that's why I switched to trebles, I but I have been getting a few gut hooked fish, that's why I thought it would be better for the fish to switch to something else. I figured I would ask what others are using and there methods of success