by Keith Hamburger

Created on: April 29, 2008

Fishing with circle hooks is one of the best, and most humane, techniques for passive bait fishing in fresh water. However, if you are used to fishing with other hooks you will probably need to learn new techniques for using circle hooks.

A circle hook has the tip sharply bent back so there is no point exposed to catch on smooth surfaces. Unlike regular style hooks, which can readily embed almost anyplace on or in a fish, circle hooks have to be pulled through a sharp turn to hook a fish. When passive fishing with baits it is not uncommon for other hooks to get caught deep inside a fish's gut. If, for whatever reason, you need to release a fish caught in this manner, the mortality rate climbs drastically. It is unlikely to be possible to remove the hook without seriously injuring the fish and while leaving the hook inside the fish is better, it is even more desirable to avoid hooking fish deeply in the first place.

For this reason, when using baitholder or aberdeen or any similar hook, you should pay far more attention to your line and be prepared to set the hook at any hint of a bite. If you act quickly enough you can increase the chances that the fish will be hooked in the mouth before it has the chance to swallow the bait, and the hook, completely. Of course, by doing this you also increase the chances of missing the strike and spooking the fish.

Circle hooks, on the other hand, should be fished in a completely different manner.

Since circle hooks will not hook inside the fish, there is no worry about gut hooking a fish. And, for proper hookup, the hook needs to be dragged to the corner of the fish's mouth where it will twist around and hook in the edge. To fish with a circle hook you actually want the fish to swallow the bait completely. And, by setting the hook in a traditional manner you are likely to pull the bait away from the fish, and lose your chance.

For these reasons, when fishing with circle hooks, you want to be far more patient. Leave the rod sitting when you get a bite. Let the fish take the bait and swallow it. When the fish has taken the bait and swallowed the hook, don't jerk to set the hook. Simply take up the slack in the line and pull the line tight, that's all there is to it. The hook will pull out of the fish's gut to the corner of the mouth and imbed itself as it turns the corner trying to come out. If you happen to have an undersized fish or a species that you don't care for, or if you've reached your limit on that particular species, the hook can be safely and easily removed and the fish returned to the water to be caught on another day.

So, next time you're sitting on the edge of the lake late in the evening fishing for catfish, try a circle hook. Just put your bait out on the bottom and leave a couple of feet of slack line. Since the fish won't feel the resistance of the tight line he will be more likely to take the bait. Wait until your line goes tight and just reel in your big catch. A quick twist with a pair of pliers will have the hook out so your fish can go on your stringer, or be released to grow up.

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