Hook type and fish mortality

[JayM5209]

The salt water fishing I've been able to do during the past five winters - mostly surf fishing in the Gulf of Mexico - has convinced me to exclusively use circle hooks in that environment. I'm going to be doing a lot more experimenting with circle hooks in my walleye fishing.

Here are links to two short reports on research into mortality rates of fish caught on J-hooks vs. circle hooks.

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/in...rum/hooks.html

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries...port/crsb.html

Plus, if one can unlearn the instinctive hook set maneuver when a fish is detected, circle hooks generally have a high hook up rate.

[Phil T]

Circle hooks work very well on live bait rigs (since no hook setting is needed, they're great for inexperienced anglers). I have noticed that the ones with offset hook points will occasionally snag in the throat of fish. This almost never happens if the hook point is aligned with the shank. No difference in hooking ability that I've noticed.

[Dabluz]

I read a study about circle hooks and from what I read, the size of the hook was very important. The larger the circle hook, the better it performs. I doubt that a size 6 or size 4 or even a size 2 circle hook would be as effective. I think that I read that the effectiveness of the circle hook starts at about 2/0 and larger. Great for large fish like channel cats, or fish over 15 or 20 lbs.