Circle Hooks in Palm Beach, Florida

[OCcaptain]

Hey fellas, just wanted to say thank you for coming down and fishing with us. We had a great time with you all, and look forward to fishing with you guys again.

I had a blast. You guys were great. I may not have seemed like it at certain times but I learned alot. I really hope I can go to Charleston and fish in June on the new boat.

Thanks Again,

[Seaker]

Great Great Great job by all

Bill what are you using for your still camera?

Magazine quality work all the way

I can't wait for more

Thanks

[Squidnation]

These were taken on a Nikon D70 with a 18-55mm lense

[HOLWACHAGOT]

These were taken on a Nikon D70 with a 18-55mm lense

This quote should be in your signature...
Holwachagot

[Squidnation]

Here are a few more pics. I am working on some stuff that we learned about flying kites. I hope to have it up by monday but for now here are some more fish pics.

[ejfra]

Bill............comment on all the blood flying from the gills on the one pic........unusual for circle hooks

[Squidnation]

Bill............comment on all the blood flying from the gills on the one pic........unusual for circle hooks

The fish ate two baits Jim. One was exactly in the corner of the mouth where it should be. The other was in the fleshy part on the top of the mouth. When we wired the fish we grabbed one of the leaders and cut it but the fish went nuts with the second hook still attached in the top fleshy part. Honestly Capt Jon doesn't recommend this. He would prefer that we just wind and gently guide him in and quickly cut the line, never lifting the fish out of the water. We didin't want to cut the fish off with 10 feet of leader so we wired the fish again. When the fish was wired, the hook in the fleshy part of the mouth ripped a hole in the the mouth and cuased the bleeding. In the close up shots - you can clearly see the shank of the hook in the right side of the fish in the corner and shank on the other side coming out of the top of the mouth.

This is a perfect example of why it is better to use a leader cutter instead of wiring and trying to get the hook out. Most of the time when a non-gut hooked fish starts bleeding its because folks want to try and leader a fish to the boat and grab the bill. Prior to leadering the fish, the angler probably had 5lbs of pressure on the fish. Once the mates grabs the line, the pressure instantly increases and can cause tearing and bleeding. In this case John had no choice but to leader the fish again.

[chriscook02]

We just fished Palm beach for three days using only circle hooks. I will admit I was not sure about all the circle hook hype. We used the same kite setup and caught Dolphin, Kings, Sails, even a small shark and 30lb cuda on circles and mono leader. ALL fish were hooked in the corner of the jaw perfectly. On day 3 with a hot King bite the Mate switched to an albright rig on the short baits and a large sail crashed the live goggle eye swallowing it right away. After a short fight the fish came to the boat dead. I now know after seeing it first hand they are the only way to go for live bait. Thanks for the great article and awesome pics

[fishfighter]

God,I wish I would of found this web site sooner.Would of loved to fish down there.Nice report on the use of circle hooks.The biggest thing to get over using them is to let the fish set the hook,not the fishermen.If one takes a power snelled circle hook and lays it in his or hers hand.Then pulls the leader back thru the hand with the hook out the bottom,the hook will hook up into the part of your hand in between your index finger and thumb every time.Try it!For the hook to work right,the leader must be feed thru the eye of the hook from the bottom side of the eye first.Thought I had some pictures here,but don't.

[kingpin]

thanks for all the tips and the great photography here guys! You guys are schoolin' us noobs!