jack Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 Following all the talk of "circle hooks" during the summer,I decided I had better get some.Being a bit lazy,and the post being cheaper than petrol.[no tackle shops near Shaftesbury]. I sent to Veals and a tackle shop in Paignton for some.On receipt I was surprised to see that thier sizes don't correspond much to thier normal style cousins [circles much smaller].And they are so much more expensive.So last week I found an advert on e-bay that looked promising. I sent for and received,3 boxes of rapala hooks;25x10/0;.. 25x8/0;.. 10x16/0..= 60 hooks for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 Will be really interested to see these Jack. I haven't been brave enough to try them yet, depsite being assured by everyone who has that they are great and you only ever get a lip hooked fish. I must think about binning my old "O-shaugnessy" hooks and move into the 21st century! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 I use circle hooks for breams and small fish like whiting etc, but keep my other hooks for different applications, i.e., although they do a large cicle hook, but I've never the urge to try it on a conger. Also Jack, they are different circle, different shapes from different manufacturers, also there are half circle, plus those for worm baits,...... quite a few to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 we were bream fishing with circle hooks and dad caught a 40lb tope and it was only able to be landed because it was caught in the lip. sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamouse Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 being assured by everyone who has that they are great and you only ever get a lip hooked fish. Tom, The 'only lip-hooked' isn't true, it should be 'mainly lip-hooked'. I've lost several circle hooks to greedy dogfish, I wonder if there's something (gill bars??) in a dogfish throat that catches up on circles. Otherwise, they do work well enough on their target species and hook-up rates seem similar to J-hooks. There are a couple of negative aspects: early ones designed for longlining were ludicrously heavy gauge and wrecked presentation of light squid baits for bream, they can be awkward to T-bar off and bait presentation is trickier, with threading worms almost an impossibility. What really worries me though is whether a narrow gape circle hook would engage in the rounded scissors of a larger fish, such as a big cod. Maybe Sam's tale of the 40lb tope answers that but it is certainly a worry using circles for whiting when you are always aware that a cod could well have a go at your little baits. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueboatdriver Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 I've been using veals semi-circle hooks for flounders; size 2 I think. Every fish including three well in size bass were hooked in the corner of the mouth. The semi-circles are a bit easier to bait with worms than the full circles. I'm sure these will make good bream hooks next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overdraft Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 Looking forward to seeing the roller Jack,Silver Shadow!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 uk_hooks.co.uk has some good ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 I'd echo Pauls input on UK Hooks.........I've been buying from Mike for over a year now, his prices are excellent, knock spots off veals, and his hook catalogue is superb. Try his redvanadium worm hooks in smaller sizes, they work on a simialr principle to circles, aslo try his semi circle streamers......excellent livebait hooks, great for bass. Rich. I think its www.uk hooks .co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Mike is an excellent bloke, he will help you the best he can on the phone. Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afishionado Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 uk_hooks.co.uk has some good ones Actualy it's ........http://www.uk-hooks.org/ Mad Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul D Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 or www.uk-hooks.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted December 2, 2005 Report Share Posted December 2, 2005 having been using full circles for 3 years now I would comment as follows (again!) - t bar - yes this is a problem. However I use a heavy set of narrow jawed moles which can always (see 1 exception below) access the shank easily and flip the fish off. Rays are bought aboard, placed on their back and unhooked easily in the same way. sizes are apparantly different - until you realise they relate primarily to the gape and aren't quite as different as they first seem! generally I use a Mustad 10/0 (heavy guage) or Gamakatsu Octupus circle (closer to a 3/4 circle) with a strip of cuttle, mackerel cutlet or half, one or two calamari or a 16/0 for a whole fish bait or a fan of calamari - takes 16 coincidentially! lip hooked cod to 22, blondes and other rays to 25, conger to 40 and the odd whiting, dog and pout despite the relationship between the lips and hook 'gap' without apparant difficulty. I have only once had the hook anywhere other than in the lips - last weekeend I had a huss in the throat somehow. I suspect I could have pulled it hard to remove but played around and unhooked it as for a J. This was the Gamaktsu and slightly open but still surprised. Only worm baits I have ever use are simply head hooked on smaller Owner circles for bass, pollack and wrasse without any problems. I will admit to having created 2 J pennels specifically for my target species last Sunday, fished with frozen sandeel. Lost both early on without success to the VERY ROUGH ground! I would probably fish a J for flats with threaded worm baits or live sandeels for bass; but would be tempted to use small light circles to lip hook them as a comparision too. Up until this week, and excepting a session where we established 3inch bream were stripping our squid baits intended for rays, I have not experienced more than the very exceptional bite without a hook up - I haven't really an answer to this but it was my first experience of huss and the mark so will keep an open mind........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted December 2, 2005 Report Share Posted December 2, 2005 16/0? What the hell were you fishing for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted December 3, 2005 Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 use those hooks for cod, rays and conger - anything that likes a big bait I have switched to smaller baits and hooks for tope this year and had a lot more success but as discussed these are Mustard 16/0 circles and, apart from the thickness of the wire (thick!) they come up about 10/0 in the hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted December 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 I have found the 16/0 circle hooks I bought ,to be very useful. I have the spare wheel for the caravan hanging on one in the garage.another has replaced the hook on the shed door,and I am working with a third to make the kids one of those overhead slides on a wire cable...they're great.. ..jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted December 3, 2005 Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 yep - strong enough for all those applications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy fred Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 i use circle hooks fly fishing on buzzers, and have found that they give 50-50 hook up rate same as useing normal hooks.When live baiting for striped marlin these hooks are fantastic we used them in one catch and release tounament,and won 10,000 dollars and came second with a 100%hook up rate. With sail fish forget it they are just useless and we dont know why. In desperation we hair rigged the circle it certainly got the takes but still could not hook the sails but dorado and other speices it worked fantastic so it might be worth a go over here. what we did was sew the bait through the eyes and then to the circle with about an 2.5cm between hook and bait. How you sew a ragworm through the eyes ill leave up to your imagination? Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Martin Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 i use circle hooks fly fishing on buzzers, and have found that they give 50-50 hook up rate same as useing normal hooks.When live baiting for striped marlin these hooks are fantastic we used them in one catch and release tounament,and won 10,000 dollars and came second with a 100%hook up rate. With sail fish forget it they are just useless and we dont know why. In desperation we hair rigged the circle it certainly got the takes but still could not hook the sails but dorado and other speices it worked fantastic so it might be worth a go over here. what we did was sew the bait through the eyes and then to the circle with about an 2.5cm between hook and bait. How you sew a ragworm through the eyes ill leave up to your imagination? Fred Fred Thanks next time I'm blue water fishing out of Poole I'll try it Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy fred Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 it was the size of circle hooks 8/0 fish up to 160lb so what was he fishing for nuclear subs with 16/0, "fight the beast give it line" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spNOam Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I have been using Rapala 10/0 circes for a number of years which I brought back from the states (Bass Pro Shops) they are immensely strong, I use them for Tope and they do tend to lip hook fish more often than 'standard' hooks. The average weight for a Tope in this area is approx 30lb (some go over 60lb) I de-barb the hook and not wishing to bring a fish this size on to the boat use a 't' bar for easy removal. If you don't de-barb the hook they can be the very devil to remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I find t bars and full circles don't mix particularily well - however as the bend of the hook is normally clear I use a pair of long nose moles, clamp onto the bend and they twist out real easy. Barbless however they should come out a lot easier still As circles sizing and baiting is still a hot topic I will see if I can sort out some pictures to 'aid discussions' - my favorite 10/0 circle is about the same 'size' as a 3-4/0 J hook but I will admit the 16/0 are a little larger - take 12 calamari hanging on the bend in a fan or a single (2lb) cuttle.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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