? @ circle hooks

[Chuck Richardson]

Ray,

The rigs are available on our web site and they can be rigged quite easily. We offer a DVD that goes step-by-step. Send me a PM and I'll send one out to you.

If you take notice most of the circle hooks that are called "legal" all have a very wide gap. Take a look at a Mustad 39960 with a close gap and you can see the difference. This wide gap allows the ability to rig most ballyhoo in the same fashion as with a "J" hook.

The double hook rig we have has proven to be extremely successful with the "J" hooks, but the jury is still out on it's abilities with the circles. We have seen a huge increase in shipments since all the regulation changes and I can only assume a lot of tournament fishermen are experimenting.

[capt. woodward]

Jeez Chuck, don't let that other lure maker hear you're successfully making lures work with Circle Hooks!

I've been rigging and using Mustad 16/0 Circles for many years -they work just fine.

[Deep C]

Well Come On George
Lets see a vid of you bowing up white marlin using combo concave faced lures and those 16/0... I've got ten of the best guys in the Atlantic trying as well as myself for three years without a single victory. Our Pacific guys have 18% rate on those retarded central American sails and two striped...
I'm always willing to learn. Lets see the vid!

[Sea Draggin]

The other day, somebody showed a bally, circle hook rigged with a skirt. What if the lures where done the same way?

You put the hook in front of the lure, where it could pivot and put the lure off the back of the hook, just like the bally rig, but without the bally.

I'm going to go have another drink now.

[Deep C]

Originally Posted by Sea Draggin

The other day, somebody showed a bally, circle hook rigged with a skirt. What if the lures where done the same way?

You put the hook in front of the lure, where it could pivot and put the lure off the back of the hook, just like the bally rig, but without the bally.

I'm going to go have another drink now.

The gap of the hook is smaller than the diameter of the head. The mouth of the fish is forced open wider than the gap... It can't set... We have run them in front, behind. Tied to the top, the bottom, forward aft and it hasn't worked in any of about 30 styles that I have tried or dozens more that others have tried ... Yet....
The laws of physics are tough ones to break. If we went to a hook that had a gap larger than the diameter of the head it would be 22/0 and would need rope or atleast heavy 80-130 gear to set... Not very conducive to whites...

Still I'm comming up constantly trying different ways. Three years twenty crews, 600 lures and no success yet does not mean we won't continue to try.
I saw some "scientist" display forward rigged combos at the NMFS meeting we attended. He swore up and down that they were the answer. THat was until we did the "pull" test. Pulling between pinched fingers to simulate a fish's jaw the hooks did not find andything to catch on in all our tests. It was only then he admitted he had not actually tried to see if they work...
The way aft rigging being discussed does show some potential. The mouth of the fish would have a chance to close some after the head of the lure has cleared. We gave that some limited testing before with poor results but may try again. Combo baits really aren't designed to drop back. Drop back is essential to a circle working as the fish must be pointed away for the hook to set. Many fish drop a combo after whacking cause they feel or taste that foreign body. Some where with a tail hooked rig there may be a possibility of finding an approach.
Nakeds are not and never have been a problem with circles... In fact I drag 50/50 on my nakeds even in day to day fishing. The combo though is the issue I have. Efeectively rendered useless by the ruling.
When they did not approve the efp exemptions though they made it clear that other mechanisms to negate the negative economic impacts were still being considered. That could mean a lot of things. I personally would like to see the combo be classified as artificial like was in the original proposal before the ruling was passed. Other proposals are also on the table. It was discussed to exempt tackle over 50lb test. It was discussed that blue marlin events be exempted. The one being considered right now is a lifting of the regulations until such time that further scientific study can be conducted.

[Sea Draggin]

Originally Posted by Deep C

We have run them in front, behind. Tied to the top, the bottom, forward aft and it hasn't worked in any of about 30 styles that I have tried or dozens more that others have tried

Well, at least I wasn't the only one that considered it to be a possibilty. For a second, I thought it my be the Gentleman Jack talking.

[costaricasportfishing]

I have used but don't have a pic of a Mold Craft Jr. circle hook rig used to pitch marlin. Circlehook in front about an inch or so if front of Jr. Jr rigged with Ballyhoo. Works Great!! They ALWAYS see it. Just ask the 500+Black swimming around the 26 rock with mine hooked on her face!

[Deep C]

Key word in that is soft head... also thats a smaller head than the models I refer to... And we're not talking white marlin...

[capt. woodward]

Originally Posted by Deep C

Well Come On George
Lets see a vid of you bowing up white marlin using combo concave faced lures and those 16/0... I've got ten of the best guys in the Atlantic trying as well as myself for three years without a single victory. Our Pacific guys have 18% rate on those retarded central American sails and two striped...
I'm always willing to learn. Lets see the vid!

Give me a break dude - you and your stinking half pint fish.

We got 12 Striped Marlin this week on 16/0 Circles, 10 were tagged. All on lures, not bait. Fishing in Galapagos. I saw "Starwars" the other day hooked up on a double.

Your guys aren't trying hard enough. Or just maybe they don't want to, hmmmm?

Practically everyone in Guat and CR uses Circle Hooks. Robby on the White Marlin & Paco on the Sandy-Ita in El Salvador have accepted and changed over to Circles. I'll admit the sails there are on the smallish side, but virtually all are released alive.

I don't need no stinking video, I look at the 1000 release tags purchased in the last two years and I'm down to 122 left in the box.

[Deep C]

I make my f****** living from this business. I'm not talking about the retard pacific fish that you could catch on a cue ball. I'm not talking about naked bait fish in either ocean. I told you to show me a vid using concave hard head combo baits on whites. Thats where the regulation that affects my living is. If you cant show me that then put a sock in it !

Tag schmag... So they can feed the info gained to the commercials and hurt the fish??? I had tagged a couple thousand myself back in the late seventies and when I started to see the returns comming off longliners it didn't take long to see that my good efforts werer only serving to hurt the fish.