Circle Hook Size for Bluegill

[BrackishBassin]

Long story short, I run a summer day camp for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Part of what we do is take them fishing. I decided to go for bluegill since many of these kids have never caught a fish and have short attention spans to boot. So, I went online an ordered some circle hooks (less likely to hook themselves or others and fewer guthooked fish) based on recommendations I'd seen on another site. The hooks came today (size 12), and they are the smallest hooks I've ever seen in my life. Should work great in the sense that they'll be able to catch everything down to a tiny little minnow, but there's no way I'll be able to get a worm to stay put on a hook that size. 

 

Anyone have any suggestions for some easy to use and aquire bait for hooks that small? Thanks!

[Team9nine]

Spikes, a.k.a. maggots. Order them online and have them shipped to you. 

[BrackishBassin]

32 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Spikes, a.k.a. maggots. Order them online and have them shipped to you. 

 

Thanks! I'll have to see if there's a place that'd get them to me by Tuesday without costing an arm and a leg. 

[LOZSteve]

Mr Crappie cam lock fine wire hooks, size 6. I have caught hundreds of crappie, blue hill, bass and catfish with these  easy to remove and rarely hook them deep. Can get them at basspro or Walmart. Good luck and have fun. 

[BrackishBassin]

1 hour ago, LOZSteve said:

Mr Crappie cam lock fine wire hooks, size 6. I have caught hundreds of crappie, blue hill, bass and catfish with these  easy to remove and rarely hook them deep. Can get them at basspro or Walmart. Good luck and have fun. 

 

Thanks! Already purchased the hooks, so I'll be using the ones I have. Appreciate the suggestion though!

[Looch]

gulp maggots, will stay on that little hook better than real ones and work just as good. I use #12 hooks(not circle) when I want to catch smaller bluegill(4-6 inch size) and suckers for flathead catfish 

[Bluebasser86]

Another vote for Gulp baits. The maggots work well. You can buy them in jars or bags. Easy to use and no mess or worries about keeping them alive like live bait, but they do have to be sealed back up or they'll shrink and dry out.

[bassh8er]

Would highly recommend using tongs or something else to get the baits out of the Gulp juice.

 

Love the baits but that stuff gets fused into your skin if you submerge your fingers in it.

 

Makes it tough to drink your post fishing trip beer; using Gulp has helped me become ambidextrous though.  Can't drink with your right if you've been threading 1" Gulp fish fry on your jig head all morning.

[slonezp]

On 7/27/2017 at 4:41 PM, BrackishBassin said:

Long story short, I run a summer day camp for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Part of what we do is take them fishing. I decided to go for bluegill since many of these kids have never caught a fish and have short attention spans to boot. So, I went online an ordered some circle hooks (less likely to hook themselves or others and fewer guthooked fish) based on recommendations I'd seen on another site. The hooks came today (size 12), and they are the smallest hooks I've ever seen in my life. Should work great in the sense that they'll be able to catch everything down to a tiny little minnow, but there's no way I'll be able to get a worm to stay put on a hook that size. 

 

Anyone have any suggestions for some easy to use and aquire bait for hooks that small? Thanks!

My opinion is to teach the kids how/when to set the hook rather than rely on circle hooks. For panfish, I prefer Eagle Claw long shank gold aberdeen hooks in size #2. They are sufficient enough to hook fish while doing a light sweeping hookset while reeling in at the same time. They are large enough to keep the pesky smaller fish from getting hooked, and if the hookset is done within a second or 2 of when the bobber goes down, the risk of a swallowed hook is minimal at best. 

[Darren.]

I use(d) Gamakatsu circle hooks in size #8 and had plenty

of success on bluegills, yellow and white perch, all the way

to cats and bass. The #12s will work, just beware that, at

least in my experience, circle hooks under a float do not 

always yield a lip-hooked fish. I've had a LOT of gut-hooked

panfish with circle hooks...

 

As for bait, we normally use night crawlers, but I've run the

gamut of canned/preserved grubs, crickets, etc., to Gulp

and I prefer live whenever I can use 'em.

 

Gulp does work, though, just that they can dry out when they

sit for a spell. 

 

Maggots and grubs ordered online is great. I never did so, but

wouldn't hesitate to when I eventually circle back to long-pole

(no reel) fishing. I love the technique's simplicity and fun when

a fish hits. Fantastic for kids, too.