Circle Hooks

 50 years of fishing and to this point never used a circle hook . Question , how do they work on halibut ? Always used regular live bait hooks with good success . Wondering about the different shape / position of a halibuts head and if the circle hook would be an improvement over a live bait hook . I know with a circle hook you let the fish basically hook itself , same as how I fish halibut .

Thanks , Dan

They will work on Halibut and have caught a few large ones on circle hooks (barbless too) using live bait.  I typically hold the rod though and like to set the hook, so gamakatsu octopus hooks are my personal favorite w/ a little rubber stopper on the hook to keep the live bait on well (usually a tiny piece of rubber worm or rubberband).  I've been having really bad luck w/ circle hooks on sturgeon lately which is why I switched back to octos.  I catch 95% of my halis on lures though and avoid live bait b/c I find it more challenging & interesting.  If you like to use rod holders & live/dead bait and want to try circle hooks, never set the hook.  Just reel the rod till you feel pressure and keep the pressure on the fish.  The hook will catch and set it's self.  Halibut have a strong tendency to chew up the bait and spit out the hook or b/c gut hooked which sucks.  Good luck man, wrong time of year but good luck.

-SF

Thanks for the input SurfFisher , usually hold my rod , unless using two . Gotcha on the timing , I fish Tomales Bay and usually don't even try until at least Fathers Day ! Never had a hali gut hooked , quite often get them with a smaller treble hook stinger and most always set the hook . Was just curious if the circle hook route might end in less scraped baits ?

Never thought about circle hooks on sturgeon , do real well with a nice sharp Gamukatsu octopus style . Like to slam the steel home and feel dead weight and then the freight train take off , don't think I would like to wait for a circle to set itself ! Also hold my rod 99.9% of the time sturgeon fishing , caught some that I never saw a pump , only felt the humming of the line in the current change and hit em .

I've used circle hooks for a while. I get better results on fish that inhale the bait vs ones that take a while to swallow. Tuna, Yellowtail, Grouper were no problem but Wahoo sometimes maim a bait then come back. Bass and Salmon inhale but Halibut have a habit of chewing for while. I am surprised at how big a bait a smaller halibut will take, maybe they like smoking a cigar! I haven't used circles on butts because of that. But if you are only targeting big fish or catch and release they are the best.

I almost exclusively use circle hooks...love 'em-- i don't set the hook, but reel like crazy instead. rarely miss a hit

I am a recent convert to circle hooks for halis and since I started using them I have had a 100% success rate with them. Basically, every tap-tap-tap I felt while using circle hooks has resulted in a hali in the boat.

I use barbed Owner circles with a 4' leader. When I feel the first tap I strip out an arm's length of line (or two depending on drift speed) and then I just let the line come tight before I start reeling. So far, it works like a charm! 

Yep and ya gotta be patient....NO BASSMASTER SLAM-O HOOKSET. I also like the in-line (non offset) hooks. Additionally, when I am doing only C&R you can smash down the barb and the hook removal is simple but the 'circle' aspect keeps them on 'till you are ready to release.

I know up in Alaska they use em for halibut a lot, so they must work...

NO BASSMASTER SLAM-O HOOKSET.

but thats how i was always taught by my grandpa "gotta rip their lips off"   

Thanks guys for your ideas , got some lighter wire 1/0 owners coming from a EBay deal . The way I hook halibut , waiting for them to chew the bait and then wait for the weight seemed like a natural for circle hooks . Sure wish I could have found those hooks in red , but no luck ! For some reason I just seem to do better with a red hook as compared to nickle , not sure why ?

C&R Halibut , no way ! Everything else has a chance of release , but not halibut ! Get all kinds of Wifey Points when halibut comes home . Slight white lie , keeper size lings and big rockfish do also find there way to my freezer on occasion .

Everyone up here uses circles for Halis. It could be because we have Pacific Halibut which are larger . Like Shimmy said, if you are targeting larger fish they'll most likely work better for you.

Interesting old school research paper on the success rate of circles and hali fishing.
http://www.iphc.washington.edu/halcom/pubs/bulletin/ib0028.pdf

Z

C&R Halibut , no way ! Everything else has a chance of release , but not halibut ! Get all kinds of Wifey Points when halibut comes home

last year my wife told me "don't bring home anymore halibut! Go fish for something else"
I was cracking up...halibut steaks, halibut burgers, halibut tacos, halibut fish sticks, baked halibut, steamed halibut, bbq halibut, smoked halibut, stir fried halibut, halibut cerviche, halibut ciopinno,....

nothing left in the freezer now, but some big old tuna chunk

Thanks guys for your ideas , got some lighter wire 1/0 owners coming from a EBay deal .

1/0 circle hooks feel a bit small to me, but it depends on the specific hook.  Make sure the gap is big enough to wrap around the corner of a butts mouth.

-Allen

Thanks guys for your ideas , got some lighter wire 1/0 owners coming from a EBay deal .

1/0 circle hooks feel a bit small to me, but it depends on the specific hook.  Make sure the gap is big enough to wrap around the corner of a butts mouth.

-Allen

I've been using size 2 Owner circles when fishing with anchovies and small shiners and they have worked well on fish as large as 28". I haven't tried the circles with larger baits like walleyes or smelt, but I can foresee using circle hooks up to 3/0 for those baits.

yes live bait usually means a thin wire or smaller hook otherwise it's like driving a railroad spike through their heads. You'd be shocked how big a hook a striper or hali will take. I have nabbed them on 5/0 circle hooks....Oh and I agree no C&R on hali's if its legal it's lunch! I was thinking sharks, rays, etc.