______ing circles

[crazyice]

I got my first flathead ever last night and actually managed to get two the whole night, the second one came on cutbait on a 6/0 circle hook. It did just what it was supposed to do, right in the corner of the mouth. I said it earlier and I will probably say it again, now that I have switched to circles, my personal experience is that my hookups have goon up.

[dps]

I might have a solution for some ofthose having difficulties with circle hooks... especially when te fish arent as agressive as they can be.

MAKE SURE YOUR HOOK IS SHARP! .. and the hook point is in the proper direction. It doesnt take much of a snag to take the edge off a hook... and logs will change the angle of the point or dull the hook.

Downsizing your baits and your hook along with it can have phenominal results when the fish are finicky... but the hookup ratio is not going to increase at all with a dull hook. Sharpening circles is a pain in the rear, you need a good stone to do it(files arent so hot). Sometimes when we have loose hooks floating in a box, the points are also dulled.

There are ays when a J hook is not going to increase your hookup ratio when circles are not working. I used to use stinger hooks(like walleye stingers) when long distance casting/channel cat fishing which eliminated my poor hookup ratio with finicky fish, just attatch it to the eye of the hook and add hardware to fit the regulations of that given year.

Catfish(especially channels) will not let go of a bait when pressure is applied, but they will release a bait if pressure lets off, or changes dramaticly. This is the reason circles work so well.. when the fish are big enough to eat the bait, and they move away with the bait.. they just pull harder.

If the fish are just grabbing the bait and not the hook, not much one can do without a stinger.

Think smarter.. if your getting bites, there are fish there. If you cant hook them, figure out a presentation that will put the hook in the mouth of the fish.

[Blue Kayak]

Just before the rain I lost a nice fish on a circle hook. Is it possible that we have been having trouble hooking up with cirles because the river was slow moving and clear? It will be interesting to see if circles start working better when there is more sediment and a faster flow. The fish won't have as much time to decide if they want to take the bait or not. In fast water if they don't take it quick, it's gone.

[DTro]

They work good for turtles too

[hanson]

Quote:

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Is it possible that we have been having trouble hooking up with cirles because the river was slow moving and clear? It will be interesting to see if circles start working better when there is more sediment and a faster flow. The fish won't have as much time to decide if they want to take the bait or not. In fast water if they don't take it quick, it's gone.

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I was telling Dtro the same thing last night, almost verbatim as to what you've wrote. In faster current, the fish has to react quicker to bait otherwise he might lose his chance to eat it. Its more of a quick reaction than anything. Oooo... food. Munch!

[ec30_06]

I'll second that they work well on turtles

[Kyle B]

I will put a 2nd on that circles work well on turtles for ed!

[Shack]

I figure I would bump this thread, for the new people to the Circle hook.

Start learning over again....