Circle hooks

Probably,like many members on here,I watch fishing sites and vids.
I have noticed that Circle hooks are becoming popular worldwide.
Have any members given them a try?
The hook up rate of circle hooks has improved catch rates by a large percentage according to graphs and figures.
There are various methods of tying the hook on,I believe the "Loop"method is popular for some species.
They are usable in sea and freshwater.
I am wondering if a large circle hook would improve the catch rate for Cod in the Mersey.
I've sent for a range of sizes.
After Steve's post about the "Texas rig" I've also sent for a range of weedless hooks for making up my own rigs.
Lure fishing seems to be getting some good results.

Not really used them much and not sure a circle hook is going to work with a big worm bait but I can see a half circle ( if that's what you call them) working well with a moderate sized bait and turning to lip hook thereby reducing deep hooking, maybe not so good with flatfish?

Great question!

On the Texas hooks, the ones I tried with a slug-go seemed very brittle, this seemed an advantage if caught up on a rock but I didn't have confidence in them as a result, maybe some brands are less brittle.

Funny how if you have misgivings about a bit of kit it seems to affect your chances of catching.

Hi Paul,the Texas rigs are dead easy to make,I think the one you used must have been of poor quality.
If you look up on the net it shows you how to feed the jelly baits onto the hook.There are all sorts of jelly baits.
I bought some hooks from Decathalon a few years ago,I got a 4lb chub hooked up and the hook straightened out.
So no more hooks from there.
The weedless hooks don't present the point until the fish takes the bait,and they don't snag on weed etc
Handy for pollock in the Kelp.
There's not much difference in the shank on a circle hook to a "J"hook,so I should imagine they can be loaded up much in the same way.
Apparently,you don't strike with a circle hook because it pulls out of the fish,you just wind in.
This is where the circle action works,it turns with the action of winding in,and lip hooks the fish.

J hooks are alright but personally i don't rate circle hooks. Find you miss a lot more fish, especially the bigger ones. And when they do get hooked deep, which happens a lot more than you'd think, they're awful to get out. Its each to their own but I'm not a massive fan

I've heard people saying circle hooks are great
and other not so great so I'm sitting on the fence
with this one as I've never used them

simon parry wrote:

J hooks are alright but personally i don't rate circle hooks. Find you miss a lot more fish, especially the bigger ones. And when they do get hooked deep, which happens a lot more than you'd think, they're awful to get out. Its each to their own but I'm not a massive fan

Nice to know Si,I've bought some of various sizes so I'll have to give them a try.
No great loss if they are not up to scratch I suppose.

I very rarely use anything else nowadays either shore or boat as Simon says sometimes you do get deep hooked ones but not nearly so much as with the J hooks on my skate ray & tope rigs I've filed all the barbs off so unhooking isn't a problem.its all about experimenting with different sizes & working out what sizes suit what fishing I use them for large donkey chokers off the east coast & little segments of worm for minis & they work just great for me

tatch wrote:

I very rarely use anything else nowadays either shore or boat as Simon says sometimes you do get deep hooked ones but not nearly so much as with the J hooks on my skate ray & tope rigs I've filed all the barbs off so unhooking isn't a problem.its all about experimenting with different sizes & working out what sizes suit what fishing I use them for large donkey chokers off the east coast & little segments of worm for minis & they work just great for me  

Cheers Tatch,Like you say,it's a learning curve.Type of fish,to size of hooks.
I imagine rays and flatfish would be easier caught on them.Also predators that snatch at the bait.
I suppose not striking is hard to get used to,they reckon just winding in gives the hook chance to turn,
and striking pulls the bait and hook out of the fish.

Just started using them 1/0 but only caught whiting, dabs and a shore rockling so far...Initial results seem promising with all except one fish lip hooked..The one which was hooked deeper was only slightly so and it was still fairly straight forward to get out.

Reading the American sites, it seems to get the very best from circles, you need to snell them rather than tie them conventionally...It apparently increases the hook up rate considerably.

There are lots of methods of snelling, some easier than others, but this is the way I do it:



Re Lug, a gent who posts on another forum says he's had good success loading the bait onto a telephone wire "hair" about 4" to 5" long loosely wrapped onto the bend of the hook. I've not tried this myself as yet but intend to next time I am out...

Pete E wrote:

Just started using them  1/0 but only caught whiting, dabs and a shore rockling so far...Initial results seem promising with all except one fish lip hooked..The one which was hooked deeper was only slightly so and it was still fairly straight forward to get out.

Reading the American sites, it seems to get the very best from circles, you need to snell them rather than tie them conventionally...It apparently increases the hook up rate considerably.

There are lots of methods of snelling, some easier than others, but this is the way I do it:



Re Lug, a gent who posts on another forum says he's had good success loading the bait onto a telephone wire "hair" about 4" to 5" long loosely wrapped onto the bend of the hook. I've not tried this myself as yet but intend to next time I am out...

Thanks for the info Pete,I snell my hooks,but use the simple method(no tube)
Snelling has to have two ends to the line,so if the hooks are put directly onto the mainline a normal knot is needed.
I have noticed that depending on the way the line goes thro' the eye initially is the angle the hook is to the line.
That telephone wire idea sounds pretty good.

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

Thanks for the info Pete,I snell my hooks,but use the simple method(no tube)
Snelling has to have two ends to the line,so if the hooks are put directly onto the mainline a normal knot is needed.
I have noticed that depending on the way the line goes thro' the eye initially is the angle the hook is to the line.
That telephone wire idea sounds pretty good.

If the hair idea doesn't work, I am going to make the snoods on my rigs deattachable (will use a Gemini swivel clips instead of a plain swivels on the rig body)  and I can then unclip the snoods, slide a worm down the line to the hook and then clip the snood back on the rig body..

Would probably also need to add a  wrap of telephone wire or a stop knot above the bait to act as a bait stop...

Pete E wrote:

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

Thanks for the info Pete,I snell my hooks,but use the simple method(no tube)
Snelling has to have two ends to the line,so if the hooks are put directly onto the mainline a normal knot is needed.
I have noticed that depending on the way the line goes thro' the eye initially is the angle the hook is to the line.
That telephone wire idea sounds pretty good.

If the hair idea doesn't work, I am going to make the snoods on my rigs deattachable (will use a Gemini swivel clips instead of a plain swivels on the rig body)  and I can then unclip the snoods, slide a worm down the line to the hook and then clip the snood back on the rig body..

Would probably also need to add a  wrap of telephone wire or a stop knot above the bait to act as a bait stop...

Most of my fishing I do from a boat,so I will be using a running ledger,just needs a length of line a hook and a swivel.
What I saw on a site the other day was to attach the hook with a conventional knot,but not pull the knot right up to the hook,which left it in a small loop.This lets the hook move freely in any direction.
Seems a good idea for circle hooks.
I haven't tried them yet,but I bought some "Gummy stops"to use as stop knots,they do sea fishing sizes.

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

What I saw on a site the other day was to attach the hook with a conventional knot,but not pull the knot right up to the hook,which left it in a small loop.This lets the hook move freely in any direction.

I would be interested to  hear how you get on if you try the loop method.. I currently have some rigs made with conventional knots and some with snells so hopefully I will get a feel which is best...

I found my snelled ones work best. if I am using very heavy line and & monster hooks I use clear shrink over it just so it doesn't uncoil. on my single hook heavy wrecking rigs for big baits I just use a loop threaded through the eye & over the shank works a treat also