[Cdog]

I decided to put this on th open forum so I could get input from people fishing different areas.

I have been using circle hooks for big fish for about 2 yrs now.Recently I have switched to circles for small fish as well.I have had some pretty decent croaker fishing and once I dropped down to a smaller hook size have found myself outcatching nearby fisherman.But best of all NO GUT HOOKS.
Now some may say croaker big deal if ya gut hook it.But what if a striper comes along an takes your rig.If ya gut hook a striper its pretty much dead.(Out of season here right now).

So anyway I was wondering how many use circles for all fish and who uses J's and why.

 

[blue bird]

I use J hooks. I had some circle hooks that were on a rig I found and all I ever seemed to do was lose strong pulling fish. I got rid of those hooks since. The only time I've seen the circle hooks out perform the J hooks is fishing for blue catfish with chunks of cut eel.

 

[Adam]

Sounds like somebody didnt give em a good enough chance huh Clay Try em again, dont set the hook, fish dont come unbottoned easily, promise.

 

[repair5343]

Thats all I use is the circle hooks.
I find them much better than the J hooks.
Just let the fish do the work, don't try to set the hook.

 

[Mudpuppy69]

I use circles about ten times more than any other hook. I started using them about 8 years ago. I hate to say it, but I've still gut hooked fish with circles. Can't say I've lost may though.

 

[Drumdum]

Do ya REALLY wanna hear what I gots ta say?? Well I'll voice it anyway.. I have use circles since the mid 80's.. On tarpon in Fla and on the Nuese.. BUT never for drummies until 3 yrs ago(I gave the hook a full yr try).. Was sorry I did.. I guthooked two fish one from the planks and one from the boat!! Was mad because I had YET to guthook ANY LARGE DRUMMIES(in 27yr of fishin) UNTIL I USED THE GAMI!!! I had SEVERAL FISH pull off after the fight was on for several minutes!! It seemed as though the fish would turn and the hook would for no purticular reason,"pop out"..
Well,it was the Gami 8/0 circle,not really a TRUE CIRCLE AT ALL!! The things are offset and you really could set the hook with the things.. Since,I have used the owner,mustad,eagle claw,and the gami octopus.. All seem to be good hooks,the eagle claw,gami,and owner all have a "slight offset"which I take out with plyers.. Have yet to guthook a fish with either of these hooks,with the offset taken out,and losses are at a minimum..

 

[Cdog]

Yup Adam,I dropped down to 2/0 gammi's an just let th fish hit,pick up th rod an reel in a fish.Almost stopped using circles when I first started cuz I liked ta set th hook like Bill Dance.

 

[emanuel]

I love the circle hooks, swear by them. Have circles all the way up 14/0 and wouldn't use anything else, especially when it comes to drum and sharks.

I will use j hooks if it's for things that like to hit and run, macks and blues come to mind.

 

[Digger]

A couple of years ago I started to use circle hooks (except for tarpon for which I have used since the seventies, including lures). I found I had a real problem on Cobia, I could not stick one so I quit for them. Now they have worked for just about every thing else. But any botton orentated mouth fish they will out fish anything I have ever used. I use a Eagle Claw 25 pack 2/0 and 3/0 that sells for about 5-6 bucks for most of the fish.
Now Drumdum mentioned the Gami and my dislike for these hooks is about as high as it can get. I still have some of these in my tackle bags but once they are gone they will never be replaced. My favorite large Circle is a Dihachi 11/0 (larger if I can find them) I may try these for Cobia with cut bait this year.

 

[George Gravier]

Cdog
I use mustad 13/0 circles for drum/cobia/shark, I intentially offset mine and never had a gut hooked fish. Caught quite a few drum and alot of sharks on them and two cobia last year and they all were hooked in the corner of the mouth. Alot of people dont use circles for cobia because of there lower jaw protrudes slightly but so far havent had a problem. Dont like the gami's at all. peace...............geo

 

[joeturse]

I fish for Stripers,and in two years have not gut hooked a fish.Which is great as a lot of shorts would be floating if circle hooks were not used.
I believe they should be required by law.A released gut hooked fish has no chance of survival.

Joe

 

[Barracuda]

Okay, what size circle hooks do you guys use for stripers? Croaker?

 

[Guest]

I was introduced to circle hooks by Jamcaster, after about a week I gave up and switched to the old j-hook. Last year I decided to give the circle hooks one more try for a longer period of time, now that's the only hook that can be found in my tackle box, I catch more fish with less effort. Circle hooks should be mandatory during the catch and release season.

 

[Sandcrab]

1. Put circle hooks on line.
2. Bait hooks.
2. Cast out and wait.
3. Get bite - ignore and let fish hook
themselves.
4. Reel in fish.

How easy can it get?

 

[Kimoslobby]

JoeT--while your comment about gut-hooked fish may hold true for Stripers, I can say with certainty that if handled properly, a gut-hooked flounder can survive. Jake Ace and I have both recaught flounder we gut-hooked. Thankfully, we don't gut-hook many (maybe 10/year), but due to the tagging program we can verify that cutting the line and releasing the fish with a minimum of stress does work (at least in some cases).

I know this is off topic, but regardless of what type of hook someone uses, I think it's worthwhile to remind folks to cut the line on a gut-hooked fish and at least give them a chance to survive.

 

[HuskyMD]

I have tried gamas and matsui. Don't like either. Can someone suggest size and brand for croaker/striper fishing? That's MD bay fishing.

 

[Digger]

I'm currently using for Croaker a Eagle Claw L197BK in 2/0 or 3/0. I have others that I use but this is my best value hook for this app. Stripers I mainly catch on lures.

 

[Macman]

Cdog,

Sandcrab nailed it! Circles leave me fishing "circles" around my bro-n-law. He's hittin and missing all evening and I just "set it and forget it". Fish do all the work. I have found out that you really should match the hook size to whatever you are after. To big a circle hook can defeat their purpose. Good luck!

Macman

 

[seafisher]

It all dpends on your preference. I mean the circle and J hooks may catch the same amount of fish but if a person uses live bait hooks all the time then why would they use circle hook? But, if someone fished cutbait all the time then it really wouldn't matter what kind of hook they used.. its just up to how deep they wanna dig to get the hook out. I think that circle hooks are good for striper and drum when using cut bait but if someone is using eels for striper.. thats just a mess trying to rig one but, if you are live bait fishing with live bait hooks for say, jacks, spanish, blues, well then there is no use in using circle hooks.

 

[terpfan]

in the bay, i use daichi circle wide hook, size 2/0. for croaker and stripers, it is the ultimate, but it could be quite expensive if i lose the rig when the hook cost almost a dollar a piece.