I've never had a gami circle ( 6/0) break when live lining macks or bottom fishing... I have broken them on tuna...( 9/0).. I switched to Gami's back in the late 80's when eagle claw had an issue like you discribe... the hook bould break right behind the barb.. I was selling back then and they cost me quite a bit of money..... I prefer smaller hooks than most of you for eeling.. 4/0 Gami "J" hooks and I've never broke one....these are a must for me because I fish much lighter tackle in a lot shaloer water than most do...
On the offset thing... IMHO... a must for eeling... unless you want to hook your own eel 75% of the time...not sure about it for fishing macks... I've only been using them a few years ( since I stopped using trebles)... not nearly long enough to form an accurate opinion..
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