Now that a favorite style of hook has been fairly well established. What is the favorite brand?
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Now that a favorite style of hook has been fairly well established. What is the favorite brand?
Mustad all the way
I don't have any favorite yet but I just pick up some team catfish to put on some jugs. That all the store had.
I usually use Gamakatsu's Octopus Circle hooks, because I usually snell them directly on the line or leader and the upturned eye works with that knot real well. I do have some doubts about whether that inhibits the turn, though, and whether it would be better to attach the circle hooks with a loop or a split ring to give it more flexibility to turn and then maybe to increase hookup.
Does anybody have any experience with a difference like that?
Gamakatsu octopus circles 8/0. I trust them in fresh and saltwater.
I'm keeping a eye on this poll! I'm going to start hunting for the "Big Blues" on my next trip out.......
Mustad demon circle for me. I use them on rod and reel and on limb lines.
Mustad demon circles. I like to bend an offset in it hooks em in corner of mouth dang near every time
Gamakatsu 8/0 also. no1son that is a really good question, I like to polmar knot mine and have never given it a thought. Might be worth a try.
If you like gamma circles, check out invicta hooks at renegade tackle. Great hooks at a great price. I am now " hooked" on gamma 9/0 octo circles. With an octopus hook you can either reel down on em like a circle or if a fish is biting real light, you can set the hook and cross their eyes!
As far as knots go, I Snell all my catfish hooks, i think there is a mechanical advantage to a Snell knot. I look at it like this, take a big ol hay hook and run your finger through the eye and try to hook a bale of hay. You can do it, but the hook will kind of flop around and it tales more pressure to hook up. Now grab the same hook by the shaft, like a Snell knot. You will have much more control and it will take much less force to hook up. I think my hook ups have increased since I started smelling hooks, and I also don't lose as many fish during the battle. And don't forget to sharpen those hooks, even a brand new hook might not be as sharp as possible. This makes the biggest difference for me.
South point you're going to have to show me how to tie the snell knot at camp sometimes i get it write others not so much.
no problem, I'd be happy to. I will have my cattin gear with me at camp, I plan on doing some drifting if (after) I limit out on slabs!
there are quite a few different ways to snell a hook, some are beyond my ability. this is the method I use, very quick and easy to learn and tie. except this guy makes 5-6 wraps around the shank of the hook and I do 7-8 wraps. very strong knot.
How to Snell a Hook "the easy way" common snell knot - YouTube
This is the one I use:Quote:
Originally Posted by south point
How to snell a hook - YouTube
This guy explains it very well. It works very well directly on the tag end of your running line and it works even with the knotable steel leader material, just be careful to work the twists out of the loop with that before you tighten it down or you will end up with kinks right ahead of your hook eye.
Be sure to moisten the line before you snug it down for the final time. It also pays to hold the loop open as you draw the running line back through the hook eye, since you have put a number of twists in it and you want them to work back up out of the hook eye or they may tangle.
As near as I can tell this is the snell knot that Eagle Claw uses on its commercially snelled bait holder hooks. Like the guy says it works best with an upturned eye or a downturned one. Either way the line force is directly along the hook shank with no bend at the eye.
Which ever version, it pays to practice. It gets so your fingers do these snells almost by themselves.
The Gamakatsu octopus ciricle hook in the 3/0 through 5/0 size is my favorite for Smith Lake's big stripers. When they are really hammering down on baits they seem to hook up best with these. On a slow bite it still seems to be better than the regular "J" hook to me. Although sometimes I just can't hook a lazy fish. Hope this helps!
Most of my crappie fishing is for lazy or neutral fish. On really slow bites I get better response by downsizing from my normal size 6 jigs to those with size 8 hooks, and then I get more ready takes from fish in that mood. In your case I would suggest dropping down to a size 1 or 1/0, BUT also loosen your drag a touch and/or drop down to a bit lighter tackle. We get regular bonus fish in our crappie fishing up to as much as 15 to 20 pounds that our regular size 6 hooks hold, WHEN the rest of the tackle is balanced to protect it. In the water size 6 holds both big cats, carp and muskies almost indefinitely without bending when balanced with the rest of the tackle. When they fail it is almost always when the fish flops on the shore during unhooking and the lack of water resistance does not cushion the strength of the fish. Size 1 or 1/0 should be strong enough for any size striper or catfish except the real giants, if rigged and played carefully and, of course, if the fish is netted. Sounds to me like you might like to add a "slow bite" rig that is a bit lighter with a significantly smaller hook to your normal set up, not to replace your normal tackle, but for those special cases where that isn't working. I generally do that whenever I fish crappies and then only resort to it at need, but having it available has saved the outing more than once.Quote:
Originally Posted by sjprkr1
that's great advise! thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
I use Mustad circles.
Nice post no1son. I was a little unclear on one thing though. Are you talking about using size 6 circle hooks for crappie? That's something I've never thought to try. I'm guessing you have to be tight lining for that to work.Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
Size 6 circle hooks for minnows the right size for crappie, yes, although these days I no longer use minnows, mostly jigs and plastics. Those are normally also size 6. With circle hooks, be sure to have enough free space around the bait to get the hook to turn with the hangnail exposed. Too large a minnow will cover the hangnail so that it cannot bite. This works both tight lined and under a bobber. While I was still using live bait, I got to the point that circle hooks were all I used with minnows or worms. I also used size 8 circles to bait for bluegills back then, too. The Gamakatsu octopus circle was my hook of choice.
I carried a few 8s, a few 4s but mostly 6s. I found another company that made that style in blood red, which I was switching to about the time I was getting seduced by plastics and so never made the complete switch over. These days I no longer carry the bait kit for crappies, just bigger sizes for catfish, but may dig the crappie size out for carp. We had real good hookup on carp last summer of size 6 and 4, but I never thought to dig out the crappie circles. Thanks for the reminder.
Nicely done again no1son, You answered everything that I was wanting to know. I will give this a try as soon as the conditions are right. Right now I'm having pretty good luck on on the good ol' 1/16 oz basic jighead which is pretty rare, for me, where I fish. I'm going to ride it while it last! Also I would like to say that a good magazine is often not nearly as informative as your last two posts. Thanks again.
"I'm going to ride it while it last!"
Amen!
Whatever you work out that takes your fish, definitely ride it while it lasts! It doesn't get much more basic than that! Just don't get married to it, when it runs out, and they all do eventually. Develop another approach that works and then ride that! The more approaches you have the more likely it is you will be able to find the right ride for the conditions. Each ride will give you nuances. Same for all species of fish.
It doesn't take a lot of tackle to do that either, just the brain power to put them together, and we all have enough of that. All we have to do is use it.
I use the gamakatsu blood red circle Hooks. They work really good for me.