On Circle Hooks and Rod Selection

[Squidnation]

On Circle Hooks and Rod Selection

By Bill Pino

Walk down the dock during any major billfish release tournament and you will see arsenal after arsenal of Shimano TLD 20 and 25's being serviced, respooled and leadered. If someone were to look closely one would also notice the subtle differences in the rod selection on these tournament boats. I noticed this last summer as I walked "C" at Ocean City’s Sunset Marina. Seems that the reel selection was fairly consistent with the Shimano TLD’s as well as a growing number of Avets and Shimano Tyrnos. But every boat seemed to have slight differences in the rod size, length and tip speed. The big question I had was if the new circle hook rule would dictate what type of rods would be preferred.

Circle hooks require a slight different approach in hook setting. More to the point, there is no hook setting but rather a deliberate free spool drop back and a slow engagement of the drag to allow the circle hook to catch the corner of the mouth. Would a faster tip aid in this slow deliberate hooking technique? I went to the pros to get clarification on what type of rod they use. First a little rod terminology lesson is in order. I mean I needed the lesson so I went to a pro rod builder and asked for a vocabulary lesson as well as what has been selling best for this application. Custom rod builder Paul Reyburn of JPR Custom Rods in Ridley, PA was more than happy to help me understand the mechanics of rods and blank options.

Paul said that the majority of requested blanks for billfish dink bait fishing have been the Calstar GF700M. The GF700M is a graphite composite super fast action blank with plenty of low down rigidity. Huh? Now here comes the vocabulary lesson. The graphite composite is what materials are used for the composition of the blank. Graphite is a super strong lightweight material. Many dink bait fishermen prefer the light weight of these rods for ease of handling. Combine this with a slick butt and you really have a lightweight rod with plenty of backbone. Action for the sake of our conversation is simply the amount that a rod will bend under pressure. For our purposes we will use the benchmark of a typical dink bait drag setting of 3lbs. The fast action means that the rod will bend more in the top 8 – 10 inches with 3lbs of drag and stiffen up as it approaches the mid-section and reel seat. Along with the fast action described above also comes the fast recovery. Which simply means how fast the rod will recover to its relaxed position. A moderate action rod will bend deeper into the rod to about 18-20 inches. So the bend under the same pressure will be slower but so will the recovery. Finally a slow action rod will bend slower yet but deep into the rod closer to the reel seat.

Mr. Reyburn questioned the use of a fast action rod while fishing with circle hooks. He suggested that a more moderate action blank would allow for a slower exit of the hook because the rod would bend slightly more consistent throughout the blank and more importantly recover slower if the bait is being jostled around by the fish. His thought was that the Super Seeker Moderate action blank by Seeker might offer a more consistent and smoother hook up. The Super Seeker blank is composed of 120 carbon fiber and "s" Glass. This blank will give moderately further down the blank to allow for a smoother hook set. The Super Seeker does have its drawbacks though. The biggest drawback is its weight compared to the GF700M as well as the higher price tag.

So where do the pros stand on the other side of the gunnels? Captain Tim Hake, owner, angler and captain of his 57 Gillikin Sportfisher Fin-Ness said that a moderate tip would really help compensate for angler error. A moderate tip would be more forgiving when an angler gets excited and tries to set the hook as if it were a J hook. Hake added that he prefers to use a Fin-Ness Custom Rod that he designed that requires a 15-20lb blank. Hake utilized these rods last year as his Finesse Team took first place in the release division of the Mid-Atlantic 500 in 2007. Hake also went on to compete in the WBS Championship in Los Suenos, Costa Rica finishing a very respectable 3rd place.

Angler Tim Hake on a double header sailfish. Rod in his hand is at 6 lbs while the rod in the rod holder is at 2lbs

Many anglers feel that understanding the way a circle hook works is paramount in perfecting the circle hook technique. The goal of the angler is to present the bait to the billfish with as little resistance as possible in order for a billfish to make an unrestricted turn. The fish needs to turn while the line is in free spool and begins the swallowing process. A very slow and deliberate exit is necessary for the hook to gently catch the corner of the mouth of the billfish. Capt Rick Carney of the Cyntinory feels that anything that will lengthen the time it takes to have that circle hook slowly find the corner of the jaw while exiting the billfish will benefit the angler. A moderate tip action rod will give an angler that extra time just by offering a smoother bend in the rod. Captain Carney also feels that a soft tip will be more forgiving when a billfish is jumping. The idea is for the angler to give a little when a fish is jumping. The softer tip will allow for a bit more give when an angler may not predict a jump.

Captain Bob Burnside has a bit of a different view on the rod selection subject. Capt Burnside, captain and owner of the Pescadora in Los Suenos, Costa Rica feels that a rod should really not affect the hook setting process if the bait is presented correctly. Captain Burnside prefers a 30lb stand up custom rod while battling pacific sails, blues and striped marlin. Captain Burnside said that if the line is falling off the rod tip down into the water the fish would not feel any resistance. So a stiff or fast action rod should not make a difference. Continuing on that theory Captain Jon Duffie of the Billfisher stated that the belly in the line is usually enough drag to set a circle hook. In many cases the fish is hooked before the rod bends. Capt Duffie said that he has noticed many of the sailfish come up jumping before the angler has had a chance to engaging the drag. This means that the belly in the line is usually enough pressure to have a circle hook set in the jaw.

Many of top tournament boats have made the change to circle hooks years ago. Now the average recreational tournament fisherman is mandated to make the switch to circle hooks. Today’s high tech composites will really help an angler hook more fish but it must be the right composite for your quarry.

[paul708]

Bill that is a fantastic article

i was glad to help share my thoughts and views on this subject
it seem that there may be a slight change needed in how we build and design dink rods for you tourney guys
the feedback from this will certainly help a rodbuilder get a better feel for the anglers new needs
the thought of going down to a rod rated 15-20 is very good, it will give a softer tip action, therefore slowing recovery time
Capt tim hake makes it obviously a 15-20# blank is more than capable of catching the targeted fish, that is something Very good to know for future clients
also if you have a rod you like and you know the blank or model, please let us know when you are posting
that will be very helpful in finding more about rod styles and how they work

[gradywhite273]

great now i have to build a whole nother arsenal. whooopeeee

[Bert Rodgers]

Bill, considering the technique of pointing tip and slowly adding drag to set the hook and not lifting the rod till the fish is pulling drag from the reel, I wonder how important lenght and tip action are with C hooks. But I do like the longer rod for fighting a fish that spends more time dancing on the surfface v a shorter rod suited more for down and dirty doggin.

Just thinking aloud with the key board.

Bert

[ocalex]

i would think that the longer rod would still help out when droping the tip down tword the fish, even though it is only an extra 6inches to a foot longer that might just be enough to make a missed fish a hooked fish

[Squidnation]

I didn't really go into the length of rod but you are absolutely correct Ocalax. How many times have you heard the fish pulled off inches from the leader. I use a full 7 ft rod on my boat even though it is a small boat for that very reason. Another reason for that long rod is the natural dropback you have with a full length rod out to the side when you are picking a fish off the teaser. Not only do you not have to bring the teaser as close to the gunnel as you are bringing it in. but you also have a wider range of swing, giving yourself an extra ft of free dropback when swinging the rod from side to pointed at fish.

[ocalex]

i was actually referencing flatline/dredge/teaser drop backs i didnt even think of what you gave me credit for; i never really was concerned about my long rigger rod length but i always gotta have the longer ones on my flats and pitch

[paul708]

Just one mans story..

I'll back up what Paul (JPR Custom Rods) has said here because I was the guy on the other end of those MA500 winning rods. Paul built those rods for me, to my specs, for several good reasons. He also helped to guide me in those decisions, and was spot-on in everything that he suggested.

I initially wanted Calstar Grafighter blanks (yes, they are lighter and cheaper than Super Seekers), but when I felt the action of the grafighter compared to the same spec Super Seeker blank, it was a no-brainer for me. The Super Seeker action was far superior to the grafighter's, especially considering their use with circle hooks or if targeting whites. Soft tips are the key here - very forgiving and give the best chance of hooking a white or any fish while trolling with circles. We caught over 30 fish during the tournament, including tuna, whites, sailfish (believe it or not!) and mahi. Very few fish failed to hookup or were lost on the super seekers, but our stiffer outfits did fail to hookup and actually caused the VMC 9/0 circles that we were using to bend and come unbuttoned on three occassions. The entire crew is now considering dumping their stiff action rods in favor of Super Seekers built by JPR. The quality of Paul's work is also outstanding and as a result, all of our rods from now on will come from JPR!

The outfits that have become my absolute favorites are built with SS-CJBF60H blanks, Fuji SIC "HBSG" guides, Pac-Bay channel lock seats and 12" slick butts. The seat and gimbal are Ti-chrome finish and look awesome. These rods are mated to Avet 30's spooled with 80# JB hollow core. Most of us in the crew are over 6'2" tall, so I opted for the longer butts mainly so that the reel handles weren't smacking the gunwales when in the rod holder and were easier to reach and work in the gunwale. Also, the longer butts are better suited to pitching or jigging than would be a true short stand-up butt. Finally, if the butts are too long for effective stand-up fighting then I plan to switch over to "dropped-pin" belts such as Black Magic, which actually require longer butts - but so far I really can't say there is a need for that.

My ultimate goal here with these rods was light weight, bulletproof reliability of SIC guides (using braid) and no need to fumble with constantly loosening and overweight aluminum butts. I also wanted a rod that could cover multiple fishing methods and species. While I also had Paul build specific white marlin rods using 7' SS blanks, the 30's speced above were actually just as capable at hooking whites and were even more comfortable in my hands than the purpose-built white rods. I'd say they'll be just as great for nightime chunking and I wouldn't be afraid to hookup a 100# + BFT on one either. All-around these are about the best outfits that I have ever had the pleasure of using and I am thankful to JPR for his expertise and rod-building talents.