Circle hooks and barbless

[AdrianLP]

Can anyone comment on their attempts at using circle hooks for largemouth? How about barbless circle hooks?

 

I tend to use a lot of soft plastics, would circle hooks be ideal?

 

Has anyone who had used them often comment on barbless J hooks? They must lead to more fish loss, but perhaps it's only in a small amount of strikes?

 

I'm getting to a point where I want to reduce damaging the fish as much as is reasonable. I want to catch fish, but I'm not losing money if I don't bring as many fish into the boat either.

[AdrianLP]

I went fishing tonight. I caught 4 largemouth using a J hook that I had flattened the barb on (wacky rigged 5" worm). Two others struck, but I think they just got the tip of my plastic worm.

[Cbump]

I can’t think of one reason to use a circle hook for bass unless you’re fishing with live bluegill. 

[AdrianLP]

7 minutes ago, Cbump said:

I can’t think of one reason to use a circle hook for bass unless you’re fishing with live bluegill. 

 

 My reason was to almost eliminate gut hooking and hooking fish's gills

[looking45]

I’ve used circle hooks for a long time. I use them for weightless stick baits and worms 6” or Bigger, and for using baits Neko style. I use weighted circle hooks for wacky rigging. As Cbump said, there is almost no chance of gut hooking a fish. I use a reel set and almost all of the fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth

[AdrianLP]

9 minutes ago, looking45 said:

. As Cbump said, there is almost no chance of gut hooking a fish. 

 

I think it was me that said that. Cbump said he saw almost no reason for using a circle hook.

 

Do you find you miss many hook sets when using a C hook? I'm thinking of trying barbless C hooks.

 

I know after fishing tonight I really enjoy barbless J hooks

I don't know why I started saying "C hook", I meant Circle Hook.

 

I got "C hook" stuck in my head somehow and typed it without thinking about it. Why can't I edit my own posts

[looking45]

Sorry, I have to pay closer attention. I don’t miss very many books sets. I’ve never tried them barbless.  

[AdrianLP]

23 minutes ago, looking45 said:

Sorry, I have to pay closer attention. I don’t miss very many books sets. I’ve never tried them barbless.  

 

I'm just trying to reduce the damage the barb adds in addition to the hook. I'm live-release only. As mentioned, I tried barbless J hooks tonight with my wacky-rigged 5" plastics. That went very well, I was very impressed.

50 minutes ago, looking45 said:

I’ve used circle hooks for a long time. I use them for weightless stick baits and worms 6” or Bigger, and for using baits Neko style. I use weighted circle hooks for wacky rigging. As Cbump said, there is almost no chance of gut hooking a fish. I use a reel set and almost all of the fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth

 

What size do you use? For J hooks I normally do 4/0, but I'm thinking maybe 3/0 is sufficient.

 

I just bought a collection of Circle Hooks on Amazon. I chose 3/0 for the size, but the product description says there are 150 hooks ranging from 1/0 up to 9/0. I guess I can experiment between 3/0 and 4/0, and also experiment by flattening the barbs on a few.

[looking45]

10 minutes ago, AdrianLP said:

 

I'm just trying to reduce the damage the barb adds in addition to the hook. I'm live-release only. As mentioned, I tried barbless J hooks tonight with my wacky-rigged 5" plastics. That went very well, I was very impressed.

 

What size do you use? For J hooks I normally do 4/0, but I'm thinking maybe 3/0 is sufficient.

 

I just bought a collection of Circle Hooks on Amazon. I chose 3/0 for the size, but the product description says there are 150 hooks ranging from 1/0 up to 9/0. I guess I can experiment between 3/0 and 4/0, and also experiment by flattening the barbs on a few.

I experimented with several Sizes and settle on 3/0 

[georgeyew]

I often use 3/0 circle hook for wacky senko fishing. I find that once they are hooked, it is very rare for them to get off. The only negative that I see with the circle hook is that you don't get to do a hook set.

 

I do barbless sometimes if I want an easier release. But I don't really see a difference.

[you]

Nose hooking small, weightless soft-plastics (e.g. finesse worms) has worked well for me. Gives the bait a different action on the fall than an offset or EWG hook, in addition to reducing gut-hooked fish.

[Tackleholic]

I am 100% catch and release.  I have used barbless circle hooks for maybe 30 years when using soft plastics.  They take some getting used to, but my hookup and landing ratio actually improved, releases are slick and quick.  Two very good methods to employ them are wacky rigging and drop shotting.  Remember not to jerk!

[papajoe222]

I used circle hooks when first introducing youngsters to plastic worm fishing in order to avoid gut hooked bass.  It's worked out so well over the years that I even use them for wacky rigging on occasion.  As for barbless hooks, I bend the barbs down on the rear hooks of my Spooks as they tend to catch in the gills of fish during the fight.  I've hooked and landed many a bass on that rear, barbless treble.  I also fished a number of tournaments back in the day that required their use. Few anglers had difficulty limiting out in the majority of those. 

 

[Cbump]

On 7/26/2023 at 9:44 PM, AdrianLP said:

 

 My reason was to almost eliminate gut hooking and hooking fish's gills

Something is wrong in your setup if you’re consistently allowing them to get deep hooked on soft plastics. 

Sorry when I think of soft plastics my mind goes to Texas rigging which is what I thought you were asking about with circle hooks. 
I see now the conversation is regarding Wacky. Circle hook away. 

[Fishingmickey]

I can definitely see using them for wacky rigged or nose hooked. Texas rigged or Tex-posed nope. Smash the barb down for those, I'd think you'd be fine. Most gut hooking I think comes from missing the strike and letting them swallow the bait. I don't do much wacky rigged fishing,

FM

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:45 PM, AdrianLP said:

Can anyone comment on their attempts at using circle hooks for largemouth? How about barbless circle hooks?

 

I tend to use a lot of soft plastics, would circle hooks be ideal?

 

Has anyone who had used them often comment on barbless J hooks? They must lead to more fish loss, but perhaps it's only in a small amount of strikes?

 

I'm getting to a point where I want to reduce damaging the fish as much as is reasonable. I want to catch fish, but I'm not losing money if I don't bring as many fish into the boat either.

Years ago I saw a quick demonstration on the ODCH of a guy rigging up plastic worms on a circle hook and saying how easy it was.  For bait, dead and rigged, inline circles and barbless inline circles have a much lower mortality rate compared to J hooks, which is why they're being mandated for gamefish up and down the east coast. 

Fish aren't as likely to swallow lures or plugs as they are bait, so circle hooks really aren't necessary, but will work great for nose hooking and neko/wacky rigs.  The hook setting takes a little getting used too, but once you get the hang of it the landing % is great.  While circles are great, fish can still swallow a them for sure, particularly offset circles, which is why inline circles (that will sit flat in your palm) are being pushed.  

Personally, I think the well being of the fish should always be paramount.  Without fish there is no sport and without the sport you're not fishing at all.  I crush the barbs on the majority of my hooks and have found that it doesn't hurt landing % at all.  A barb is meant to keep the hook from backing out when there is no tension on the line.  Hook manufacturers figured it out decades ago that the added surface area of a large barb does more harm then good.  Its an uphill battle to argue that the best hooks in the world arent Japanese or modeled after Japanese designs.  If you look at the evolution of hooks designed for artificial lures(other then large pelagic or big game species) whether its from Gamakatsu, Owner, Hayabusa etc., you can see the barb progressively shrink as the designs mature.  The primary use of a barb on offsets and straight shanks is to keep the hook from backing out of the bait and not the fish.  

[AdrianLP]

23 hours ago, Cbump said:

Something is wrong in your setup if you’re consistently allowing them to get deep hooked on soft plastics. 

Sorry when I think of soft plastics my mind goes to Texas rigging which is what I thought you were asking about with circle hooks. 
I see now the conversation is regarding Wacky. Circle hook away. 

 

I don't gut hook often, it's just non 0. Or hooks into their "tongue" (soft lower pallet) which can be difficult to get out, etc. I just want to reasonably reduce the damage I'm doing to the fish 

[RAM3139]

I started using circle hooks when wacky rigging and fishing in strong wind.  It was hard to feel a bite and circle hooks reduced the chance of a gut hook if I was slow on the hookset.  They worked really well and I still use them for almost all of they wacky rigging.  Once you get used to the very slow reel-set, its a great hookup ratio.  I have never tried barbless though.

[AdrianLP]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:14 PM, RAM3139 said:

I started using circle hooks when wacky rigging and fishing in strong wind.  It was hard to feel a bite and circle hooks reduced the chance of a gut hook if I was slow on the hookset.  They worked really well and I still use them for almost all of they wacky rigging.  Once you get used to the very slow reel-set, its a great hookup ratio.  I have never tried barbless though.

 

I enjoyed my barbless circle hooks and barbless J hooks this season. I don't think I caught any fewer fish than I had any year previous (or it was not noticeably less if so). I'm glad I changed.

[islandbass]

@AdrianLP:  Good on you for going barbless. I prefer barbless whenever possible.  It definitely makes release easier and in my state, barbless hooks are required period, end of sentence. 
 

Unfortunately, barbless hooks off the rack in my neck of the woods are hard to find because people buy them up (mostly octopus and circle hooks used for salmon/steelhead fishing) quick. And if I have barbed hooks I flatten barbs with pliers. 
 

I believe using the barbless hook also can make you a better fighter because you know if your line goes slack and you have a big enough fish on, you’re going to likely lose it. The barbless hooks keeps you conscious and aware 100% of the time during a fight and for me it really helps me focus on never letting the line go slack during the fight. 
 

Barbless hooks easily land steelhead and salmon that are bigger and stronger than bass so bass can definitely but caught with them. I also think when a hook set is needed, it’s actually “easier” because there is no barb to hook set equation. so maybe that barb is a crutch, lol. ?

[AdrianLP]

3 hours ago, islandbass said:

@AdrianLP:  Good on you for going barbless. I prefer barbless whenever possible.  It definitely makes release easier and in my state, barbless hooks are required period, end of sentence. 

Unfortunately, barbless hooks off the rack in my neck of the woods are hard to find

 

I cheated. I used a Dremel on my existing barbed hooks, and took the barb off till it was smooth.

 

[islandbass]

@AdrianLP: Excellent idea! I am going to do that as a winter project. ? Crimping with pliers is not a 100% deal and if the warden deems it’s not flat or flush enough, you can still get cited. The dremel remedies that completely. 
 

Do you use the drum sander or some specialized bit?

[WRB]

No reason to remove the barb on Owner Light Mutu or Gamakatsu Light Octopus  circle hooks. The hook ends up in the corner of the fish mouth and easy to remove with the small barb that helps keep the hook in place.

Longer shank Weedless worm hooks flattening or removing the barb does help in hook removal. The down side is the hook can penetrate deeper into organs with fatal results; tongue bleeds out the bass quickly and Brain is more obvious.

Tom

[AdrianLP]

10 hours ago, islandbass said:

@AdrianLP: 
 

Do you use the drum sander or some specialized bit?

 

The rotary tool I used was actually not a Dremel (it was the same thing minus the branding). It came with a metal filing bit. My Circle Hooks have quite thick barbs, and it only took about 15 seconds per hook.

 

[islandbass]

@AdrianLP: Got it. It’s pretty interesting how certain brand names become synonymous for the thing they make or do. 
 

1) Kleenex => Tissue

2) Xerox => Photocopy

3) Google => Search Engine

4) Dremel => Rotary Tool ?