circle Hooks

[philzero44]

I saw these circle hooks and was wondering how good they are and what fish do they target.

[trueblue]

which ones.... need more info...

[finding_time]

Round or circle???

[sleepygreg]

if they are really round you could use them as earrings.

[philzero44]

Sorry I ment circle hooks

[philzero44]

Sorry circle hooks.

[trueblue]

nearly all fish can be taken with a circle hook.

you just need to learn how to use them.

Don't strike......... let the fish hook itself and it will nearly always be hooked in the corner of the mouth

[bowds13]

mate circle hooks are great in my eyes i love them on live baits they work at treat. i like ot have my drag set just enough sothe fish an take line with only a little bit of pressure on it an 9 times out of 10 it will hook its self in the corner of the mouth!!
hers

[nigelr]

Give 'em a try philzero, good for just about anything.
Once you learn how to use them (super easy) you'll love 'em.
Derived from longline hooks used by the pros, those lads know what they are doing.
An exception would be tailor fishing or in other situations where the first choice is gangs hooks.
Cheers.

[dog tooth]

anyone had trouble with sneaky fish like grassy sweetlip
a while ago was fishing up near stanage and the circles would come back bare, so switched to octopuss pattern and started pulling up grassies up to 60cm
wasint striking on the circles either

other than that, they have worked well for me for snapper pearlies etc

[finding_time]

Ok here's a link to a circle hook study that was done in NZ it really shows the benifits of circles but take note on how they should be tied!!!!!!!!!! I see so many people stuff this up and it affect there catch rate, they MUST be tied from the gape side not the back side of the hook ,snelling from this side is perfect!!!

Ian

Here's the link!

http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/hookreports/tyingvssnelling.html

[philzero44]

What's The difference been a octopus circle hook and a tuna circle hook,
Octopus.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/290322590228_1.jpg
Tuna.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/270407936036_1.jpg

[Luke G]

The octopus circle is an offset circle hook - the Tuna style is an in-line style, much better for the fish.

[nigelr]

Thanks to a tip I got of some kind Ausfish member years ago, I bend all my kirbed (offset) hooks back to a straight pattern before I use them. And I try and buy non-kirbed hooks where possible.
Works for me, I believe!
Cheers.

[bondy99]

What size circle hooks for snapper, bream, pearl perch and silver jewfish?

Thanks, Peter

[nickstock]

For Bream I like to use 1/0s
For Snapper, 5/0s or 6/0s
For Pearlies use up to 10/0s if you wanted to (although not needed)
Bigger Jewies use 7/0s and above

[childers]

Give 'em a try philzero, good for just about anything.
Once you learn how to use them (super easy) you'll love 'em.
Derived from longline hooks used by the pros, those lads know what they are doing.
An exception would be tailor fishing or in other situations where the first choice is gangs hooks.
Cheers.

Hi,nigeir,
i use a circle hook on bottom of my wire ,goes through pillys tail then couple sliding gamakatsu in its body and head ,killer rig on the tailor ,cheers.

nigilr
i just did edit to this post put in pic of 6 tailor nailed on wire sliding rig with only 1 other fish dropped , did exactly the same on another night also landing another 6 bad boys and only 1 lost , this rig was 6/0 gama octopus on bottom with 2 x sliding 7/0 , now putting circle on bottom then sliders yet to lose a tailor on this slightly modified rig ,no more gang hooks for me this rig is super deadly make sure you give it a go ,regards mick

[nigelr]

Thanks for that childers, I will definitely give that rig a go.
Cheers.

[castlemaine]

anyone had trouble with sneaky fish like grassy sweetlip
a while ago was fishing up near stanage and the circles would come back bare, so switched to octopuss pattern and started pulling up grassies up to 60cm
wasint striking on the circles either

other than that, they have worked well for me for snapper pearlies etc

I've found the same ... if you're about to fight a fish in a snag situation (eg. oyster leases, reef edges) best with a sucide hook.
We've caught good bream hooking themselves with 1/0s circles by sitting them in rod holders over a good wine. Always hooked in the lip, too.
Mate of mine used a Mustard 'Big Mouth', no sooner I said to him that, that would never snare a fish, he hooked up to a 46cm Snapper. How the hell does such a hook catch fish?
Cheers8-)

[tenzing]

What's The difference been a octopus circle hook and a tuna circle hook,
Octopus.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/290322590228_1.jpg
Tuna.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/270407936036_1.jpg
I use the octopus circle as the first hook in a snood rig to livebait or for larger flesh and squid baits . the offset eye is necessary to have the leader pass through and on to the bottom hook. You can have it either sliding or snelled depending on your preferred technique.
Brendan

[Bowser]

I use 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hooks in a 2 hook rig for snapper, most fish get hooked in the corner of the mouth.

[Cheech]

Another tip with circles,,,, use a 20 - 30mm length of lumo tube (not beads) and pull it over the eye of the hook so that some is tight on the hook and the rest is part way up the line. This helps keep the hook from folding back, and improves the hookup rate. At least that is what I find. And has the attracting benefits as a bonus.

[oldboot]

I seem to think you need to use smaller circles than you would conventional hooks, because you want the fish to take the bait hook and all and hook the fish as the line tightens and the hook is comming out of the mouth.

There are quite a few hooks that arent technicaly circles that still work on the same principle.....like the wide gape Kahles.

any hook where the point points at or inside the eye.

cheers

[nigelr]

Old boot, I use a minimum 7/0 (Gamakatsu) and generally 8/0 (Mustad Demon)circle when inshore snapper fishing, no problems at all hooking fish 35cms and up.
I do use a large bait, most fish just seem to 'inhale' the lot. I am most often anchored up in 25-30 metres and using floating or very lightly weighted baits drifted back into a burley trail.

Childers, do you rig the pilly head up or tail up? You mention wire, are you using single or multi-strand? Any chance of a pic of your rig?
Fantastic catch there Mick, very, very nice tailor indeed. Unfortunately there is not even as much as a lousy undersize chopper to be caught hereabouts ATM!
Cheers!

[bondy99]

G'day childers,

Nice tailor caught on the beach no doubt. Which beach did you catch these from?

Cheers, Peter

[bondy99]

For Bream I like to use 1/0s
For Snapper, 5/0s or 6/0s
For Pearlies use up to 10/0s if you wanted to (although not needed)
Bigger Jewies use 7/0s and above


Thanks, are these Tuna Circle hooks or something else?

Cheers, Peter

[oldboot]

I have been fishing for a few different things and mostly smaller hooks.

I went fishing with my big bro a couple of times up north recently & he is using shinners in about 6/0 (which are a kahle) expecting (and catching)barra but I hooked a butterfish and some small grunter on such a large hook.... but my northern rels all fish heavy.

I was wading down at wello some time ago with conventional hooks and got snagged on the coffee rock... so I changed to small kahles arround #8, #4 and found both good hookups and no lost rigs....( converted)

I picked up some realy small proper circles..... smaller than a 5c piece and have fished bits prawn on those and caught a small venus tuskie, undersized snapper and bream on them... but they are a pain to bait up.



remember circles arent just for the big stuff

cheers

[childers]

nigilr ,have been using around 90lb single and coated strand wire but after a couple fish on the stranded it starts to frey sharp bits stinging your fingers and giving running hooks a bit of a hard time, bottom hook on end of wire rig is circle , circle goes through pillys tail like a 5/0 mustard recurve circle or 6/0 gamakatsu octopus circle ,will try to org- photo in future some time.
bondy99 , not a recent photo ,just an example of how effective rig is , fish from south of the border its not open slather , they are not always about , a matter of finding a good gutter and putting the time in ,cheers.

[apconcen]

childers. Where is the sinker on the rig ?

[childers]

childers. Where is the sinker on the rig ?

wire 10 inchs long or so , bottom circle hook attached to wire either crimped if stranded wire or twisted with single wire ,2 x free running 6/0 along wire after circle hook is anchored on bottom of wire ,
swivel at top of wire ,main line tied to swivel ,
sinker free running up and down main line ,
pilly gets circle hook in its tail and free running hook in its back and next free running hook in its head ,
hope that helps cheers .

[apconcen]

thanks childers,

Very clear. I am just getting into 'wire' that is is not prepackaged and I got myself a crimping tool. Is it as simple as getting the sleeves[where?] and a roll of wire ? What poundage wire do you use for say the rig above ?

[oldboot]

you can buy a halco package at most chain stores that will give you a length of wire and a hand full of the correct size crimps.
Best to buy a an extra package of crimps unless you plan on running loooong wire traces.

remember for various reasons you may want to use two crimps on a join.

the weight of wire depends on what you are after

20 , 30 ,40 up to 80 pound wire are mostly standard stock. but you can get lighter and heavier.

remember you can use the crimps on hard mono filament leader material too.

20Lb should be fin for taylor and smaller toothy things......80Lb would be needed for small to medium sharks

remember the lighter you can get away with the better.

If you can get hold of a coppy of "big boat big fish" there is a reasonable crimping tutorial on there.

cheers
cheers

[FNQCairns]

I tried the circles exclusively for near a year and remain unimpressed and I kept trying even when i should have stopped, needed to use a smaller size than typical hooks to get results and then that opens up all sorts of trash fish landings, wasting valuable time and effort/money which I could have keep directing toward catching decent fish, not to mention my ethical side of deliberately pulling unwanted (bycatch) fish up.... like just for the fun of it.

My decent fish catch rate dropped without doubt (caught more fish overall :(), have gone back exclusivly to traditional hooks and the fishing is much better. I didn't know the comment above about tying them different but IMHO it would need to work very well to at least equal traditional hooks as an overall package worthy of the effort.

Yep done with the rubbish.

cheers fnq

[oldboot]

I have to agree that I do not believe circle hooks are the bee all and end all.

And there are different types and styles of circle hooks and they require different methods.

Circle hooks certainly will not siut all styles and approaches of fishermen, nor will they be effective on all types and styles of fish.

It would occurr to me they will be less effctive on the pickers, slashers or choppers, but more effective on a fish that will take a bait whole.

Where they are suited and used appropriately... they work very well.

As mentioned above , quite a few people are using combinations of conventional and circle hooks too good effect.

I also know that quite a few are favoring the Kahles over the true circles, because they have a more direct and conventional point. but dont snag as easily as a regular hook.....sort of best of both worlds.

The bottom line ( as with all fishing) is you have to use what works for you at the time.

cheers

[finding_time]

, needed to use a smaller size than typical hooks to get results and then that opens up all sorts of trash fish landings,
cheers fnq

\
I reckon this is where you made your mistake FNQ! Dont decrease the size! Up the size if anything. I use circles for everything but ganging! I never use less then a 9/0 and even with this i still catch plenty of 35cm squire and they take the hook in fine but you must bait the hook correctly!;) The last few trips to 1770 i have been using some 14/0 circles and there great, really really strong and have no trouble lodging in the corner of the mouth, lets face it even a small red or trout could swollow your fist without much effort! I reckon the biggest error i see is people using hooks that are way to small! A small hook ( circle ) may miss the corner of the mouth a big one has far far more chance!
Ian

Ps Remember not to strike freespool the bait into the fishs gut then up the drag and gently raise the rod tip and your hooked!


Oldboot

Mate there even running circles in front of pushers while trolling for marlin, and the reports are that the hook-up rates out perform j-hooks at this stage. Now if only the game fishing rule makers would make this leagal!;)

[FNQCairns]

\
I reckon this is where you made your mistake FNQ! Dont decrease the size! Up the size if anything. I use circles for everything but ganging! I never use less then a 9/0 and even with this i still catch plenty of 35cm squire and they take the hook in fine but you must bait the hook correctly!;) The last few trips to 1770 i have been using some 14/0 circles and there great, really really strong and have no trouble lodging in the corner of the mouth, lets face it even a small red or trout could swollow your fist without much effort! I reckon the biggest error i see is people using hooks that are way to small! A small hook ( circle ) may miss the corner of the mouth a big one has far far more chance!
Ian

Ps Remember not to strike freespool the bait into the fishs gut then up the drag and gently raise the rod tip and your hooked!


Oldboot

Mate there even running circles in front of pushers while trolling for marlin, and the reports are that the hook-up rates out perform j-hooks at this stage. Now if only the game fishing rule makers would make this leagal!;)


Mate you could be right I did try the large hooks for 6 months before going smaller on advice, I did catch decent fish on the big hooks of coarse although I missed a lot more than if I where using typical hook designs I fully believe. I did try the free spooling but out of frustration when missing hookups I should have got but that is a typical tactic anyway to try when on the water whenever it might suit.

I think the typical hooks catch more and better fish constantly but seriously i should have tried your free spooling advice committedly over a good period of time to see if that changed the hopelessness of the circles.

I never used them for trolling so cannot say, might try it one day when my memory of the bloody things fades somewhat.

They are probably great for unweighted baits too but for bottom bouncing paternosta rigs they where a failure, marginally spectacular IMO.

cheers fnq

[finding_time]

When using them for trolling they are basically running the reel near freespool and attaching the line via rubber band! when the fish strikes the band breaks and the fish swims away with the lure in it's goob with little resistance from the reel( just a tiny little bit of drag so it does over run) what then happens is the weight and drag of the line being pulled backwards through the water is enough to set the circle in the corner of the mouth ! after a few seconds ( 5-10) there should have been enough for the fish to grab the lure , swollow it and then have the hook and lure pulled back out of the mouth and the hook lodge in the corner for a very solid hook-up!

[Mindi]

I seem to think you need to use smaller circles than you would conventional hooks, because you want the fish to take the bait hook and all and hook the fish as the line tightens and the hook is comming out of the mouth.

There are quite a few hooks that arent technicaly circles that still work on the same principle.....like the wide gape Kahles.

any hook where the point points at or inside the eye.

cheers

Oldboot I use Kahles (although nobody knows them as that anymore ) and find them best of all for catching but not saying better than circles. The best Kahles I can find are Gamakatsu Shiners...thin, strong, and sharp as... but sadly only up to 5/0. Absolutely spot on for livebaiting barra in estuaries...they are fine and light and dont drag a Cherabin down like a lot of heavier Gamakatsus

[Sea-Dog]

What's The difference been a octopus circle hook and a tuna circle hook,
Octopus.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/290322590228_1.jpg
Tuna.http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd228/philzero44/270407936036_1.jpg

The big difference is the eye is turned up in the octopus-circle design.

According to the NZ study, you MUST have the leader coming out of the GAPE side of the hook. This tilts the hook upwards and increases the hookup rate.

In the NZ study (link below) they only used the straight-eyed circle hooks (similar to bottom of the two hooks pictured above) The octopus-circle design (top) negates the advantage of snelling the hook onto the trace as it won't tilt the hook up toward the leader.

By using the straight eyed circle hooks and snelling from the gape side of the hook, the hook will be pulled to the side of the fish's mouth and be much more likely to hook against the corner of the jaw.

Here is a bit of info from Paul's fishing kites http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/hookreports/tyingvssnelling.html

(This is the same link shown in an earlier post - I just don't want to claim the info as my own.)



Catch Rates

An equal number of each hook and knot type were fished and a vast difference in the catch rates were observed.

The snelled circle hook caught the most snapper by far (210 fish) followed by the tied circle hook (148 fish).

O'Shaugnessy & Octopus hooks whether tied or snelled caught about the same number of fish each (average 78).

The snelled circle hook caught around three times as many snapper as the O'Shaugnessy & Octopus hooks.

[finding_time]

Hey sea dog, great minds must think alike check out post no.11 in this thread!;) ;D Good link that one!

[Sea-Dog]

Hey sea dog, great minds must think alike check out post no.11 in this thread!;) ;D Good link that one!

Here is a bit of info from Paul's fishing kites http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/hookr...ssnelling.html (http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/hookreports/tyingvssnelling.html)

(This is the same link shown in an earlier post - I just don't want to claim the info as my own.) :-X :wings:

[childers]

Oldboot I use Kahles (although nobody knows them as that anymore ) and find them best of all for catching but not saying better than circles. The best Kahles I can find are Gamakatsu Shiners...thin, strong, and sharp as... but sadly only up to 5/0. Absolutely spot on for livebaiting barra in estuaries...they are fine and light and dont drag a Cherabin down like a lot of heavier Gamakatsus

Cheers mindi,

I tried a rig with a 5/0 gama- shiner you spoke of ,have never used before

heres a 52cm tailor it did the magic on last night and a photo of sliding rig ,

regards mick.

[childers]

sliding rig ,

5/0 gamma shinner bottom ,

7/0 gamma octopus middle,

6/0 octopus gamma top.;)