Problems With Live Bait And Circle Hooks

[Catch and Grease]

Hey guys for live bait without a bobber how do you know your getting a bite? For me its hard to tell when I'm getting a bite vs. the baitfish I'm using just moving around... I'm using a rig like a drop shot btw. Another thing is how do you guys use a circle hook with baitfish? I tried just hooking it through the tail but I couldn't get good hook ups to save my life.

 

I switched to circle hooks because I was gut hooking a lot of fish due to the fact I couldn't tell I was getting bites... I' m fishing for Bowfin btw if it matters any.

[roadwarrior]

You can hook the baitfish up through the bottom lip then up through the roof of the mouth.

#2 horizontally through the nostrils.

 

You will detect a bite either by a traditional "strike" or the bait will just get heavy. Sometimes

your line will move out, but that's pretty obvious. The key is NOT to ever set the hook and that

can be really hard for bass fishermen to get use to! FIRMLY lift your rod tip and reel, the fish

will set the hook. Constantly keep pressure on the fish with a tight line.  95% of the time the

hook-up is in the jaw joint.

[Catch and Grease]

You can hook the baitfish up through the bottom lip then up through the roof of the mouth.

#2 horizontally through the nostrils.

You will detect a bite either by a traditional "strike" or the bait will just get heavy. Sometimes

your line will move out, but that's pretty obvious. The key is NOT to ever set the hook and that

can be really hard for bass fishermen to get use to! FIRMLY lift your rod tip and reel, the fish

will set the hook. Constantly keep pressure on the fish with a tight line. 95% of the time the

hook-up is in the jaw joint.

Thanks, I need to learn to not set the hook but I have little confidence in a circle hook. I think I might be using to heavy of a wire hook, I'm using a MH/F rod with 50lb braid and 15lb leader so I figured I could get away with a thicker hook but its not working out...

[A-Jay]

Circle hooks excel at reducing deeply hooked fish.

 

A hook set is not needed nor is it desirable - just come tight & reel set the hook.

 

  Additionally, I'm not sure a circle hook is needed when bowfin is the target species.

 

A-Jay

[SirSnookalot]

100% agree with RW

[Catch and Grease]

Circle hooks excel at reducing deeply hooked fish.

A hook set is not needed nor is it desirable - just come tight & reel set the hook.

Additionally, I'm not sure a circle hook is needed when bowfin is the target species.

A-Jay

so do you think I should just go back to J hooks and get better at detecting a bite?

[A-Jay]

so do you think I should just go back to J hooks and get better at detecting a bite?

Both hooks work, you'll need to gain confidence in one and stick with it.

 

Bite detection with a drop shot style rig and live bait is usually not very tricky.

 

Most of the time once a fish commits to live bait they rarely reject it.  This allows the angler ample time to "detect" the take which is usually plenty of time to set the hook. 

 

Another live bait rig that works well is essentially a Carolina rig.  On this, you can leave your bail open or reel in free spool ( clicker comes in handy here) and when the line starts to move off - come tight and set the hook - or reel set in the case of the circle style hooks. 

 

A-Jay

[Catch and Grease]

See that's what I thought, like bass, speckled perch, catfish etc.. they will grab a bait and get outta dodge (or at least hold onto it).

With bowfin it seems like they will grab a bait for a second then drop it, I will reel in my bait and it will have teeth marks on it.

I was fishing with a bobber the other day and had the bait a few feet below the bobber, they would grab the bait and take the bobber down and then it would float right back up like they let go of it... I know its bowfin because they are the only toothy critter in that place and they are leaving teeth marks on the bait

[A-Jay]

See that's what I thought, like bass, speckled perch, catfish etc.. they will grab a bait and get outta dodge (or at least hold onto it).

With bowfin it seems like they will grab a bait for a second then drop it, I will reel in my bait and it will have teeth marks on it.

I was fishing with a bobber the other day and had the bait a few feet below the bobber, they would grab the bait and take the bobber down and then it would float right back up like they let go of it... I know its bowfin because they are the only toothy critter in that place and they are leaving teeth marks on the bait

 

 

You might consider omitting all the terminal tackle except for the hook.

 

Simply cast out & free line the bait.  Keeping in contact with the line with a finger will assist you in the initial bite detection department. 

 

 If those fish are a little spooky, lightening up your leader a little might help too.

 

A-Jay

[Catch and Grease]

You might consider omitting all the terminal tackle except for the hook.

Simply cast out & free line the bait. Keeping in contact with the line with a finger will assist you in the initial bite detection department.

If those fish are a little spooky, lightening up your leader a little might help too.

A-Jay

Okay I'll try that, thanks for the tip!

[Bassun]

I've never fished for bowfin, so my input is based on other fish; but, I can say that when I first started using circle hooks and didn't trust them, I didn't catch much with them.  Why?  Because I kept setting or at least "half" setting the hook.  I finally got lucky and hooked a fish on one rod, when a second rod got hit.  The one I half set on, was hooked but not in the corner of the mouth, it was basically strait up and down.  BUT the on that was just pulling on the rod was a perfect corner set. 

 

I vowed to just reel down and fight from then on, and since then my hookup rate skyrocketed using circles on any live bait.  I use them almost exclusively for live bait, save for the smallest of fish.

[everythingthatswims]

Use a small treble, hook it in the back of the baitfish, and set the hook as soon as you feel them. Or use a circle and feed them plenty of line before reeling down on them and letting the circle hook do its thing.

[Catch and Grease]

Use a small treble, hook it in the back of the baitfish, and set the hook as soon as you feel them. Or use a circle and feed them plenty of line before reeling down on them and letting the circle hook do its thing.

Might try treble hooks... I just bought two packs of 4x strong trebles but they are to big for what I originally bought them for, maybe I just found a use for them lol

[Bluebasser86]

You might consider omitting all the terminal tackle except for the hook.

 

Simply cast out & free line the bait.  Keeping in contact with the line with a finger will assist you in the initial bite detection department. 

 

 If those fish are a little spooky, lightening up your leader a little might help too.

 

A-Jay

This is what I do to freeline live shad for wipers during the winter time. A wiper bite is a bit easier to detect than a bass strike, but I've caught a lot of bass doing it too and never deep hooked a fish. I use a #6 or #4 Gamakatsu Octopus hook a majority of the time and miss very few fish, and like I said, never hook one deep.