Circle Hooks

[Scott H.]

I am considering buying some circle hooks this season for chunk fishing for stripers and was wondering if anyone out there has any feed back on how they are, what brand and what size is best ?

Thanks

[BigFish]

I love them ScottH, I use Gami's, 7/0 for chunking and I use 4/0 and 5/0 for fishing live slimeys. Octopus circle hooks by Gamakatsu. Let the fish run.....hook is set! Almost always right in the corner of the mouth. Give em' a shot! I swear by them.

[BigFish]

Oh....by the way Scott H......welcome to the site!

[gdurham75]

what is the best knot to tie for the circle hooks??? poly.. snell??

[RIJIMMY]

I've used circle hooked for eels. Is the deal that you DONT set the hook? Wont the bass sometimes drop the eel?

[macojoe]

I have tryed them in the past and was not to happy I just could not get the hang of letting the fish do the setting!! I would loses fish after fish

After 2 seasons of this I said you would never see that hook in my box again!!!

Well never say never!! I was out Fluking last year and I ran out of regular rigs that I always make So I took a circle hook I had in my box and tyed it on to my dead stick.

Well let me tell you, That dead stick was catching faster then me at times!! I was running back and forth between my dead stick and regular rod!~!

So I can't seem to be able to use them well in my hand but as a dead stick it is a killer!!!!!!!!! And I will always carry them now!!!!!

[fishaholic18]

Like Macojoe said, I can't seem to get the hang of them either, lost a lot of fish with them. I may give them another shot.

[Goose]

If your tring to get the most distance casting chunks your going to have to bury the hook in the chunk. I leave just the barb protruding on a 8/0 octopus. For me, circle hooks aren't as effective for that reason. This is why hooking a fresh chunk through the bellie is so effective, more barb being exposed results in better hook sets.

[Notaro]

Gami octopus circle or wide gap circle hooks are fine. Make it easier to insert the chunk. Don't use the circle hooks on bluefish. They can get hook-gutted. I once caught it on the circle hook.

[Mr. Sandman]

It has taken me 3 years to become a full convert to the circle hook. IMO for bait of anykind (live or dead) this is the way to go no question. You simply reel in the fish. Everytime in the corner of the mouth. Rarely do you gut hook.
Having used the gami oct circle hooks for the first two years, yast year I tried all the different brands gami/ diaichi/ owner and a coupld other brands. I have to say I like the Owner just a little bit better. Both are top quality hooks, Diaichi (I know I have the spelling wrong) is a great hook too. There is little difference between those I mentioned. Owner has a slightly wider gap and thinner wire. Both are increably strong and equally sharp. The Owner come in both stright and bent eye...I don't prefer a snelled hook while live bait fishing...(some guys do) therefore I like the in-line straight hook. (you can get them either way) Size...8/0. I carry 5/0-9/0 but I mostly use 8/0 from the boat. When I surf fish with eels I may back down to a 6/0 or 7/0 depending on whats running but they are pretty big hooks.



You can use these on bluefish too. I had pretty good luck with blues using them (robbing bass eels) but with any bluefish add a small wire leader if that is your target species)

from left to right, Gami 6/0 Owner 6/0 Owner 8/0.

Oh, let me add, the more exposed the gap the better IMO. I generally don't bury the hook in the bait, I hook the bait leaving the point exposed as much as possible. Most of my fishing is live bait and I just hook it enought to keep the hook in...the fish is going to eat the entire bait.

[rocketman]

Thanks Sandman for the test results. I tried using a Gami 7/0 with a mackerel chunk at the end of the season. Didn't have any takers that night though. I only tried a circle before in fresh water.
I usually don't fish live bait, but nothing was working and a guy who was leaving gave me some worms. I was catching a bunch of yellow perch which saved me fron the big skunk. One good sized perch managed to swallow the bait hook and all. I figured it was loose the hook or kill the fish. I pulled gently to see what would happen. The whole rig just came up the throat without hooking the fish. I am sold on these types of hooks. Just don't get any hooks with an offset twist to the point.

[Joe]

I like them – I’ll use either the Gami or the Mustad 7/0
If you run into a lot of bass – they can greatly expedite the release process.
But there are a lot of very good fisherman that do not like them…it’s a matter of preference and touch.
Some guys do not need a circle hook to prevent deeply hooked fish. I know guys who can set on a bass with a live bait hook and almost never gut hook the fish. (I’m just not one of them. )

[Nebe]

Originally posted by RIJIMMY
I've used circle hooked for eels. Is the deal that you DONT set the hook? Wont the bass sometimes drop the eel?

The deal is if you set the hook quickly it will just fly out of the bass's mouth. This is why old timers hate them.. they're set in their ways. The reason you want to slowly reel it in is because the hook needs time to roll into position as it slides out of the mouth... and when it slides out of the mouth, the point of the hook slides though the lip and presto, lip hooked bass.

In july/august I toss sand worms sometimes off the beach and if I dont use circles I kill too many short bass....when I swithed to circles I never gut hooked a single one...go figure

* oh and once I feel my hook is set, I will give it a firm yank for good measure..

[bassmaster]

I set hard on circles and have no problems with hook sets.
I also snell My hooks
I use pierce simpsons bought couple hundred from carbala or what ever.
If Im hethen fishing I snap it hard/set I like to pull the hook out of the herring.
I love these hooks for tossing snakes
But Ya cant beat a 94150 though

[BigFish]

I still give a firm jerk on those Gami Octopus 5/0 when fishin' eels.....don't want to lose that cow!

[Notaro]

Yeah, I would give it a yank, too, Eben, for a good measure. There is one fish that doesn't get a circle hook in the cornor of the mouth is fluke (correct me if I'm wrong. They swallowed a circle hook when I caught them last summer).

[davess23]

Over the past two seasons, Gamakatsu Octopus Circles in 7/0 have become my favorite chunking hook.

I set up with the point all the way through the chunk, so that there's no obstruction between the barbed tip and the shank of the hook: for me, this is critical for circle hook performance.

It took me a while to adapt to the way circles work. Can't tell you how many I yanked out of fish's mouths until I learned to drop my rod tip and let the fish pick up the chunk and begin the run, and then instead of yanking, to bring the rod tip up quickly, in a smooth, firm motion.

Most of the time, my fish is lip-hooked in the corner of the mouth, and easy to unhook and release. Circle hooks have greatly reduced my incidents of gut hooked schoolies, which makes me very happy, since I want to catch these same fish again in about five years or so.

[Scott H.]

Thanks for all the input on the circle hooks, after reading all the posts I think that the risk of loosing a few fish at first far outweighs the many that may otherwise be gut hooked.

Thanks again to all.

[Swimmer]

Gami 7/0 or 8/0 for the beach and you'll find it is like handicap fishing. Sit there and let the bass swallow and swim off. Put your beer down, you could almost take another slurp, grabbed the rod butt and lean backwards and start reeling in when ready.

[ragfly]

I have been using circle hooks for chunkin and eeling for 5 years now. Instead of setting the hook all you need to do is tighten your line either by lifting your rod or reeling down. once I have the fish on I do give it a good yank to make sure the hook is in. I use them with braid line and I would say 95% of the fish are hooke din the corner of the mouth. I do gut hook one occasionally but it is usually because I was sleeping at the wheel and don't respond quick enought and the fish swallows it. The size of the hook is usually dictated by the size of the bait.

[striprman]

99% of the fishing I do is in the canal . When the herring run is over, I dead stick pogie or mackerel chunks. Thats how I catch fish in the canal. I fish 2 or 3 rods. I have NEVER
gut hooked a bass. I always use J hooks.
The other 1% I fish at powder point bridge or the causeway to gooseberry island.

The only time I gut hook bass is when fishing live herring, and then it's usually hooked in the gullet or throat. I use a long stick
with a v notch to remove the deep hooks.

I don't think I've ever killed a bass unintentionally by gut hooking one.

I guess eel fishing tends to cause gut hooked fish. I don't fish eels very often

the thing about he canal is, even though theres alot of guys fishing certain spots, there is always a spot that no one is fishing at.

[CANAL RAT]

how about the zing circle hook rigs you buy in the yellow package
at the local bait shop do they work well

[Notaro]

canal rat, try it.


hey guys, sometimes using a circle hook can bore out of you when deadsticking? on occassions i want to fall asleep while watching the bass to bite my bait. with the circle hooks, they require a great deal of patience.


my previous post about using a circle hook on the fluke, i used a gami octopus circle 7/0 and it hooked it in the corner of the mouth, one stuck in the gill.

[spinncognito]

Is it just me or is it not part of the thrill and excitement of fishing to set the hook? Circle hooks are like letting the fish hook itself. Yeah, it may be better for less gut-hooks but it takes the sport out of it for me. I prefer to wait for that initial pick-up when chunking and then setting the hook hard! When fishing large chunks or whole herring, often times a big bass will tail-slap the bait (thus that initial bump) before spinning around and taking the bait. That where the thrill for me is. What next, a device that reels them in and fillets them for ya?

Spin

[Saltheart]

I don't like them. I'll take an 8/0 Mustad 94150