Circle hooks and meatfish trolling

[Squidnation]

We were in the Canyon Kickoff this weekend and had to use circle hooks even though we were not billfishing. Since we chose to target bluefin we had to figure out a way to implament circle hooks in our horse/big heavy combos. we decided on doing something quite a few others did last year. Some of the Charter boats were using #20 heavy duty circle hooks rigged normal j hook style. I was surprised at how cleanly they ran despite the weight of the hook and the the keel it created. Then I realized maybe that keel really helped them swim better. Unfortunetly we never got a tuna bite but we did get a mako bite that stuck and we ended up killing a 100lber for the grill. I was excited to see the hook stick in the mako. Mako have much smaller mouths then Bluefins so I am lead to believe that had we had a bluefin bite it surely would have found the corner of the mouth.

[bobdu11]

This is a topic that greatly interest me. A few of the tournament I fish have a billfish division, making it mandatory for circles....I've rigged them several ways and was never satisfied with the bite to hookup ratio for Tuna and Mahi...so you think rigging a larger circle, J-hook style is the ticket...I might just have to check this out..thanks...Bob

[Squidnation]

This is a topic that greatly interest me. A few of the tournament I fish have a billfish division, making it mandatory for circles....I've rigged them several ways and was never satisfied with the bite to hookup ratio for Tuna and Mahi...so you think rigging a larger circle, J-hook style is the ticket...I might just have to check this out..thanks...Bob

Bob I am not exactly sure if it is the ticket or not. I seen Circle billfisherman catch 80lb yellowfins on 7/0 eagle claw circle hooks. But it almost always on naked dink baits. We just needed way to rig the Big Heavy with a circle hook. I watched a couple guys use these big hooks and catch fish on them.

The only thing I did differently from normal j hook style was I made sure to force the circle hook up through some of the meat before bringing it back down and through the belly. This lessoned the profile of the hook being exposed. but the hook was so oversize it still exposed the business end quite clearly.

[frankypettolina]

Bill- I have had success using circles on wwb's. I have not tried it up close or down deep (rigged like a j- hook)- have you?

FWIW I have used much smaller than the 20/0 and had success on the wwwb- but do not have an especially large sample group to prove the theory.

[Squidnation]

Bill- I have had success using circles on wwb's. I have not tried it up close or down deep (rigged like a j- hook)- have you?

FWIW I have used much smaller than the 20/0 and had success on the wwwb- but do not have an especially large sample group to prove the theory.

we used it that way this weekend with the bh and horse ballyhoo on the planer. I am not sure if we didn't get bit because there were no fish or if it was because they could see the hook. I didn't mark any. But I do know that it worked for a customer fishing the WMO last year who won a nice chunk with his bluefin on a BH/horse rigged this way.

[bobdu11]

Bob I am not exactly sure if it is the ticket or not. I seen Circle billfisherman catch 80lb yellowfins on 7/0 eagle claw circle hooks. But it almost always on naked dink baits. We just needed way to rig the Big Heavy with a circle hook. I watched a couple guys use these big hooks and catch fish on them.

The only thing I did differently from normal j hook style was I made sure to force the circle hook up through some of the meat before bringing it back down and through the belly. This lessoned the profile of the hook being exposed. but the hook was so oversize it still exposed the business end quite clearly.

Thanks...I've got a Tuna Tournament this week (VB Tuna Tournament) but after that I'm going to start experimenting with this concept. I think I might go a bit smaller than a 20/0, maybe a 12/0 circle rigged semi J-hook style..I'll report what I find out..thanks...Bob

[deadbird995]

We caught 8 bluefin (40-60lbs) this weekend using 10/0 circle hooks rigged j-hook style with a seawitch. A much heavier hook than a billfish hook. No planner bites, but both WWB and short riggers. I was actaully pretty impressed with them. I think the biggest dis-advantage would be not getting the hook in some of the smaller dolphins.

[calebw]

Squid, how are you running the reel's drag with the circle hook placed in the ballyhoo like a J hook?

[reel fool]

I fished circles on meat for years out of Ocean City. rigged like Bill said--flat lines, short riggers, long riggers, WWBs, everything. drags set at strike. I would open the bite of the hook a bit, rig it just like a 7731 in my ballyhoo, seawitch, and BAMM...they rarely got away. no difference in the hook up rate vs j-hooks, but we caught more fish.

HOWEVER---there will come a day when you will get spanked....HARD. The fish fed differently one day--they were coming up from behind on the bait, not from underneath and rolling on the bait. THEN, our hookup rate SUCKED. I MEAN SUCKED! Of course, this happened on a day of 30-50 lbs fish biting, about 35-40 bites that day--we caught about 6 or so....mostly after I began switching out the circles for j-hooks. and of course, one of our customers was a nay-sayer on the circle hooks for trolling. "That will never work"...."Of course it won't sir...that's why we do it this way everyday and rarely miss a fish"....It's as though the fish knew he was onboard poo-pooing on my setup.

Anyways, you will have great success on it MOST days...until THAT day arrives. On that day, you will shed some tears.

[Barefootin]

I have been perplexed by my testing results with circle hooks. My general premise going into the testing was that the wider gap hooks would be more effective with trolling and dropping. What I am learning is that medium to heavy gauge hooks seem to be outfishing the lighter gage hooks irrespective of the gap size on the hook.
Now, my rigs are only being tested from Tx to Fl and targeting reef species like Red Snapper, Grouper, Cobia & AJs as these are numbers fish that I can get plenty of data on hookup ratios.
My biggest frustration is with learning and teaching the techniques for fishing with circle hooks. One particular captain with 40 years of chartering gave me a terrible report on the jigs. My son and I joined him on his boat a few days later and watched as he and his crew were trying to set the hook with wide violent rod sweeps ala conventional J hook fishing. My son quickly came tight on a nice Red Snapper just by reeling down slowly on the fish. It is a very different approach to reef fishing and I have to stay very consciosely aware to not react to the strike.
Its still fun testing and learning and the lures are proving to be very effective if fished correctly.