Circle hooks are very much for real and I believe are the only type
of hooks allowed for offshore salmon sport fishing in California.
A couple years ago I joined my 78 year old uncle on a charter salmon
boat out of Berkley, CA. We left San Francisco Bay as we motored out
under the Golden Gate, fishing an utterly flat ocean about 5 miles
off Stinson Beach in Marin County.
We used herring bait tied onto a 1-1/2 inch circle hook on about 8
feet of 20 lb mono leader off mooching rods (not particularly
exciting fishing, but my uncle enjoyed it!) When the fish hit the
herring, the trick is to avoid the reflexive yank on the rod to set
the hook. All that does is to pull the circle hook out of the fish's
mouth. Instead, by leaving the dipping rod tip alone until the line
starts to pull out against the drag, the fish literally hooks itself
with the more gentle pulling action as it tries to swim off with the
herring in its mouth.
Fish thusly hooked are invariably hooked in the lip which makes
releasing them much easier. That is, until a deckhand skewers them
with a gaff and hauls them up to the deck, whacks them with a
lead-filled metal baseball bat, tags them with the fisherman's
number, and pitches them into the fish well.
Our boat had about 18 fishers on board and we limited (2 chinook each
per angler and crew) in just a couple hours. Some folks caught none
while others caught more than two each until the total limit was
reached. A lottery system using drawn playing cards then
redistributed the excess fish to the fishless customers until all had
their 2 legal fish limit.
BTW, for those not familiar with a mooching rod, it is almost the
exact opposite of a fly rod - 4 or 5 feet long, as thick as your
thumb, stiff almost to the point of inflexibility, with pulleys
instead of guides at the tip and nearest the reel. Even the 28 pound
chinook I caught that day (the largest was 32 pounds), barely caused
the rod to arc. Combined with a large Penn saltwater reel loaded up
with 200 to 300 yards of 30 - 40 lb mono, a mooching rig is more like
a crane than a fly rod.
I'll take my 4wt any day.
Kent Lufkin
>Several months ago I read an article or 2 on the newest and best thing to
>come along for catch & release fishing. They called it circle hooks and one
>of the articles rated the various brands that had come onto the market at
>that time (mortality rates). Since then I don't recall hearing much more
>about them.
>
>Can anyone shed any light regarding the circle hooks, where they over rated
>and really didn't perform as stated by the Manufacturers? unable to tie
>very many flies on them so no one really uses them? work great for other
>types of fishing but not for fly fishing? or am I just out of the loop and
>everyone is using them but me??????
>
>Thank you,
>Ray :-)
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