Circle hooks and tuna trolling

[anthony]

Just because it's Canada.geez, you guys slay me.....tuna, sharks, halibut, tunas, dogfish, hake, salmon everything is caught trolling. We're not longlining here. This is a large commercial native fishery.

Cool...post up some tips on how you rig 'em. I for one would love to learn a new technique...and it may help my thought process for tournament marlin fishing.

[LuckyDrew]

Dead meat, got it. That makes more sense, I just didn't see a distinction, or any reference to live bait. If I were on your coast though, I would install tuna tubes and put bluefish or spanish macks in them, and drag them. My live macks or live goggle eyes(caballitos) are not rigged special just stick the hook across the nose and shotgun the bait. That rig will be on the bridge in someones hand and their thumb on the spool, as soon as it's picked up we let go give a quick 2 count and set. Last year this got me most of my big tuna. Drew

[nightbite]

I only use circles with live bait for tuna

[Capt_John]

I've used a lot of circle hooks in dead ballyhoo,mackeral,ladyfish and had tunas hit them. Missed alot,but caught a few too. I've live baited skipjacks,yellowfin,false albacore,bluefish,and pogies for yellowfin and bluefin tuna with excellent success. But, if I'm home on the east coast trolling for meat during the spring yellowfin bite, it's just gonna be good ole' 7691's and 7692's dragging in my propwash. I however, have no problem following any tournament rules about circle hooks. Gonna be a lot of plastic dragging next year though.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Circle hooks in bait and lures...let me start with this for those who missed it. It must be understood first if one is to understand the "complicated" science of using circle hooks...

1. Fish do not have hands.

2. When they pull drag or line the lure/bait is in their mouths.

3. Their mouths are shut or the lures would wash out.

4. If they are running at the boat with the lure/bait in their mouths, they are not pulling line or drag - that only happens after they have made their turn to the outside or (rarely) inside and the line comes tight.

5. A tight drag hooks the heck out of them...but let the boat do it - don't set the hook!

6. If you miss a fish on a lure with a circle hook the fish does not get pricked and stung and the lure becomes a teaser. Gamefish hate to lose prey. The re-bite is usually fierce - gotcha!

I have been trolling with circle hooks in baits and lures aboard a top producing charterboat in Cabo San Lucas and many other venues for many years. There is a handful of fishermen who have been using circle hooks for big game fishing for all species for well over a decade and I am one of them. I don't guess about them, I don't opinionate about them, none of that...I KNOW about them.

And meat fishing, tournament fishing, or release fishing, the only times that I don't use them are when I am experimenting with different ways of fishing J hooks to learn how to increase their poor hookup/landing ratio on billfish and I have done that too.

I was going to post an excerpt from New Secrets of Modern Trolling on circles, but it is too long and after a bit of experience I have learned that only so many will read and learn from and appreciate it. So, if you would like to take a shortcut in learning, you know what to do. If you don't, you don't have to wade through the information the book contains on circles.

But I do have to ask you - what does just one trip on whatever boat you fish cost you and how much could that one, single trip cost you if you devoted all of the time to using circle hooks? And would you know where to start with rigging them in the first place? And how many fish species do you think that you would get to bite to see if what you were trying worked? And how would you know how much of the time the first rigging and drag setting you tried worked other than that first one and if there were better ways of rigging C's than the one you were using?

If that one trip, during which you would be likely to learn damned little, even if you got on a lot of fish, and weather or the bite or your location or whatever of the many things that can affect a day of fishing made it a poor one fish-wise would cost you more than thirty or forty bucks, you might want to break down and buy a book based on a ton of history and experience.

Or, you can spend a lot of time trying to re-invent the wheel, as it were.

Up to you.

First, the logo for the best hooking and catching J hook rig I have ever used. It must be fished the right way to reach its full effectiveness. A simple system, but critical. Then, a picture or two from the circle hook section of the book.

Circles are the For Real Deal - just read what those who actually use them say.

[fishskipper]

Yep, Circles are the way to go..... Theres a lot of info out there to show you how to rig..... Its not hard , just a little different... In my opinion the hookup ratio is better..Trial and error is what it takes and you definetly don't try to set the hook. If a fish is coming straight at you there is a chance of o pulling the hook but in most cases the fish will go off in some angle putting the hook in the corner of its mouth.
Capt. Ron/ Little Jeannie Sportfishing

[CaptainSteve]

I am convinced that my hook up ratio is greater with circle hooks, than with j-hooks.

[capt. woodward]

Cool...post up some tips on how you rig 'em. I for one would love to learn a new technique...and it may help my thought process for tournament marlin fishing.

Check this months Marlin Mag (pgs 74-77) for the photos. In the first one, I don't use copper wire, cuz it breaks too easily - I use monel instead. The second series, #8 shows the hook entering from the side. I put the hook thru from the top. I guess it's the way we've always done it. Stitched rig takes too long when you're rigging 50-60 baits daily. For lures, I like using the Little Hooker, softhead with the circle hook out in front instead of behind. The Mean Green Machines and original Jet Heads of days gone by worked real well with a double circle, single wire setup, 12/0 upper and 9/0 lower from behind the lure.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Cap George,

Don't worry about that Canada stuff when it comes to coming up with and passing on good ideas to me and many others here...there are a lot of guys who live right around the fish whose idea of something new is a new fishing hat and that's the extent of what they have to offer. Good ideas come from all over the place and people who actually go out and try new things, then refine and develop them are as scarce as hen's teeth. I for one appreciate them greatly.

The circle in front of the Hooker (or in my case, one of our CaboTiger HooHats). Sounds like it will really work, except for wahoos and most of my regular trolling speed 'hoo 'hoos are re-biters anyway. I'll give that one a try down in Cabo next week.

Thank you for the idea and maybe teaching an old dog a new trick.

[capt. woodward]

Anytime, Capn.