Lets Talk Circle Hooks

[Arrie D]

Morning all

We all know that fishing circle hooks will be the future for our sport. Releasing fish unharmed without hooks and traces dangling from it.

So I'v given the circles a go with mixed results. Landed a number of species but also loosing. In the two outings that a tried - this was the result.

Landed, Raggie 136kg, Diamond 30kg, small bronzies, Smoothhounds etc. (vmc 10/0 Circle )

Lost, Raggies x 2 and a big fish after a 20m fight ( might have been a all mighty white ) ( Mustad Circle 12/0 )

So - would a specific circle guarantee the hook up or would you still be loosing fish like on normal J hooks ?

Do you allow the fish more time to swim away from you before applying pressure ?

Would you fish a J hook and a circle on one trace ?

What is your prefered Circle make and size ?

 

[morbus]

this is gona be interesting

I let he fish swim for quite abit before tightening up - unless it takes off at speed. I think i mostly use 12/o or 14/0 mustad with the gapes opened abit, miatachii 7/0 and gama 4/0. i think size is more important in circles than J's - if the hook doesnt get around the lip properly - you get a weak hookup and they pull under pressure . . .
my limited experience . . .

and i used to use a J trailer hook - but the guys told me not to . . .that its pointless. do some searches on sealine - i have a thread and i think Tuna has a very nice one plus a few others . . .

 

[tuna]

Ek verkies die groter sirkel vir die groter visse, jy vang wel n kleintjie op n groot sirkel(20'O) maar jy verloor meer met klein sirkel

Hoe kleiner die sirkel hoe beter moet jy die aas aanbied ander kom hy los iewers later in die fight

ek gebruik steek j hoeke maar vir die groter tandemanne verkies en]k die size 20'o sirkels

 

[Trophy]

Hiya guys,

Been using circles for about two years and honestly never looked back.

Agree with Tuna...for sharks and big bait I would use nothing less than a 14/0 up to a 20/0.My fav size being the 18/0.

It will take some time and a few lost fish to get to grips on how to use them, but consider the advantages over 'J' hooks and this is a small price to pay.

I allow a bit more time for the shark to mouth the bait then simply tighten the drag feel the weight and then two or three good pokes to set the hook.

Out of say the last 10 good fish pickups I dropped my first fish on a cirles last Sunday. 10/1 are excellent odds when Raggie fishing!

 

[Tokkie Potgieter]

I used to have 100% confidence in circles. However, after losing 4 raggies at the Struisbaai pier, I have no confidence in circle hooks any more. Everybody told me that I should have stripped the plastic from the trace first but how will I know when to strip the trace and when not, when will there be a raggie in the vicinity and when not.

Also, and this is just an observation on my part, if you are fishing from a steep incline like steep rocks or a pier, your chances of no hook-up just increases. If the nylon or plastic gets stuck between its teeth, how will the circle hook end up in the scissors since you are pulling the hook away from the side of the jaw. With j-hooks I still have a chance to hook it anywhere in the mouth but not with a circle. Logic tells me that fishing at a steep incline pulls the line and hooks vertical or at least at a steeper angle than when you are standing on a beach. I am sure that the fish still swims horizontally and therefore you must be pulling the hooks upwards, whether upwards sideways or whatever, all this away from the scissors. Fishing on the beach I would think will be more succesful than fishing from high rocks due to the low degree angle between fish and angler.

I have since reverted back to j-hooks and the hook-up rate is 100%. I feel sorry for the fish though.

My 2 cents.

 

[Arrie D]

Trophy - do you just lip the circle onto the bait or do you use the dacron through the eyes ?

 

[Arrie D]

double post.

 

[boepens]

Hey chaps I say circles all the way especially when sliding I use 12/0 z steel on smaller baits only one hook at a time and I use 13/0 eagle claws which I open to pretty much the same as a 18/0 for my bigger baits . U have to learn how and when to apply fast hard pressure to bed a circle and please guys squash ur barbs u don't need them I just this weekend past tried 6/0 circles on live mullet in a river and had a almost 100 percent hookup rate

 

[boepens]

Me again forgot to explain about rigging a circle , first off u want the hook to be as proud and unobstructed as possible on streamlined baits through the lips is fine but on a bulky bait I use 2 cable ties one through the bait where u want it and just cliped and the other to hold the hook to the first cable tie. The hook is thus loose in front of the bait, dacron could work but ur bait may be bitten of easily

 

[Arrie D]

Another thing.

I'm more referring to throw baits as I don't think sliding will be part of competitive angling for much longer. So need to focus more on the circles throw baits.

 

 

[Marthin]

boepens wrote:

Hey chaps I say circles all the way especially when sliding I use 12/0 z steel on smaller baits only one hook at a time and I use 13/0 eagle claws which I open to pretty much the same as a 18/0 for my bigger baits . U have to learn how and when to apply fast hard pressure to bed a circle and please guys squash ur barbs u don't need them I just this weekend past tried 6/0 circles on live mullet in a river and had a almost 100 percent hookup rate

Exactly!!!

My limited experience in circles, predominantly edibles have taught me that guys:

1.  Generally fish a circle with too light a drag.  I've seen guys lose to many decent pickups by waiting too long before making VAS!  a pretty tight drag and ur on!  Trophy has said it many times...take 100m of line.  Hold one end and then get someone else to yank as hard as possible on the other side with his hand.  If your hand moves 10cm i'll buy you a case of beer!  There is too much stretch/bow etc in the line to still fish a completely loose drag.  Let your rod do the work to set the circle.

2.  If you are fishing rod in hand, even if it's a small circle and you feel it's a big fish... give it horns (by this i mean not strike, but keep the line tight, and drag as hard as possible) for the first 2-5 seconds.  Again let the rod do the work, and the circle then bites into the scissors and sets perfectly (example, 100kg bronzie on 7/0 circle and nylon trace by wikus)  He lost 3 fish prior to that, then tightened the drag quite a bit, and a more perfect circle hookset you'll never see.  I've lost 2 very nice fish on circles, both because i felt the were good fish with the take, and then pussyfooted around at the start, never giving enough tension to really let the circle work itself in.

Well that's my opinion, or what gives me confidence with circles.  I've outfished guys that know what they are doing 8 - 1 with me using circles and them j's for stumpnose off a boat in langebaan with this tight drag, let the rod work technique.

 

[kopstamp]

very interesting Martin, made my drag too tight the other day by mistake, ended up with a perfect hook set on a bronzie.

Will be applying this method from now on, better make sure the rod is secure on the rocks then...

One thing, DONT BE SHY IN hitting the fish once the above mentioned from marthin is apllied, if it is done correctly the hook will just set better...

 

[BluFlu]

I am a circle fan, having had to let a raggie go with two J hooks vas, I am converted lost fish or not.

I have rigged my baits recently as follows. For heads especially I use a 20 cm length of light nylon wire with a small 3mm loop twisted on one side.

Pull the loop through the eyes of the head and feed the tag end through the loop. Then loop the tag end over the hook bend and pull tight through a lug crimping it tight.

Hook hangs totally free and quite light on the hardware visible. The wire has the advantage that it will take a good couple of hits before the hook seperates.

Works for me.

 

[BluFlu]

I am a circle fan, having had to let a raggie go with two J hooks vas, I am converted lost fish or not.

I have rigged my baits recently as follows. For heads especially I use a 20 cm length of light nylon wire with a small 3mm loop twisted on one side.

Pull the loop through the eyes of the head and feed the tag end through the loop. Then loop the tag end over the hook bend and pull tight through a lug crimping it tight.

Hook hangs totally free and quite light on the hardware visible. The wire has the advantage that it will take a good couple of hits before the hook seperates.

Works for me.

 

[kraken]

The fact that most of the worlds pelagic longline fleet use circle hooks is proof that they do work.

On the other hand, I have'nt really used them much for my own fishing. I have hooked and caught the odd fish when I've tried them, but other than that, can't really give any personal input.

On the other hand, I've also personally seen quite a few fish lost on circle hooks. Gonna really give them a try for gallie fishing this season though.

Oddly enough, after speaking to a bunch of anglers who fish regularly at De Hoop and who have literally thousands of fish under their belts, all were quite adament that circle hooks and elf just don't work.

I also noticed that when baiting up, they would either just hook on a strip of chokka or two as one would when commercial handline fishing, or simply tie the bait on the back of the shank. Really nothing fancy at all. 

 

[Marthin]

I havent been able to do much elf fishing this season, but with circles there is something i'd like to try for elf....

Elf in general, or the big ones i've seen caught or caught, take the bait in the tail section. That's why you end up with half mullets when casting livies, tail gone.

Most people when they build a bait, any bait, pilchard or combos or whatever, build a bait with a thick part at the hook point and a thin part at the hook eye.

With circles, if they build a bait below the hook, they do it the same, with the head right below the hook, and the tail section/thin section 5-10cm below. I watched Wikus bring in half floats the whole day, with the tail section of his bait and half his float he built the bait around gone. Obviously if it's a 4kg elf and up it should take the whole bait, but even they might be happy with just snipping off the tail end.

Anycase point of the long story, if i do still get a chance for those big langebaan elf this season, i want to rig the bait the "wrong" way round, with the tail section just below the circle (if you fish the whole bait below the circle), and if i bait the hook itself, bait it up the wrong way round so the tail/thin section is by the hook point and the thick/head section is at the hook eye.... if that makes sense. I missed a lot of elf one night on Daisy's boat, till he showed me his back to front way of rigging the pilchard, with a hook coming out about 3cm from the tail... Nothing missed after that.

 

[kopstamp]

@kraken elf and circle not friends, had one day when I did not miss a single one on a 4/0circle, but that was one day, Have found because most shad bite "up the line" one has to reel all the time from once the bait hit the water to have any chance of a hookup.

 

[Marthin]

Kopstamp you guys have more elf to test on there on the pier... try what i said above here and see if you can give some results. I haven't had the oppertunity to test the theory.

 

[kopstamp]

@marthin, I always fish my elf bait with the hook sticking out below the tail section. Lots of people trim the tail off, I use the tail to secure my hook to.

Almost free floating in a sense, it is not "set" in place with cotton more just like there about at the tail.

 

[Ocean Hunter]

I was thinking of changing over to circles for sharks, but then I thought what the hell for? There is no need, as I still havnt gut/throat hooked a single spotty or bronzie in Namibia. If it aint broken dont fix it!