Lottabass

@JHoss I think it does, i also think that I wouldn't have had a 100% failure rate if I had been using trebles instead of circles on those baits yesterday. I don't want to keep using these hooks if I have days where they fail to work a majority of the time. I haven't decided yet what failure rate I will accept. The last 2 days I fished were bluebird days, north wind, and the water temp had dropped since the last time I was out (from 59 down to 52), but I still caught fish. Always a challenge...even though this challenge is self made!

Yesterday I found a wad of bass on a shallow channel bend. Fished a jerkbait and a small sqarebill both with circle hooks. Several fish hit those baits but I hooked NONE of them. I fished a trap with circles over a grass bed. Same results. Several bites but NO hookups. A hybrid hunter with trebles and a swimjig in these spots produced lots of fish. I expected to have some misses with circles but 100% misses is not acceptable. I will keep trying. @GRiver @JHoss @scaleface @RRocket

As always, listen to the fish and your confidence level Many times I'll take a 3/16 skirted jig with a weed guard and take the skirt off and put a small stick worm on, call it a Ned Jig.

Not all pigs in Iowa have curly tails! 🤣

I think when you are fishing a crankbait and the lure changes direction as it gets close to the boat or bank that direction change triggers the bite. So, yes bass follow our baits more often than we know.

@GRiver @JHoss @scaleface @RRocket On my last trip I was catching them on the Ichikawa Flat Shad 45 on channel banks with a drop into about 5 fow. I would make a pass with the white one and catch a few, then go back down the same bank with red and have some slaps but no hookups, then go down again with the yellow, get slapped but no hookups, then go again with the white and catch a few more. The fish were so "on" that little, white bait that is what resulted in the tongue or throat hookups even with the circle hooks.

@JHoss You make a good point. I will expand this project and try J hooks. I also ordered some Gamakatsu Offset Octopus hooks to try. It will be interesting to see how the size of the crankbait affects the outcome. Typically, in warmer water, I use 2.5, 4.0, and 8.0 size baits to fish through wood. So far I've only used jerkbaits or smaller flatsides. Thank you for your input!

@GRiver Thank you, it was a great day, pretty sure I caught over 30 bass. Majority were hooked inside the mouth, in the tongue or in the throat, and majority were easily unhooked (not all). One concerning thing was several times the front hook would be flopping around not stuck on anything. Remember, I am not presenting any hard data, just sharing my experiences. I don't take notes nor do I have a fish counter in my boat. Please share your experiences.

Ichikawa flat shad 45 with #1 circle hooks caught a pile of bass yesterday. It was a day when color seemed very important. I had white, red, and yellow. I didn't hook any on red and yellow although got lots of bumps and whooshes. They were piledriving white! Hookups were no problem May have caught some of those whooshers on the red and yellow if they would've had trebles.

@Tackleholic VMC Duo lock size 3. Tried Norman Speed Clips and Decoy but fingers couldn't make them work.

When my vision got bad enough that I couldn't see mono or fluorocarbon first I tried Sunline BMS, which has some colored sections. That worked for a while then got where I couldn't see it either so I went to hi vis yellow 832. The brightness kinda bothered me even though I colored 3 feet of it with a sharpie. They now have 832 in Sunrise which is a darker "hi vis" but I can still see it. I don't use a leader. The lakes I fish have dirty water with 12 inches or less of visibility.

@woolleyfooley Yes, Buckeye Lures Mop Jig. @TnRiver46 The skin on that bluegill was completely gone so I'm assuming it must have been inside the stomach of that bass. When I bent over to lip the bass all I saw in its mouth was the jig. As I lifted the bass over the side of the boat out popped the bluegill!

A 5 pound bass disgorged this bluegill after I landed it. I've fished standard casting/flipping/finesse jigs for years but this year I bought some Mop jigs and 5.25 inch trailers. Compared to a standard size jig and Rage Craw in the photo is a little bigger. I hope this will catch bigger fish consistantly (I think it will as long as I present it to bigger fish consistantly). All the lakes I fish are dirty water lakes.

@Mobasser Lazy Ikes!!!! I was born and raised in Fort Dodge Iowa and my buddys Mom worked at the Lazy Ike plant. She would bring home "blems" for free. We would put hooks on them and they worked good on our spincast outfits. I still have 3 of those "blems" but I don't use them anymore, I just like to look at them and remember.

@Swamp Girl When they are thick from front to back they are beautiful! That one is a dandy!

@Swamp Girl Thank you! I'm blessed to have good lakes to fish.

1. 8-0 Pit Boss 2. 8-4, Jig n frog 3. 8-3, Jig n frog Iowa hawgs!

Shades of Charlie Brewer!!!!!

@scaleface It seems that way to me as well so I will try that.

Let me say this about this circle hook experiment. If I was fishing for money I would never take off my treble hooks. If the advantages (Less hooks in my hands, and easier to unhook a throat hooked bass) outweigh the disadvantages (A few more lost fish, or a few more missed strikes) I will keep trying this. Now if it gets out of hand I'll go back to trebles. I don't fish tournaments, and I love catching bass but if I lose one here and there it's no big deal. I don't land every fish I hook anyway, treble hooks or not. Now, truthfully, I expect to miss or lose more fish with circles. We'll see, this is just an experiment, but I appreciate your interest and your input.

@GRiver @RRocket Gamakatsu makes another circle hook, the octopus offset point, that has the eye sideways like a traditional hook eye. This might work.

@RRocket Yes, I see what you mean. If the circle hook is pointing to the side I would think the lure would be more likely to snag. It seems to me that it would still grab a fish but it don't look right that way! I have 2 ideas. #1. Put another split ring on the one that's there, then the circle on the new split ring, that should turn the hook 90 degrees. #2. Tie a split ring with braided line and maybe the braid would allow the hook to turn in the proper position as the lure comes through the water. Maybe, IDK...I like #1 best. There are YT videos on how to tie this (it is way beyond my abilities!). I have never tried either of these ideas. Just trying to help.

YES! And don't wait until you are old and worn out to do this! You can't bring back the dead!

2 days of warm, windy weather raised the surface temp from 52 to 59 yesterday. Had 'em chompin'!!!

@Swamp Girl Good post! I think my best trick is to be willing to change, locations or lures, until I think I'm "on 'em". Now I have a question. I pre-rig rods too, but how often are you right and how often do you have to re-rig again? I think it's about 50% with me.