South Coast Hook effectiveness

[Bothrops]

Just thought I’d post a snippet of information which might be of interest to some people about a daytime session on a local beach 2 days ago. After the recent blow the sea had flattened considerably and I thought that there might be some bass around to sweep up any creatures that had been dislodged by the waves, an occurrence that is by no mean unusual, even in unpromising daytime conditions.

I fished two rods side by side with identical 3 hook flapper rigs, identical baits and at the same distance. Bait was salted down limpet which is a tough bait and stays on the hook better than fresh but obviously with fewer juices to attract the fish than fresh ones. The only difference between the two set-ups was that one rig had smallish traditional size 4 Mustad J hooks and on the other size 2 Mustad fine circle hooks. For the three hour session I landed 13 small bass (and I mean small!) and was regularly getting bites on both rods. 12 of the bass were taken on the circles and just one on the J hook rig which was, to say the least, interesting. Obviously any conclusions drawn from the outcome could in no way be considered as scientific and on another day I might have got the opposite result but some food for thought nonetheless.

 

[Valleyboy]

So if you want to catch undersized bass use circles

 

[solehunter]

Just thought I’d post a snippet of information which might be of interest to some people about a daytime session on a local beach 2 days ago. After the recent blow the sea had flattened considerably and I thought that there might be some bass around to sweep up any creatures that had been dislodged by the waves, an occurrence that is by no mean unusual, even in unpromising daytime conditions.

I fished two rods side by side with identical 3 hook flapper rigs, identical baits and at the same distance. Bait was salted down limpet which is a tough bait and stays on the hook better than fresh but obviously with fewer juices to attract the fish than fresh ones. The only difference between the two set-ups was that one rig had smallish traditional size 4 Mustad J hooks and on the other size 2 Mustad fine circle hooks. For the three hour session I landed 13 small bass (and I mean small!) and was regularly getting bites on both rods. 12 of the bass were taken on the circles and just one on the J hook rig which was, to say the least, interesting. Obviously any conclusions drawn from the outcome could in no way be considered as scientific and on another day I might have got the opposite result but some food for thought nonetheless.

I agree that the difference in catch is associative; however, I prefer de-barbed inline circle hooks for my attempts at bass, sole, and other flatfish. I prefer to unhook lip-hooked fish to be returned on circle hooks rather than risk throat or gut-hooking fish. I find the knot used to attach a hook can affect the hook-up rate.

 

[Trampster]

Bigger hooks for the bigger fish might make a difference in the size of fish caught. Just a thought.
I rarely go below 2/0 hooks, as I don't usually target flatties.

 

[Bothrops]

So if you want to catch undersized bass use circles

What an intelligent reply!

 

[Valleyboy]

What an intelligent reply!

Makes perfect sense to me. I have no desire to keep hauling in "small(and I mean small)" bass

 

[JLD]

Think circles work best if you use the snell knot. Just my experience.

 

[solehunter]

So if you want to catch undersized bass use circles

But sole have small mouths.

 

[Wolf]

When i use circle hooks,which is rare,I always squash the barb.Reguardless of what bait I'm using & what im fishing for.

 

[ajs1967]

If im bream fishing i use chinu's, brilliant hooks.

 

[flappy]

Sharp ones are the best..

 

[Valleyboy]

Think circles work best if you use the snell knot. Just my experience.

Fishing for dab I snell size 2 kamasan hooks. Gives you a bit of a semi circle effect and seems to result in less deep hooked dab

But sole have small mouths.

He is not fishing for sole he is trying to catch bass