Circles over suicides

by Jarrod Day on 9 Feb 2012 Thinking back about the various fishing hooks available, none have had such an impact on fishing than a circle hook.

In today’s era, many anglers are familiar with Long Shank, Bait Holder and suicide hooks and although they have been around in various versions since BC, circle hooks are proven fish catches.

In recent years, there has been a huge switch towards circle hooks for catch and release purposes and while some anglers still opt for a suicide, circles hooks in my view reign supreme but that’s for you to decide.

Suicides: Suicide hooks are one of the most common hooks sold in tackle shops today. They tend to be the first hook purchased by a beginning angler or may turn up in a Christmas stocking for a youngster. There design is simple and effective; yet require the angler to set the hook into a fish. Suicide hooks, which are also known in the old school as beak hooks are a unique design having a tilted back eyelet and offset point. The idea behind the tilted eyelet is too enable multiple hooks be snelled to one line. This can be achieved by passing the mainline through the top of the eyelet and tying a common snell knot securing the hook to the line. In Western Port, where the tide can run at a rate of knots, we sometimes use a snelled hook rig containing two suicides or have the top suicide as a running hook which is lightly bound with bait elastic. This allows you to slide the hook into the correct position to insert it into the bait.

Having the advantage of the offset point enables a higher percentage of hooking a fish compared to that of an inline hook. Still, offset suicide patterns require the angler to set the hook to secure a solid hook set.

This usually occurs when a bite is felt by holding the line through our fingers or when the tip of the rod indicates a fish is eating the bait. Traditionally, snapper anglers know all too well how good suicide hooks are and while they continue to purchase them, I on the other hand like to make things a lot easier.

Circles: Although some might not think so, circle hooks are no new comer to the fishing industry. Circle hooks have been around for Thousands of years and from memory the first version of a circle hook was discovered was made from shell by the pre-Columbian Indians. In saying that, in ancient Japan anglers carved hooks similar to that shape of a circle from reindeer horn. Today commercial long liners and recreational anglers a like reap the benefits of from such ancient technology.

Although weird looking in design, a circle hooks shape has its barbed point pointing towards the shank. An angler that purchases or see’s a circle hook for the first time often wonders just how a hook with a barb facing the shank can possibly hook a fish. When taken, a circle hook can be completely swallowed without the fish feeling any sharp points as with conventional J hooks.

Circle hooks can be used with either a dead or live bait. Baiting circle hooks requires a little more of a delicate approach as burying the hook point will prevent a solid hook set. Keeping that in mind, baiting circles doesn’t warrant the need for large baits to be used; rather a smaller strip or cut half fillet bait is recommended. If live baiting or skip baiting is the approach, most often, the hook is rigged in front of the bait either through the bottom jaw or with the use of Dacron or a waxed thread.

The most important feature of a circle hook is its actual design. The design itself will hook a fish 100% off the time if allowed to do so. For a circle hook to work correctly, the angler must at all times reframe from striking in an attempt to set the hook. Should an angler strike when using a circle they will pull the hook from the fishes mouth, losing their catch 100% of the time. Not good eh?

When the circle hook is swallowed into the throat or stomach of the fish, its design prevents the point from damaging any vital organs until the fish attempts to swim off with the bait.

After a fish has swallowed the bait, the rod tip will rattle or bend indicating a fish is interested in the bait presented. At this point most anglers get excited and strike. With a circle, leaving the rod alone is the most effective technique as the fish will feel the tension on the line and try to pull the bait in an attempt to swallow it. At this point, the angler is best to gently pick up the rod, not lifting the rod tip, but just to wind up and slack line. This makes the hook and bait come out of the throat towards the fish’s mouth. As this happens, the fish will turn away to try and take the bait, while doing so the hook will penetrate the hinge of the fish’s mouth every time.

How to fish with either hook: Although suicide hooks and circle hooks are very different in design, they are fished in completely the opposite way to one another.

While suicide hooks require the angler to strike in an attempt to set the hook, circles don’t. This means that when using suicide hooks they are best used on a running sinker rig setup. A running sinker rig can be tied with either the sinker above a swivel allowing a length of leader between the swivel and the hooks or by having the sinker free running on the leader directly to the hook. Either way, both rigs are very effective and allow the angler direct contact with the hooks when the time comes to strike.

A running sinker rig, allows an angler to leave the rod in the holder with a light drag set on the reel. When the bait is taken, the fish will pull line from the reel indicating it has taken the bait. At this point, a strike is made to set the hooks. If you’re not in tune with the bite pattern of the fish, you may strike when they don’t have the bait and pull the hook away from the fish and spook it. If you don’t strike hard enough when a fish has the bait, you may not get the hooks to penetrate deep enough and if you strike too hard you could rip the entire hook out of the fish’s mouth on impact or during the fight.

Circle hooks on the other hand can be fished in a number of ways whether it is for marlin, tuna, whiting, snapper or any other reef fish.

Marlin anglers know the benefits of circle hooks for catch and release purposes and in some parts of the world, billfish tournaments strictly only allow the use of circle hooks to be used.

For species such as marlin and tuna, live baiting and cubing with circle hooks is an effective technique while trolling skip baits can also warrant the use of such a design.

Bottom reef fishing requires the use of a fixed sinker rig whereby a paternoster rig is most effective. A paternoster rig allows an angler direct contact with the rig as when fished, it is usually directly under the boat. There is no slack line, meaning the angler can feel every bite or inquiry on the bait.

A paternoster rig requires an angler to keep this line tight at all times to work effectively. This rig is ideal when fishing offshore drifting over reefs for snapper, whiting, kingfish and other reef species. When using this rig, anglers using braided lines will notice an increase in hook-up rates in conjunction with circle hooks.

Due to the fact, that circle hooks require there to be no slack in the line to work correctly, fishing a paternoster rig and a mainline of braid will be the perfect setup. Providing the paternoster rig is fished directly under the boat the benefits of fishing with circle hooks will be seen.

Which is better - you choose: Although there may be pros and cons for each hook most anglers are happy with what they are already using and are unwilling to change. To this day, I am yet to meet an unhappy angler that made the switch from suicides to circles but in saying that, there are still some that can’t reframe from striking a fish.

As I said earlier, I am an avid circle hook user and have caught an extensive range of fish on this design. If you haven’t used a circle hook before and are intrigued to do so, I dare you to risk your next catch and try something new. I guarantee it may just change the way you fish in the future.