Circle Hooks to the Rescue! - Salt water Fishing

[seajunky]

Circle Hooks to the Rescue! - Salt water Fishing
As a catch and release fisherman I am always concerned about the welfare of the fish I release. So it is with a great deal of interest that I fished this last trip using circle hooks. These hooks have been around for a long time, but only recently have they been used to improve catch and release survival.

What do you think?

[izzetafox]

What would be ideal would be a circle hook, to aid mouth as opposed to deep, hooking and barbless to be able to just slip the fish off.
Being a circle, fish losses due to no barb should be significantly reduced.
That really would be a plus for fish welfare especailly for the poor mackies.

Only problem barbless circles are almost as scarce as quality fish when I wet a bait..... :-)

[seajunky]

Terry

I will look into a barbless circle hook supplier for you.

[izzetafox]

Cheers Steve.
I must admit circle hooks are something I have considered using for my pike fishing so as to get away from the dreaded treble hooks, but I would prefer barbless to make life a little safer when messing near a mouthful of needle sharp teeth.... lol

[highplains]

I have never seen nor previously heard of circle hooks. Any chance of a photo please?

Highplains

[izzetafox]

Cicle hooks look like this:


Theory is that as the barb is less prominent it does not catch flesh in the throat thus deep hooking but as it comes out of the mouth the line is at an angle and it hook catches in the corner of the jaws.
From articles I have read there are varying estimates on the success of the hooks, some say catch rates are down by 30%. BUT more importantly mortality rates are down by similar figures or better.

This give more detail of the actual hook:


www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if0502_VVCircleHooks/

[leonroskilly]

Circle hooks will slide down a 'tube' (such as a fishes gullet), without engaging, and need an 'edge' (ie the side of a fishes mouth) to turn and engage, so deep-hooking is rare.


I started using circles for livebaiting for bass, then for static baits for bass.

The hardest thing was learning not to strike, but wait for the fish to set the hook.

As an experiment, I also used them for pike fishing last season, crushing the barbs down with pliers.

Things I learned when pike fishing.

. Do not strike, let the fish set the hook. Just tighten up the slack line, but not so much that the rod tip pulls around, leave that to the fish.

. If the pike is facing you, the hook won't set.

. Pike clamp down on the bait. It's not until they loosen their grip that the hook can engage. Jacks will often be turned towards you and the hook drops out of their mouth. Most runs that fail to connect are small jacks.

.Deep-hooking is rare (even when runs are left a long time), though hooks taken down deep will sometimes engage at the far back of the mouth, where they come back out of the gullet.

. Circles need to be rolled out of the wound, and it takes a little while to perfect the technique. Once you've mastered it, unhooking is a doddle, often just using fingers without the need to open tha pike's jaw.

. Trout will often be deep-hooked with circles, and difficult to de-hook, best stick to J hooks if trout are about, when unhooking of deep hooked trout is far easier using a disgorger.

I will definitely be using circles for pike next season.

I'm told that circles also work well for perch.

[izzetafox]

Thanks Leon that encourages me as my main prey is likely to be pike.

All we need is a manufactuer to make barbless models.

Definitely a must for anglers concerned about fish welfare.

[seajunky]

Terry

Its like Leon did, and that was to either cruch the barb with pliers or file them off. I havn't been able to find a barbless circle hook yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[izzetafox]

I guess so. it just seems strange no one has produced a babless one yet. Or is there a logical reason?

[seajunky]

I will keep looking.

[highplains]

Thanks izzetafox,

If they work then they have to be worth looking into. I will see if I can find some to suite.

Thank you.

Highplains

[highplains]

Thanks Leon.

Regards.

Highplains