06-19-2003, 04:24 PM
[cool]Some bassers use circle hooks for split-shotting, Carolina rigs and drop shotting. When the fish are aggressive and grab the plastics and go...then they will get hooked.
If the fish are in a negative or neutral mode, sometimes the strike consists of only a slight "tick"...felt when the fish sucks in the bait and then quickly spits it out again. They often do this while facing the angler. There is no "turn and surge" strike, so if you try to set the hook with a circle hook you will get a lot of frustration and few hookups. On those occasions, you need the super sharp fine wire hooks that bite deep on the hookset.
Circle hooks are designed for use with bait. However, when the fish are aggressive and eating plastics like bait, you can make good use of circle hooks. Because it is rare that a fish swallows artificials, the need for circle hooks with plastics is not nearly as great, if your concern is gut-hooked fish.
In short, when fishing artificials you are likely to have to plan on some missed strikes if you insist on using circle hooks. I would never consider using them on my little jigs. I hone the points to as sharp as I can get them, and I still miss a few nips and even hard strikes. I would be talking to myself if I fished jigs with circle hooks and was not able to set the hook on every hit.
That's my opinion.
TubeDude
[signature]
If the fish are in a negative or neutral mode, sometimes the strike consists of only a slight "tick"...felt when the fish sucks in the bait and then quickly spits it out again. They often do this while facing the angler. There is no "turn and surge" strike, so if you try to set the hook with a circle hook you will get a lot of frustration and few hookups. On those occasions, you need the super sharp fine wire hooks that bite deep on the hookset.
Circle hooks are designed for use with bait. However, when the fish are aggressive and eating plastics like bait, you can make good use of circle hooks. Because it is rare that a fish swallows artificials, the need for circle hooks with plastics is not nearly as great, if your concern is gut-hooked fish.
In short, when fishing artificials you are likely to have to plan on some missed strikes if you insist on using circle hooks. I would never consider using them on my little jigs. I hone the points to as sharp as I can get them, and I still miss a few nips and even hard strikes. I would be talking to myself if I fished jigs with circle hooks and was not able to set the hook on every hit.
That's my opinion.
TubeDude
[signature]