Circle hooks for Sewin / Salmon

[Fal]

Morning all!

A friend of mine is using circle hooks at the moment for fishing tube flies for both Salmon and Sea Trout. Reckons they hold very, very, well as long as they set properly.

No strike, just leave the fish take it and lift in slowly.

I have bought some as I am losing fish a lot lately, I don't like the look on the hooks and they don't fill me with confidence, but I can see how they will hold well if set properly.

Have any of you used them and how do you rate them?? I know they are popular in sea fishing and some wormers use them, but I don't hear of many fly fishers using them.

Cheers,

Rhodri

[holly]

Circle Hooks

Morning all!

A friend of mine is using circle hooks at the moment for fishing tube flies for both Salmon and Sea Trout. Reckons they hold very, very, well as long as they set properly.

No strike, just leave the fish take it and lift in slowly.

I have bought some as I am losing fish a lot lately, I don't like the look on the hooks and they don't fill me with confidence, but I can see how they will hold well if set properly.

Have any of you used them and how do you rate them?? I know they are popular in sea fishing and some wormers use them, but I don't hear of many fly fishers using them.

Cheers,

Rhodri

Hi Fal, I have just purchased some of the above, through the recommendation of a very good Sea Trout Fisher, and he assures me the hooking function is very good.

Hope that inspires you to be confident!

Regards, holly.

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Hi Rhodri,

I find that you always need to strike a sea trout (unless in fast water), so I really don't think they will be well applied to sea trout on the fly, sadly. Salmon, however, should be fine.

TT.

[spyderweb]

circle hooks for flies

Hi Rhodri,

I find that you always need to strike a sea trout (unless in fast water), so I really don't think they will be well applied to sea trout on the fly, sadly. Salmon, however, should be fine.

TT.

Hugh Falkus has said that some sharpness should be taken off the hook point so that it can slide in the fish's mouth until it finds a good hold in gristle or the scissors. The problem with ultra sharp hooks is that they can stick in bone with a shallow hold. The fish is played and apparently well hooked until the hook loses it's purchase and the fish comes off. By using a circle hook [my preference is for a barbless circle] the design ensures that the hook point finds the scissors or the edge of the jaw but because they are ultra sharp they penetrate well. The design of the circle hook ensures that the hold is the most secure. Falkus stated that a sea trout hook should have a medium to large barb and a firm strike would be necessary but the circle hook design negates the need for a barb or firm strike. A circle hook tied on the leader with a loop knot e.g. a Rapala knot is the most efficient method for finding a good purchase in the fish's jaw. Inline circle hooks have more chance of jaw hooking than offset circles. I find that tightening up the drag on the reel and pointing the rod tip low and in line with the fly line allows the fish hook themselves. The line should not be held, the drag of the reel should be sufficient to set the hook. This method causes less damage to a fish that is returned to the water.

[Mick B]

Hi Fal,
Have no fear about using circle hooks.
As has been said always ensure you use none curbed hooks - with the hook point inline with the hook shank.
Do not tie the hook tight to the leader or tippet, or if you use them on hard lures or spinners add an extra ring.
This is to allow the hook to swing as it takes hold of the fish,

When the fish takes a circle into its mouth the angler does nothing but lower the rod and point the rod down the line, the fish will swim away and the hook will be drawn out the corner of its mouth and into the hinge where it will obtain a solid hold. If the fish has the hook outside its mouth but the lure/bait/spinner inside its mouth the hook can take an equally secure hold entering from thr outside in (an illegal catch, but a catch all the same).

If you have any doubts, attach a circle hook to a length of nylon and drop it into a plastic bucket, then lower the line to the level of the bucket rim and slowly draw the hook out of the bucket, and it wll yake a hold on the bucket rim - providing the gape of the hook is wider than the bucket rim.

So before choosing a suitable circle hook ensure the hooks gape is wider than the jawbone of the fish your targeting.
A small gape circle can and will take a hold but it will not as secure as if it goes around the jawbone.

The wire size of the hook is not relevant to its strength.
During the initial trials of sportfishing circle hooks by Eagle Claw a Blue Marlin of over 1000lbs was caught and released on a circle with a wire size of .079" that is less than 1/16 of an inch and smaller than the diameter of a cocktail stick!

I recommend you try Eagle Claw circles first as this company is responsible more than any other for taking the basic commercial long line hook and reseaching exactly what was best for recreational sport anglers.

Lastly, once a fish is hooked on a circle you can foget about it escaping, the hook is there until you take it out.
Ex; I regularly used to fish alone for Marlin and once a fish was hooked I could put the rod into a rod holder and reel in all the other lines while the hooked fish went balistic trying unsuccessfully to throw the hook.


If you want to trial some hooks pm me your address and I will send you some for free.

[spyderweb]

I fully agree with the inline aspect, the gape, the loop knot and the strength of the hook. There is none of the usual mechanics of forces compared to an ordinary J hook. The angles of applied force are different.
Also they seem to snag less on the riverbed and keep their point sharp. Well worth the extra cost in my opinion. I have one gripe, I have yet to find a straight eyed barbless circle hook in sizes 6 > 2. I prefer barbless to de-barbed, less corrosion and no weakness where the barb would otherwise be cut.

[twmtwm]

Personally I can't see them working for Sewin,experience has taught me that you've got to strike immediately you get a pull otherwise they've gone.Totally different with Salmon as its a much slower take.I normally fish with either signals or doubles ,I never have much trouble unhooking fish.Each to their own I suppose.

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Personally I can't see them working for Sewin,experience has taught me that you've got to strike immediately you get a pull otherwise they've gone.Totally different with Salmon as its a much slower take.I normally fish with either signals or doubles ,I never have much trouble unhooking fish.Each to their own I suppose.

Exactly and totally with you Twm-Twm |\

Anglers that note they never have to strike sea trout must be fishing in very fast water...

If you need to wait for the hook to find a good hold then your fish will be gone.

Again, really can't see their application on the fly for sea trout, but by all means give them a try and report back.

TT.

[spyderweb]

Caught a 2lb sea-trout last night in slow water on the river Neath using a tandem de-barbed circle hooked silver and blue. Rod was pointed down the line and I only lifted the rod to play the fish when the line moved away. Hooked in top jaw near the scissors on rear hook.

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Caught a 2lb sea-trout last night in slow water on the river Neath using a tandem de-barbed circle hooked silver and blue. Rod was pointed down the line and I only lifted the rod to play the fish when the line moved away. Hooked in top jaw near the scissors on rear hook.

Well done on the fish, spyderweb |\

I am, however, intrigued. You note:

The line should not be held, the drag of the reel should be sufficient to set the hook.

So, in slow water, you are not retrieving at all, and literally just wait for the take of the fish, then allow the fish to turn, swim away and hook itself {;

Very odd, but well done on accomplishing something that sounds pretty much impossible.

TT.

[spyderweb]

Exactly, the fish took line pretty quickly. I have found that bigger fish take line more slowly but for a longer overall distance, perhaps it can be described as ponderous. Once the fish is hooked on a circle I have more confidence in landing it, even with de-barbed circle hooks as opposed to ordinary barbed J hooks. Sometimes I give the fish some slack line to see if it can extricate itself from the circle hook and save any faffing about unhooking it or trauma on the part of the fish after landing or netting, but they don't seem to be able to release themselves. I hate hooking undersized fish, be they trout or small migratory salmonids and I've found debarbed/barbless circle hooks to be the best solution so far to minimize damage. I've seen on a forum somewhere that using circle hooks is less sporting but I would rather catch a sea trout on a de-barbed/barbless circle and then release it than use a barbed salmon hook. In the distant past I have caught sea trout on simple hair winged flies on 4/0 Aberdeen hooks, sea trout are sea fish and have big mouths but it is not the sort of thing I would want to do nowadays when releasing fish as the 'normal' practice.

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Interesting and thanks for the response SW. Again, it doesn't quite fit right in my head, but each to their own. |\

As for this:

sea trout are sea fish and have big mouths

Actually, sea trout are a freshwater fish that has gone to sea. Their mouths do not differ in size of that of a brown trout? A 2lbs brown trout would have the same size mouth as a 2lbs sea trout?

TT.

[zimtrout]

TT
Now i am not sure that a sea trout is a brown trout that has gone to sea...
If you think about the last Ice age, when Great Britain was covered in ice, as this receded/melted the sea trout found rivers they could spawn in.... so is a brown trout a sea trout that decided to stay and not the other way round.....
Agree with your point that the mouth will be the same size.....

[Teifi-Terrorist]

Could well be, ZimTrout.

That is one theory anyway.

TT.

[twmtwm]

I think I'm fishing for a different species!In all my years of fishing for Sewin and guiding I've got it all wrong.Complete and utter rubbish,Sewin are one of the fastest taking fish you can have, it will take and drop your fly in a breath.Perhaps there's a different breed of Sewin out there that have adapted to circle hooks?