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Circle hooks for Galjoen
- Thread starter Dorado75
- Start date
The Urchin
Banned
Hey D,
Well the way I figure it, they wont hold too much
bait ? I use the Gamakatsu Redbait hook.
Well the way I figure it, they wont hold too much
bait ? I use the Gamakatsu Redbait hook.
Waverunn3r
New member
Hi Dorado, what size circle hooks did you buy?
Silent Bob
Senior Member
i caught all my blacktails on 3/0-4/0 mustad circles using mostly mussel. put the bait on the shank with a small piece hangin free or thread the mussel once over the point and stretch over the shank, again leave a piece hangin free.
if u use sardine cut a strip and fold over the shank, with point stickin out the one end. i only thread the sardine if it is real soft and wrap a small thin piece of chokka over the shank.
if u use sardine cut a strip and fold over the shank, with point stickin out the one end. i only thread the sardine if it is real soft and wrap a small thin piece of chokka over the shank.
[color=#006600]Silent Bob[/color] wrote:
Thanks Bob, is there any difference in the hook up between conventional and circle hooks?
Still trying to figure out why the circles cost 5 times that of conventional hooks made from what looks like the same materials.
A couple of years ago i was on a toothfish vessel that was using circles for longlining, i could have brought back hundreds of hooks but didnt bother...... if i knw then what i know now i would have def taken advantage of that!
i caught all my blacktails on 3/0-4/0 mustad circles using mostly mussel. put the bait on the shank with a small piece hangin free or thread the mussel once over the point and stretch over the shank, again leave a piece hangin free.
if u use sardine cut a strip and fold over the shank, with point stickin out the one end. i only thread the sardine if it is real soft and wrap a small thin piece of chokka over the shank.
Thanks Bob, is there any difference in the hook up between conventional and circle hooks?
Still trying to figure out why the circles cost 5 times that of conventional hooks made from what looks like the same materials.
A couple of years ago i was on a toothfish vessel that was using circles for longlining, i could have brought back hundreds of hooks but didnt bother...... if i knw then what i know now i would have def taken advantage of that!
Waverunn3r
New member
I bought myself some no 2 circle hooks, but they tiny baby hooks. Never used them yet tho
Silent Bob
Senior Member
with circle resist the urge to strike! if u strike u pull the hook out and miss the fish. when u "feel" the fish on the line ease back on the rod to take up the slack and when the fish swims away it will hook itself. other times the fish will be hooked on the first bite! i have been fishin with circles from the start and it takes awhile to "know" when the fish is hooked. elf and cob just seem to hook themselves, the blacktails i caught only did so on the mussel,when i had sardine in the hook,i had to take up the slack to hook them.
they cost more cause your chances of hookin a fish is much greater than with a normal hook. example, one night at beespens, i caught 5 or more sharkies all on circles and that was leavin the rod in the stand. the rest of the guys were usin normal hooks and were standin with rods in hand and missed most of the fish, some even lost fish in the surf cause hooks were not set correctly. for me they worth every cent.
they cost more cause your chances of hookin a fish is much greater than with a normal hook. example, one night at beespens, i caught 5 or more sharkies all on circles and that was leavin the rod in the stand. the rest of the guys were usin normal hooks and were standin with rods in hand and missed most of the fish, some even lost fish in the surf cause hooks were not set correctly. for me they worth every cent.
[color=#006600]Silent Bob[/color] wrote:
Cool man, thanks for the tips, looking forward to trying them, will keep you posted!
with circle resist the urge to strike! if u strike u pull the hook out and miss the fish. when u "feel" the fish on the line ease back on the rod to take up the slack and when the fish swims away it will hook itself. other times the fish will be hooked on the first bite! i have been fishin with circles from the start and it takes awhile to "know" when the fish is hooked. elf and cob just seem to hook themselves, the blacktails i caught only did so on the mussel,when i had sardine in the hook,i had to take up the slack to hook them.
they cost more cause your chances of hookin a fish is much greater than with a normal hook. example, one night at beespens, i caught 5 or more sharkies all on circles and that was leavin the rod in the stand. the rest of the guys were usin normal hooks and were standin with rods in hand and missed most of the fish, some even lost fish in the surf cause hooks were not set correctly. for me they worth every cent.
Cool man, thanks for the tips, looking forward to trying them, will keep you posted!
Polychaete
Senior Member
Collin Attwood did some extensive research on the effectiveness of circle hooks at De Hoop.
I quote his result:-
"Over 1000 fish of 28 species were caught during the experiment by 22 shore anglers. Taken across all species, circles hooked fish less often in the stomach and gill, but more often in the lip, jaw and corner of the mouth (see first graph). These results were confirmed by statistical testing. When considering individual species, statistically significant results were obtained for elf, kob, galjoen and blacktail. Elf surprised us: 24% were deep-hooked by J’s, but none were deep-hooked by circles. For kob, it was 48% as opposed to 9%.
It appears that fish are foul-hooked more often by circles, although this result was not statistically significant. Circles sometimes hooked fish in the face or fin, which is rarely lethal, unless the eye is penetrated.
Circles caught the same number of fish as J’s (see second graph). The differences you see in the graph were very slight and overwhelmed by the variability of catch rates between anglers and different days, from which we cannot conclude that there is any difference in the catching ability of the two designs. Some anglers will insist that circles are better, and for some individuals this may be the case, but when averaged across all 22 anglers there was no trend. J-hooks were at an advantage in that the anglers had decades of experience in striking, whereas the passive approach required for circles was still a novelty.
Some anglers also say that circles will work for some species, but not other species. One written account identified nibblers (e.g. blacktail) as the perfect circle prey, but class the smash-and-grab predators (e.g. elf) as requiring a J-hook. Again, our catch-rate results were consistent across all species.
An added observation, which was not a deliberate part of the experimental design, was that circle-hooks get stuck less often."
I quote his result:-
"Over 1000 fish of 28 species were caught during the experiment by 22 shore anglers. Taken across all species, circles hooked fish less often in the stomach and gill, but more often in the lip, jaw and corner of the mouth (see first graph). These results were confirmed by statistical testing. When considering individual species, statistically significant results were obtained for elf, kob, galjoen and blacktail. Elf surprised us: 24% were deep-hooked by J’s, but none were deep-hooked by circles. For kob, it was 48% as opposed to 9%.
It appears that fish are foul-hooked more often by circles, although this result was not statistically significant. Circles sometimes hooked fish in the face or fin, which is rarely lethal, unless the eye is penetrated.
Circles caught the same number of fish as J’s (see second graph). The differences you see in the graph were very slight and overwhelmed by the variability of catch rates between anglers and different days, from which we cannot conclude that there is any difference in the catching ability of the two designs. Some anglers will insist that circles are better, and for some individuals this may be the case, but when averaged across all 22 anglers there was no trend. J-hooks were at an advantage in that the anglers had decades of experience in striking, whereas the passive approach required for circles was still a novelty.
Some anglers also say that circles will work for some species, but not other species. One written account identified nibblers (e.g. blacktail) as the perfect circle prey, but class the smash-and-grab predators (e.g. elf) as requiring a J-hook. Again, our catch-rate results were consistent across all species.
An added observation, which was not a deliberate part of the experimental design, was that circle-hooks get stuck less often."
[color=#006600]Polychaete[/color] wrote:
Did you ever get the chance to go on one of those tagging trips with Colin to De Hoop, when i worked at fisheries i tried my best but could not get into that club. That has to be some of the best rock and surf angling anywhere in the world. If i remember corectly Cliffie got a 100lb kob there a few years ago on surf tackle.
Collin Attwood did some extensive research on the effectiveness of circle hooks at De Hoop.
I quote his result:-
"Over 1000 fish of 28 species were caught during the experiment by 22 shore anglers. Taken across all species, circles hooked fish less often in the stomach and gill, but more often in the lip, jaw and corner of the mouth (see first graph). These results were confirmed by statistical testing. When considering individual species, statistically significant results were obtained for elf, kob, galjoen and blacktail. Elf surprised us: 24% were deep-hooked by J’s, but none were deep-hooked by circles. For kob, it was 48% as opposed to 9%.
It appears that fish are foul-hooked more often by circles, although this result was not statistically significant. Circles sometimes hooked fish in the face or fin, which is rarely lethal, unless the eye is penetrated.
Circles caught the same number of fish as J’s (see second graph). The differences you see in the graph were very slight and overwhelmed by the variability of catch rates between anglers and different days, from which we cannot conclude that there is any difference in the catching ability of the two designs. Some anglers will insist that circles are better, and for some individuals this may be the case, but when averaged across all 22 anglers there was no trend. J-hooks were at an advantage in that the anglers had decades of experience in striking, whereas the passive approach required for circles was still a novelty.
Some anglers also say that circles will work for some species, but not other species. One written account identified nibblers (e.g. blacktail) as the perfect circle prey, but class the smash-and-grab predators (e.g. elf) as requiring a J-hook. Again, our catch-rate results were consistent across all species.
An added observation, which was not a deliberate part of the experimental design, was that circle-hooks get stuck less often."
Did you ever get the chance to go on one of those tagging trips with Colin to De Hoop, when i worked at fisheries i tried my best but could not get into that club. That has to be some of the best rock and surf angling anywhere in the world. If i remember corectly Cliffie got a 100lb kob there a few years ago on surf tackle.
Polychaete
Senior Member
I never tried, never had time. I have time now........
It's a beautiful place and will go anytime.
It's a beautiful place and will go anytime.
With circle hooks you must remember that you can generally use larger sizes (usually about 2 sizes larger, in my experience) than you would use with the normal J-hooks. There is also quite a bit of variation in actual size between circle hooks, for example, a 7/0 Mustad, Gamakatsu or Owner circle hook will all diifer slightly in actual size.
For Galjoen, I would not really use a circle hook smaller than 2/0 (but to each his own - whatever works for you!). The 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle would work well (the wire is not too heavy and the point is needle sharp) ... Just make sure the whole hook point and gape are open and "proud" when you bait up. It would probably be best to whip some foam onto your line above the hook with bait cotton (a la ESA) and then to bait up with redbait or white mussel using the foam as a base. Aim for a longish, thin bait with the hook point and gape open ... If you are using worm, you will not need the foam base, of course ...
Also try Berkley Gulp Sandworm or Lugworm (which is actually our SA Bloodworm) with a circle hook for Galjoen ...
My current favourite circle hook for general surf fishing for just about all other edibles is a 7/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hook - sounds massive, but it works extremely well for me when using whole sardine (head down) ...
Also, the Pulley Rig (check out the Traces section on SEALINE or do a search) results in the fish hooking themselves every time with circles! Never strike, just tighten up and you're on!
For Galjoen, I would not really use a circle hook smaller than 2/0 (but to each his own - whatever works for you!). The 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle would work well (the wire is not too heavy and the point is needle sharp) ... Just make sure the whole hook point and gape are open and "proud" when you bait up. It would probably be best to whip some foam onto your line above the hook with bait cotton (a la ESA) and then to bait up with redbait or white mussel using the foam as a base. Aim for a longish, thin bait with the hook point and gape open ... If you are using worm, you will not need the foam base, of course ...
Also try Berkley Gulp Sandworm or Lugworm (which is actually our SA Bloodworm) with a circle hook for Galjoen ...
My current favourite circle hook for general surf fishing for just about all other edibles is a 7/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hook - sounds massive, but it works extremely well for me when using whole sardine (head down) ...
Also, the Pulley Rig (check out the Traces section on SEALINE or do a search) results in the fish hooking themselves every time with circles! Never strike, just tighten up and you're on!
[color=#006600]BigBass[/color] wrote:
Thanks for all this advice, the circles that i have might be a bit small then for Galjoen, but in some of the areas here we only find smallish Galjoen, and we not as luck as the guys up the coast that run the risk of hooking up to a Cracker at the same time!With circle hooks you must remember that you can generally use larger sizes (usually about 2 sizes larger, in my experience) than you would use with the normal J-hooks. There is also quite a bit of variation in actual size between circle hooks, for example, a 7/0 Mustad, Gamakatsu or Owner circle hook will all diifer slightly in actual size.
For Galjoen, I would not really use a circle hook smaller than 2/0 (but to each his own - whatever works for you!). The 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle would work well (the wire is not too heavy and the point is needle sharp) ... Just make sure the whole hook point and gape are open and "proud" when you bait up. It would probably be best to whip some foam onto your line above the hook with bait cotton (a la ESA) and then to bait up with redbait or white mussel using the foam as a base. Aim for a longish, thin bait with the hook point and gape open ... If you are using worm, you will not need the foam base, of course ...
Also try Berkley Gulp Sandworm or Lugworm (which is actually our SA Bloodworm) with a circle hook for Galjoen ...
My current favourite circle hook for general surf fishing for just about all other edibles is a 7/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hook - sounds massive, but it works extremely well for me when using whole sardine (head down) ...
Also, the Pulley Rig (check out the Traces section on SEALINE or do a search) results in the fish hooking themselves every time with circles! Never strike, just tighten up and you're on!
Gamakatsu Octopus hooks are my favourite my 10 000 000 miles, circle or J hook. They never, ever fail. Can't say the same about Daiichi tho.My current favourite circle hook for general surf fishing for just about all other edibles is a 7/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hook - sounds massive, but it works extremely well for me when using whole sardine (head down) ...
I see the ESA boys have switched their allegience to Mustad, wonder what happened? (rather who paid the most for sponsorship?) Hmmm...
Silent Bob
Senior Member
nice article in this month mag about circle hooks aswell