which hook?

[bigolblueone]

This is a good one for us to disagree on. What circle hook do you consider to be the best hook to troll for "everything". By this i mean when charter fishing and the next bite could be a sail. The next one a dolphin. Next one a blue one. Which hook do you guys like.


I am set on the 7/0 mustad 39951bln

[terr]

Eagle Claw. L2004EL. L2004 if you are worried about big YF's or Big Eye. From personal experience I think they hold up better. I also read a article in a FL sailfish mag that detailed different circle hooks rust resistance. The hooks were hung in the water off a dock. The Eagle Claw (don't remember the #) was the last to show signs of rust, but then went quicker than the rest.

[Pargon]

To me the brand is less significant than the configuration. I believe that the non offset hooks are better, that is the hookup ration is higher. The other difficulty is a lack of standardization in the sizes, one guys' 12/0 is a different size than anothers'. Not a problem if you're lookin' at them at the store, but can be difficult if you're mail ordering. Be sure to use one large enough, I would start with 2 sizes larger than whatever the J hook is that you have been using. If you want to really fine tune them, follow the advice of Capt. Archer and dull the point (results in even higher percentage of corner mouth hookups) and remove the barb, it's virtually superfluous if you think about how and where a circle works, and it makes it easier to get out. Now you're gettin' into the finer points of circles my friend.

[bigolblueone]

I agree on the eagle claw for length of use, and strength. You can get at least two days where with my mustads, i generally get one. But as far as the point goes, mustad is sharper. Now as last posted, some people like to dull the hooks tip a little. I agree with this when tuna fishing with hard drag, but not when billfishing with twenty pound. SO SO SO many times i have had a fish explode out of the water with my reel in free-spool still. When i used the eagle claws, i lost most of these fish. Vise-versa on the thinner shank mustads. The down fall is, as mentioned before, that when fighting a big tuna, I have to keep the drag backed off.

I agree in the use of both hooks, and use them both alot. I was curious if someone has found some new "bleeding edge" or "space age" hooks.


Oh and as far as the size thing, your so true. Why is it that a mustads tuna circle in a 20/0 is SO MUCH smaller than the eagle claw? Very hard to order a hook without having it in your hand.

[N2theBlue]

i know some of the guys in central america have gone to the VMC's, and are experiencing good success. They are another light wire, but every VMC i've used has been super super sharp.