Catch up with Circle hooks.

The use of Circle Hooks has caused controversy ever since they were first used for sport fishing.

Many Big Game boats fishing for species such as Billfish and Tuna report a higher percentage of hook-ups because of the almost uncanny ability of the circle to hook the fish in the jaw, making the release of these heavyweight gamefish much easier, with a consequent higher survival rate.

"Fine" I can hear a sceptical chorus say. "but we don’t catch fish like that, we catch Pollack, Cod, Bass, wrasse, ray, mullet or whatever. How can these funny looking hooks help me. Or is this another of these marketing put ups to make us all go out and buy some hooks!!"

Truthfully, it is none of those things as far as I am concerned. Over the years, especially in the years of plenty (pre mono gill-nets that is). I have to hold my hand up and confess that I killed more than my fair share of fish. Anglers of my generation did, there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of fish.

Some years we would find a dozen new wrecks stuffed with fish and we would catch and catch and catch to the point where we would keep some old folks homes in free fish for a year or leave the fish on board as the skippers tip.

So anglers did contribute to the present sad state of affairs. But those of us who were there to watch, know that the gill netters, beamers and pair trawlers did the real and lasting damage, by wiping out whole local populations of fish. Just look at the almost irreparable damage done to the Red Bream population, a portent of things to come unless the current crop of politicians take their thumb out of their bum and realise that "angling" contributes much more to our countries economy than the commercial fishing industry.

It was over several years in the early 80’s, that my "road to Damascus" revelation happened. I came to realise that in modern times we have to put fish back, especially bass, bream, inshore pollack and cod, rays and even wrasse…….. especially where they are undamaged and we know they will survive. This is not the article where I go for the throat of the commercial fishing industry, some of whom are now setting gill nets within yards of the shore for wrasse, a "cheap pot bait" or the tackle shop owner who gill nets bass and cannot understand why anglers do not patronise his shop anymore.

I could weep with frustration if I dwelt on it too much!

This article is about what we can all do to make a difference, each in our own small way….. tally up those returned fish at the end of the year, across the whole angling population, and believe me it will make a difference.

For the past couple of years I have been using Circle hooks exclusively for all my bait fishing from boat and shore. Of the several hundred fish which I have caught, over 90 percent of them have been hooked in the front of the mouth, most in the jaw "scissors", and what’s more I have a lot of pictures to prove it. With the aid of a "jumper" disgorger or a pair of long nosed pliers, a lot of those fish had the hook removed without handling the fish at all and in many cases without even taking them out of the water.

The modern circle hook is derived from a "commercial longliners" hook, used because the hook does not have to be set. In other words you do not have to "strike" the fish, just the action of the fish trying to swim away after taking the bait is enough to make the hook turn and hook the fish.

The golden rule when fishing with circle hooks is not to strike when you feel a bite. What you do is wait a few seconds, point the rod at the fish and reel quite slowly till you feel the weight of the fish. What happens is deceptively simple.

As the fish moves away with the bait, the line will find the corner of the fishes mouth and the hook because of its turned in point will actually slide from within the fishes mouth until it finds the corner of the jaw. The turned in hook point will then partially rotate, penetrate, and the fish is hooked.

Once a circle hook takes hold it is very rare that the fish will throw the hook. The only thing visible sometimes is the eye of the hook and yet with pliers or disgorger they will come out quite easily. I have tried the barbless Eagle Claw hook pattern and not only do they penetrate easily and hold very securely but they just slide out with firm finger pressure. A big rank barb is not necessary with these hooks, I often give circle hook barbs a squeeze with a pair of pliers to flatten them down some.

All good points so far, but all is not rosy in the garden.

Because of the shape of circle hooks they are more difficult to bait up, it is vitally important that the point and bend of the hook is not masked with great lumps of bait. If you are using a soft bait such as worm there is no problem, but if you are using crab or a fish bait then you need to exercise some imagination and mount the bait using micro elastic or fine wire to ensure the business end of the hook is workable.

I have found that for big baits such as mackerel flappers that the use of fine copper wire (rigging wire) enables the hook to be wired outside of the bait and then these hooks will work very effectively on fish such as ling and conger. However there is still some pioneering work to be done to find the best ways and means of mounting baits to these hooks.

The various manufacturers of circle hooks all seem to have different ideas about hook sizes, there is no logical standard of sizes.

I have found the most accessible range of circle hooks are the Eagle Claw range which are freely available from Harris Lures(01 692 581 208) in sizes from 2/0 to 5/0 in the Circle Seaguard L1976 pattern, priced at £1.95 for a pack of 10. My guess is that the 4/0 will make a good cod hook off the beach.

Eagle Claw now market a very large range of circle hooks because John Jilling, the President of Wright and McGill, the company which makes Eagle Claw hooks, told me at Efftex a couple of years ago that he believes that within a comparatively short space of time that almost all sport fishing will be done with circle hooks, because they are better hookers and are more environmentally friendly.

Waiting for a ferry at Cherbourg I noticed that VMC are now doing a range of Sport Circle hooks (now greatly expanded in 2002) which are approximately the same sizes as the Eagle Claw, these are also excellent hooks at about the same price.

Also very, very good are the Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hooks but as far as I am aware they are not available in the UK, I get mine over the internet from the USA.

I don’t do a lot of beachfishing, but in the interest of research you understand, I went a few times this year and caught few plaice and flounder. The hook-ups were simple, just leave’em and wind the fish in, no matter how much slack line was out, the fish are still not gut hooked. If you think about it, this is why the commercial longliners used these hooks in the first place.

It will be interesting to see the results that some of you will get this year using circle hooks. My belief is that these hooks are a major aid to conservation/preservation in that they minimise damage to the fish, because in ninety percent of hook-ups, the hook is so easily accessible, that the fish can be returned without handling it at all.

No, I haven’t gone soft in the head, times and attitudes have changed. Stone age machismo is self destructive to our sport. To do nothing to protect and conserve our sporting heritage is just not an option today, we all have to do something, no matter how little it is. If nothing else join the NFSA as an individual member. (Commercial finished !!)

It is perfectly OK to catch and kill the fish we want to eat or freeze, plus one or two for Granny and a couple more for the next door neighbour, this is an essential part of why we fish.

But putting baby bass back to grow on, shaking a small pollack or cod back over the side, returning fish that you are not going to eat is now a part of every thinking anglers way of life..…times have changed, once everything went into the fish box "for the cat". **** the cat!!!

So if you are going to put fish back, how should it be done??

If you are using a traditional "J" hook and it is deep inside the fish, then you are better off killing the fish. If the hook can be reached with the disgorger and the fish is not bleeding from the gills then provided it can be returned quickly, with minimal manhandling or being kept out of the water for more than a few seconds, it will likely go back and survive.

But lets assume that circle hooks are being used and that the hook is right in the front of the fishes mouth where it can be easily reached. A quick shake with the jumper and the fish is back in the water, shaken but not stir fried!

Disgorging Guidelines.

Use a jumper type disgorger if you can. The Gemini one is cheap and very effective. Otherwise use a larger one from someone like Stainless Steve whose disgorgers are craftsman made and a joy to own (Stainless Steve Batchelor, 01 590 670 414). Else use a pair of long nosed pliers to lift and twist the hook out.

If the fish can be released in the water without being handled, it stands a far better chance of survival.

If the fish has to come out of the water, lay it on a sopping wet towel and fold the towel over the fish whilst the hook is removed. Put the fish back into the water carefully.

Avoid handling the fish, especially with dry hands. Apparently dry hands feel as if they are red hot to the fish, so always wet your hands before handling fish.

If you squeeze the fish in the gill area it will almost inevitably die, so handle the fish carefully, preferably using the sopping wet towel.

Return the fish to the water as soon as possible, supporting it in a hand until it swims away of its own accord. If it does not swim away within a few seconds, move the fish back and forth to move water through its gills, then after a minute or so if it has not swum away, bang it on the head, it is beyond recovery.

It is not a macho thing to throw a fish into a fishbox and let it thrash around to die of suffocation. Use a lead loaded priest and knock the fish on the head if you are going to keep it.

I am very interested in your experiences with Circle hooks.

Contact me at russ@reelfoto.com for a natter about your findings.