circle hooks for pike

[john step]

A year or two there was discussion on FM of the various pro and cons using these circle hooks for pike.

A few including myself decided to give them a go. I just wondered about other pikers experiences??

My experiences have been mixed. I have used them. I have caught on them but I must admit to missing runs on them...more so than I would normally expect on trebles for instance.

I have seen the videos and read the gumph so I believe I have been doing it correctly.

I have stopped using them and have this season gone over to experimenting with singles again. I have used them in the past and found them OK with the caveat of using them with smaller baits.

I have found catfish singles to be just the job in size 1. ( Catmaster Eagle Wave Hooks) They have a turned back eye and hook very well. Quite a lot less curfuffle than treble hooks in the net as well.

I don't want to get into the debate about trebles as thats on another thread, but has anyone been useing circles of late and how are you getting on?

 

[103841]

I’m a newcomer to piking, for various reasons haven’t been this season....yet. Only caught a few last season, all on circles. My view is, I’d rather lose a few more than I might with trebles but feeling more at ease knowing I haven’t got the dilemma of getting a treble out of a deep hooked mouth.

Maybe when I gain experience and confidence I may change my views on this but I hope not.

 

[Jimk2]

You will always lose fish regardless of single hook or twin treble trace, that's just one of those things.
If you are using a single hook, don't use huge baits, also choose the time of year. For example sub zero temperatures and low water temps the pike slow down and are not as aggressive with the baits.

 

[Dennis Martin]

I've used circle hooks exclusively for the last three years on both live and dead baits. I would say that the hook up rate is equal to the standard two treble trace set up; and as yet I've not had one get off once hooked. For me the main benefit being the hook is in the scissors 9 times out of 10, therefor the hook comes out without risk to self or breaking teeth or harming the gill rakers. I use Mustad in sizers 01 to 04 depending on the bait size. I've not fished since October due to having had a full right knee replacement but I'm hoping to get out after the pike before the season ends.

 

[Philip]

I’ll kick off by saying right off the bat I dont use circle hooks. The reason is because in my opinion circle hooks are actually limiting the ways you can hook a fish and are not as effective as people want to believe .

I have heard all the talk about them..dont strike, just let it tighten, how it catches in the scissors almost every time etc etc ….but thats the point …I dont see the fact that it mostly catches in the scissors as being a particularly good indication of a hooks effectiveness.

I am not saying they don’t work, of course they do but I doubt how efficient they really are. If a hook was a truly effective hooker then it would hook them everywhere, top, bottom, side, scissors and do on.

The same principle & disadvantage applies for allot of self hooking rigs nowadays. A single hook and a knotless knot for example, the majority of the hook ups are in the bottom or corners of the mouth. How often do you see a self hooked fish hooked in its top lip ? …very rarely in my experience. This is basically an indication of not how good the setup is but how INEFFECTIVE it is because as with circle hooks a cetain set of parameters had to be met for the hook to find its hold else we would be hooking them in all areas of the mouth.

Thats why John I was very interested to read your post as you are one of the first to say you had some doubts and have gone back to using other hooks. I think others will follow in time.

I'll also stress I am talking purely from a potential hook up & catching fish perspective, I am not talking from a fish welfare or ease of unhooking perspective. The fact circle hooks catch in the scissors allot of the time of course means you can unhook them easier but then that becomes more discusson around ethics than catching.

 

[john step]

I went back to the method of a single hook on a hair this autumn/winter.

Jim said above about the pike being less aggressive in feeding as it gets colder. Thats very true. I didn't state originally that the hair was used early on in the autumn and now its colder I reverted back to a single through the tail of a small bait.

The hair largely lessens any risk of deep hooking when the pike are really gulping bait down quickly early season.
Don't laugh but I use green garden sizzle string for the hair.

Just experimenting makes for an interesting time I feel. Mind you I have blanked on my last two trips and now the waters are frozen and the small roads are dangerously icy alongside the drains it will be a few days before I venture forth.

 

[naxian62]

@John, would be very interested to learn how you are actually mounting the bait on a hair ? I' ve kinda developed my own hair/bait rig, but i only use this when I'm fishing a kebab style bait.
Any chance you could elaborate? We gotta do something while we wait for the ice to melt !

 

[103841]

Watch this video 8 minutes in to see how Tony makes a hair rig.

YouTube

 

[naxian62]

Yeah remember seeing this a coupla years ago, and I started using singles. But jeez, it"s a bit of faff getting that bait on.

 

[john step]

@John, would be very interested to learn how you are actually mounting the bait on a hair ? I' ve kinda developed my own hair/bait rig, but i only use this when I'm fishing a kebab style bait.
Any chance you could elaborate? We gotta do something while we wait for the ice to melt !

If my fingers are not too cold I whip a piece of the aforementioned green garden string to the back of the hook. The other end is pulled through the tail end of the bait with a bait needle. I unravel the string to use only one strand. This is tied with a simple knot to give about 2 or 3 inches of hair. I have used a loop on the end of the hair and used one of those bait stops with a little hook but they seem to get lost and the knot method has no cost.

Its as cheap as chips and a roll lasts several seasons. I have no proof but just feel that the taste of metal wire can cause dropped takes when the pike get to the finicky stage late in the winter and that the string hair helps overcome this. Thats my theory anyway.

I must admit to reverting to a single hook through the tail despite the feeling that wire (hook) might put them off late in the season when they can appear to be reluctant to take a bait but seem to just sit and hold it. The hook will be I feel be more likely to be in the mouth. Its a smaller bait at this stage for me.

I just try to judge hair or no hair on the day. No hard and fast rule.

If I am feeling lazy or its cold on the fingers I just tie the string to the bend of the hook. I must say I have not noticed any difference in use!

The size 2 catfish hooks have stood me well. You can file the barbs down no problem.
They have a turned out eye and a slightly turned in point and hook and hold well.
No problems with the smaller jacks that spin and tangle the net.

I like to use that tress stuff and use the hook attaching method in that popular video. (hook attached by loop which makes changing hooks easy). When I get the hook tangled in the net (rarely) I just snip the hook and loop a new hook on.

I must say I dont use Tress but revert to wire when sink and drawing with frequent casting as wire is more tangle free for this type of fishing.

The string works well with your kebab style as well.

PS That Wondertress is hard to come by. I get it from France. PECHEUR.COM I have bought a stock to last a year or two before 29th March.

 

[103841]

Check your stock John and anybody else who has Wondertress.

Wondertress 8kg 5m | Terminal Tackle | Future Fishing

 

[john step]

Check your stock John and anybody else who has Wondertress.

Wondertress 8kg 5m | Terminal Tackle | Future Fishing

Yes should have said. Supertress is what I bought. Pecheur didn't have any wondertress on their site and I just assumed that the name change was an upgrade to the new name similar to what lots of manufacturers do. They obviously stopped selling it for the same reason.

PS Just gone onto Pecheur and to your link above. Nobody seems to have any Supertress. Shame.

PPS In that case. I would recommend a trace that the tackle tarts and connoisseurs would blanch at but is very good.
Its a trace that comes plastic coated (green) in a packs of various strains with crimps included.
FLADEN. There I said the connoisseurs would react!

 

[103841]

I see it in stock at Pecheur.

Stainless steel terminal tackle braid cannelle supratress 799