Circle hooks for pike fishing

[keora]

In recent years I've stopped using treble hooks when deadbaiting. Instead I use one large single hook on a wire trace. The most suitable hook I've found so far is a long shank carp hook, about size 1, which works well with deadbaits up to about 6 inches long.

Using single hooks I don't lose any more fish than when using trebles, and the fish are much easier to unhook.

Is it worth trying circle hooks, do they offer any advantages over singles ?

If so, what's the best type, what size should I buy, do you strike in the same way as when using a normal hook ?

 

[greenie62]

.......Is it worth trying circle hooks, do they offer any advantages over singles ?

After seeing the piccy that was posted the other day of a fish with a circle hook in its jaw - so firmly stuck it couldn't free it - I would have to wonder about the fish-safety aspects!

It'll be interesting to see what other predator anglers think!

 

[binka]

From what I have discussed and seen with people using circle hooks you don't strike, simply wind gently but progressively into the fish as it moves off and you should have a hold in the scissors pretty much every time.

I've seen it done but haven't tried them myself yet, there's a good thread from last winter somewhere on circle hooks which mentions sizes, makes and patterns... check out Mick B's post no.27 here:

http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/predator-fishing/336494-single-hook-traces-3.html

Greenie... that barbel was an awful sight, iirc it didn't have any line attached and looked like a knot (angler!) failure to me.

 

[greenie62]

....Greenie... that barbel was an awful sight, iirc it didn't have any line attached and looked like a knot (angler!) failure to me.

Hi Steve,
My concern was the way in which the hook had almost completed the circle (almost like it had been crimped over) making it difficult to remove without forceps and some skill - how it got there via knot failure, line failure, or abrasion - just goes to show the need for balanced tackle/rigs.
In the referenced post - MickB comments about the quality of hooks and the lack of it in some cases - I wonder if the hook was a poorer quality one where the eye return to the shank had a sharp spur on it which caused the knot failure - a lesson to all to inspect the hooks whilst being used.
Cheers!

 

[pointngo]

as Binka posted; a fair bit was covered in that thread but Micks advice regarding a straight point hook is spot on.

small deads can be hair rigged off a circle but for me there is an upper bait size limit... I wouldn't use a bait much more than about 6".

Owner make a big selection of circle hooks and the straight SSW circle seems perfect. You also need to remember that the gape of circle hooks is far less than with normal "J" hooks so it pays to base your size selection on the gape... that usually means going up 2 sizes from a normal hook you'd use. I'd have no qualms about using a 2/0 circle for pike, although I'm a "2 trebles/immediate strike" man myself and have never tried them for pike.

when you get a take just wind down fairly fast, and keep winding... don't ever strike as you'll most probably pull the hook straight out of the mouth.

I didn't see the picture of the barbel but circles can dig right in sometimes, it's what they are meant to do, so be prepared to cut the hook if needed, and get any left over pieces of it out of the fish.

I must admit, although I've used circles a lot over the years, mainly for catfish, I'm not overly convinced that you get a better hook-up rate over normal J hooks. In Spain I reverted back to J hooks after missing numerous takes on them and elsewhere I failed to connect with several arapaima before I switched to normal hooks, then started catching a few.

 

[Greg Matthews]

re circle hooks have a look at dr mike ladels site hes been using them for years on bass/pike/perch without a problem.he gets his hooks from veals.i couldn't see him using them if there was a problem with them.and his results prove they work.

 

[mick b]

Any angler who cannot remove a circle hook from a fish needs hanging up by his testicles!

All that is required is to cut the hook at the eye and push the hook all the way through.
If a deckie can do it to a +200kg Marlin laying alongside a boat any thinking freshwater angler can do the same to a smaller fish totally under their control.

And don't anyone ask how you cut a fish hook, if you go fishing without the means to cut the hooks your using your more stupid than I thought! mg:

.
The best circles are made by Eagle Claw of the USA who carried out all the early development and used applied scientific research to achieve the correct design and wire size (the only exception would be for Sharks and for those A Mustad commercial is more robust)
Wire size on circles isn't so important as its the bend of the hook that holds the fishes jaw, and for proof an Eagle Claw bronzed circle of just 2mm wire diameter has landed a Blue Marlin of over 1000lbs.


.

 

[aebitim]

Tried some circle hooks wrasse fishing, they were different to the one in the barbel photo which is possibly a bent hook? The circle hooks I used had a 90 degree bend at the point and worked really well.

 

[keora]

Thank you for the advice.

 

[mick b]

Keora, you have a pm.

 

[tigger]

Tried some circle hooks wrasse fishing, they were different to the one in the barbel photo which is possibly a bent hook? The circle hooks I used had a 90 degree bend at the point and worked really well.

I don't think the hook in the barbel was bent or tamperd with at all and it had no spurs or sharp catches on the eye etc, here's the pic's of it for anyone who didn't see them....







I've been told some salmon anglers use the circle hooks and it was most likely accidently hooked by a salmon angler.
I've never use a circle hook myself so in all honesty I have no idea how well they perform....they must work well for some species. The hook in the barbel was barbless. If it had been a barbed hook then it wouldn't have moved through the flesh like that as the barb fixes to hook in place. I myself have had small barbless hooks turn right round and even come through the fish's mouth / lips completly as you'd do with a needle and thread !
Personally I never use barbless hooks preferring to use small or micro barbed hooks.

 

[Nobby C (ACA)]

I don't think that's actually a true circle hook, it looks very much like a hook sold for carping by the Owner company...HERE

THIS is what a circle hook looks like, very distinctive indeed.

I've used them for eels with good success, the majority were hooked centre bottom lip but one was swallowed and stayed down. I would always use barbless and as fine a wire as you can get away with.

 

[tigger]

I don't think that's actually a true circle hook, it looks very much like a hook sold for carping by the Owner company...HERE

THIS is what a circle hook looks like, very distinctive indeed.

I've used them for eels with good success, the majority were hooked centre bottom lip but one was swallowed and stayed down. I would always use barbless and as fine a wire as you can get away with.

Yes you are right the hook definatly looks like the carp hook in your link. So similar to but not a true circle hook them.

 

[aebitim]

I don't think the hook in the barbel was bent or tamperd with at all and it had no spurs or sharp catches on the eye etc, here's the pic's of it for anyone who didn't see them....







I've been told some salmon anglers use the circle hooks and it was most likely accidently hooked by a salmon angler.
I've never use a circle hook myself so in all honesty I have no idea how well they perform....they must work well for some species. The hook in the barbel was barbless. If it had been a barbed hook then it wouldn't have moved through the flesh like that as the barb fixes to hook in place. I myself have had small barbless hooks turn right round and even come through the fish's mouth / lips completly as you'd do with a needle and thread !
Personally I never use barbless hooks preferring to use small or micro barbed hooks.

Looks suspiciously like the green bit is covering up a barb [the small machine marks under the green bit are the giveaway], the whole point of a barb is that it will dig deeper and deeper ratchet style causing more and more damage and increasing the chance of a meal [5000 years of arrowheads] combined with the bent hook, banned on many waters for good reason etc,etc ad infinitum.

 

[tigger]

Looks suspiciously like the green bit is covering up a barb [the small machine marks under the green bit are the giveaway], the whole point of a barb is that it will dig deeper and deeper ratchet style causing more and more damage and increasing the chance of a meal [5000 years of arrowheads] combined with the bent hook, banned on many waters for good reason etc,etc ad infinitum.

LOL...the hook is deffo barbless, infact I still have it in my waistcoat pocket. Why on earth would I cover up the barb ?
No machine marks either by the way mg:.

And barb's hold fast they don't go deeper unless forced.

 

[mick b]

As some one who has used circle hooks extensively and also removed circle hooks from fish that had broken loose from commercial longlines I offer the following observations.

The hook in the photographs is defiantly not a circle hook

From the photo 1
Hook point entered from the inside of the mouth with vertical pressure on the line following
Following penetration the hook length detached from the hook eye
Hook point worked through the roof of the mouth and into the exterior of the top lip
Further progress stopped by the hook eye contacting the roof of the fishes mouth.
How the hook point was turned in and offset I cannot say.

From photo 2
Not a circle hook
Hook pattern - wide gape, very short shank, straight eye, round/chemical type point,
Unable to see if the hook is barbed or barbless, forged or round or if ring is welded.
The bait seems to have been hair rigged, usually a specialist angling technique.


The Owner pattern highlighted by Nobby C seems to be a very good match.

All commercial circles are barbed because the ratchet like process described by aebitim continues penetration until the hook is removed manually.



How sad to see the damage poor angling techniques can produce.


.

 

[tigger]

As some one who has used circle hooks extensively and also removed circle hooks from fish that had broken loose from commercial longlines I offer the following observations.

The hook in the photographs is defiantly not a circle hook

From the photo 1
Hook point entered from the inside of the mouth with vertical pressure on the line following
Following penetration the hook length detached from the hook eye
Hook point worked through the roof of the mouth and into the exterior of the top lip
Further progress stopped by the hook eye contacting the roof of the fishes mouth.
How the hook point was turned in and offset I cannot say.

From photo 2
Not a circle hook
Hook pattern - wide gape, very short shank, straight eye, round/chemical type point,
Unable to see if the hook is barbed or barbless, forged or round or if ring is welded.
The bait seems to have been hair rigged, usually a specialist angling technique.


The Owner pattern highlighted by Nobby C seems to be a very good match.

All commercial circles are barbed because the ratchet like process described by aebitim continues penetration until the hook is removed manually.



How sad to see the damage poor angling techniques can produce.


.

That fish had been hooked on the outside of it's mouth / face.... most likely foul hooked.
The hook is deffo a barbless hook, i've just been and looked at it.

During the same session I also removed another hook from a different fish's mouth, it was a spade end of about a size 10's or 12's. It was a barbed hook and unlike the barbless hook it had obviously stayed in the position where it had been when it first hooked the fish and it had made no damage to the fish at all.
Unlike the barbless hook which had moved round and caused quite considerable damage to the fish, infact from the front the fish was totally disfigured and even if it recoverd (hopefully it does) it would always be deformed from then on.

 

[mick b]

That fish had been hooked on the outside of it's mouth / face.... most likely foul hooked.
The hook is deffo a barbless hook, i've just been and looked at it. /QUOTE]


Hi tigger,
I accept your firsthand observations.

I do not fish for Barbel, infact I avoid them at all costs, thus my experience of their behaviour is very limited, so I am at a loss how someone could intentionally foul hook a Barbel, especially with such a small hook and a (presumably) buoyant bait attached

Is it possible that the fish became snagged on the hook because the bait wrapped around the hooklength before the fish approached it?


.

 

[tigger]

That fish had been hooked on the outside of it's mouth / face.... most likely foul hooked.
The hook is deffo a barbless hook, i've just been and looked at it. /QUOTE]


Hi tigger,
I accept your firsthand observations.

I do not fish for Barbel, infact I avoid them at all costs, thus my experience of their behaviour is very limited, so I am at a loss how someone could intentionally foul hook a Barbel, especially with such a small hook and a (presumably) buoyant bait attached

Is it possible that the fish became snagged on the hook because the bait wrapped around the hooklength before the fish approached it?


.

I don't think it would have been intentionally foul hooked Mick. I often foul hook them when trotting, if it was a salmon angler trotting worms etc he could have easily foul hooked the fish by accident.
I suppose there's countless different ways the fish could have become foul hooked.

To me that hook is massive, I usually use 14's or 16's when trotting for barbel.

I'm curious why you avoid catching barbel Mick ?

 

[mick b]

Hi tigger,
I was thinking the hook had been hair rigged with a boilie or whatever.
Now I understand, with a big worm I can see how easily it would be for the fish to grab the worm and still, have the hook outside its mouth.

Hook size
Most of the barbel anglers Ive seen are using hooks around 2-6, however when I was chatting to the owner of one of our most illustrious tackle shops he told me that the hooks as big as 4/0 were being used by some of the 'names' when rolling meat

My preferred winter method is trotting, on my rivers this can sometimes attract barbel, which, when hooked are far worse than any of the spotted hooligans for totally trashing a carefully prepared swim mg:
That is why I avoid them, even if its requires a move.

.