Circle hooks
Although only becoming popular in
the UK recently, circle hooks have
been in regular use abroad for many
years, particularly in 'big game'
fishing. They are designed to avoid
deep hooking, usually taking hold
in the corner of a fish’s mouth, or
scissors, permitting easy release
and, if required, return of the fish to
the sea. It does aid the conservation
of the fish we catch.
The key to the success of circle
hooks is to remember NOT to strike,
but to simply tighten up the line
when a you get a bite. Striking,
more often than not, will pull the
hook clean out of the fish's mouth.
Circle hook sizes vary greatly
between different manufacturers so,
unlike 'J' hooks which tend to be
uniform across different ranges, it's
often difficult to specify a size that is
suitable for a particular fish species
or even bait.
Circle hooks tend to work
successfully for species that 'run'
with the bait and I use them all thetime when shark fishing. A Mustad
pattern 39960 (Sizes 14/0-16/0) with
almost one hundred per cent clean
hooking rate. For tope fishing, I
recommend trying VMC E9385
tournament circles in size 9/. For
bass fishing, particularly when using
a live bait, Clive Hodges put me onto an excellent pattern, the Owner
SSW circle in sizes around 7/0 for an
average sized bait (pictured).
I have experimented with circle
patterns for other species as varied
as conger, plaice and black bream,
but have found them to be less
efficient than standard 'J' hooks in
these circumstances, although
others may have experienced better
results.Terminal tackle
Finally, a word or two about
terminal tackle components. With
certain exceptions, I prefer to use a
simple single hook, running legerrig, for my bottom bait-fishing
applications. This is typically a boom
running on the mono leader, which
is attached to a high-quality crane
swivel, connected to the hook trace.Invariably, I'll employ a 'zip' slider
but, with one importantmodification. Unless I want a weak
lead link, I'll swap out the standard
lead attachment on the boom for
a Breakaway 'fastlink' clip which
I've found to be a much stronger
and more reliable product. In use,
it's also easy enough to quickly
remove the lead from the clip when
unhooking a lively fish so as not
to damage the boat’s precious
gel coat.Next month I'll continue the
series with a look at lures,
and other artificial baits
and associated rigs.9 /0 VMC tournament
tope hook crimped
to 250lb commercial
monoOwner circle hook in the scissors
Modified zip slider
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