Fishing Questions???

Ken -

I agree the circles probably have less total hook ups particularly on Salmon. On tuna and yellowtail with live bait they work great. Many SD longer rangers fish only ringed Mutu circles. They also work well in Alaska fishing big Halibut. I fish them on rockfish and lingcod with great success. On rockfish, I have less fish come off the hook at the surface when bringing them up from depth using circles compared to J's. Next time rockfishing use a 2 hook rig with one J 5/0 hook and one 5/0 light Mutu circle both with squid and check out the comparitive success. I agree that circles on Salmon suck.

Scott (GB2)

I have used ringed super mutu circles hooks on Long Range Trips 5 to 17 days.  It just is I like to "set the hook".  You can not do that with circles.  Probably, why I like to Mooch salmon and not troll for them.  Also, mooch you can use lighter line, play the fish out and not have to land them in the corners.

Rockcod I used a Jig with a treble and braid.  Graphite rods and no line stretch.

Circles are harder to hook live bait with also.

Ken kickfish

circle hooks are pretty fun because you don't have to set the hook and the fish if hooked is usually
hooked well and in the corner of the mouth. better for us less talented folk that set the hook at the wrong
time anyways.

it is important for the tip of the hook to be exposed!

I have a big bag of owner mutu light ciircle hooks in size 1, plus some 1/0's and some 2/0's.

it is a little harder to hook the live bait, like an anchovy, certainly in the gill plate, but if you nose hook them,
they stay on and can swim around pretty well.

for a relaxing day with a pile of live anchovies in a bait tube, a single circle hook on the end of a long leader with
a sliding sinker (basically a mooching outfit, but barbed) is a fun way to catch and optionally release a lot of fish.
yes, you will get a few anchovies bitten in half, but you will also land plenty fish.

I have caught sharks, mackerel, and rockfish and even halibut this way in capitola.

In the florida keys I hooked a lot of fish on these circles, barracuda, mangrove snapper, even a tarpon!

I also fished next to a guy perch fishing in santa cruz. he was using a pretty big circle hook basically the same setup as above,
but using mussels and the like as bait. The hook looked too big to get in the mouth of a small BSP,
but he caught as many fish as I did grub fishing and a solid striper too.  he would cast out,
put it in a big rod holder and watch the rod tip. not too many fish came unbuttoned.
I actually made a rod holder after seeing him in action. used a big 4' long pvc tube.

maybe the mouth of a salmon doesn't catch a circle hook very well, but they seem to work well on other fish.

J

circle hooks are pretty fun because you don't have to set the hook

Fun in not setting the hook?????????   What is this crazy talk 

circle hooks are pretty fun because you don't have to set the hook

Fun in not setting the hook?????????   What is this crazy talk 

setting the hook is FISHING  (unless you're the type of fisherman who just wants to cast some bait out and wait for the fish to come to you....there's nothing wrong with this...but I'd rather "seek and destroy" 

it's better than missing the set!  I am still a "baby" in fishing-years compared to mooch and art,
but I know that in some ways a circle hook is a good thing for the inexperienced fisherperson
and probably the experienced fisherperson if they can unlearn the "rip lips" set.

less gut hooks, more mouth hooks, no need to set the hook super hard. (live) bait stays on the hook.

I will bring circle hooks if I take my wife fishing, same with my kids. they are probably a little safer too.

J

I don't encourage circle hooks with new fishers for a number of reasons.

It encourages a person to be lazy and not pay attention.  "hey, I just let the fish set the hook, so I'll just chill"
And if they do pay attention, in their inexperience, they tend to jerk the hook out of the fishes mouth.

Neither are good.

I would rather a person starting to fish to learn to detect the bite and react accordingly.

MolBasser

YakinGal-

Looks like you've gotten some great advice already. I'll try to not confuse you any more by getting too technical about hook sets, circle vs. J hooks and all that stuff. Since you are new to fishing, I'm going to give you the same advice I've given my 7yr old son. Hold on to your pole, pay attention and let your instincts take over. Set the hook hard, set the hook soft or don't set it at all. If you get it... great. If the fish gets away, that's fine too. There are always more down there to catch. Try out different techniques and see what will work for you. I know missing a bite can get frustrating but, you'll start catching you fair share. Jr has done well on the trout and bass and the best thing about it... win lose or draw, he has fun out there and that makes my day.

Have fun out there...

Freddie "Savage"

...some more advice

Fisherman's Warehouse has FREE fishing seminars every Thursday night - Justin and Glen are both experienced fishermen and I have learned a lot from their seminars (I still attend these seminars cause there's always something new to learn). You can call them and have them add you to their email list and you will get a schedule (see below) every week.

hey gang this weeks thursday night seminar is foothill lakes trout with justin guzman it will cover amador, camanche, and pardee. as usual it will be held at fishermans warehouse in sanjose starting at 6pm lasting about one and a half hours. i also wanted to let everyone know we still have our sale going on till 12/24/06.for info or directions please call 408-873-0113.
 
 
justin

IMO: if you feel a tap, wait and keep your rod parallel to the water. Wait for the fish to commit - and you'll know once your rod tip starts to point down into the water = set the hook and say "HULI KA!!"  

Hmmm. One of the meanings of HULI KA in Hawaiian is "to bail out an overturned canoe". You must be using the Filipino version, I assume!

Nothing, I repeat, nothing will improve your hooking/landing ratio more than ulrta sharp hooks!! Drag the hook over your thumbnail. If it doesn't stick into your nail, it's not sharp enough. Hit it with a diamond nail file. Try and create a triangle shape to the hook point.

IMO: if you feel a tap, wait and keep your rod parallel to the water. Wait for the fish to commit - and you'll know once your rod tip starts to point down into the water = set the hook and say "HULI KA!!"  

Hmmm. One of the meanings of HULI KA in Hawaiian is "to bail out an overturned canoe". You must be using the Filipino version, I assume!

Filipino it is