# Circle hooks versus "J" hooks and tying or snelling hooks



## texasGG (Mar 12, 2007)

Found this research article, Intresting....

Circle Fish Hooks versus "J" hooks

There is so much hype about the relative efficiency of different fish hooks that it is hard to know which is fish hook best for the fisherman, or the fishery!

Paul's Fishing Kites has participated in large scale hook efficiency research over the last six years and has been involved in the setting of 60,000 hooks over several research projects to answer just that question.

The the small portion of the extensive work reported on this page compares Octopus and O'Shaugnessy fish hook patterns (J shaped hooks) with Circle fish hooks.

It also tests whether tying or snelling the hook to the fishing line makes any difference to the catch rate and reports the observed incidence of gut hooking where fish have swallowed the hook. Only size 4/0 and 5/0 hooks were trialled.

The sea trials were undertaken in the New Zealand snapper fishery in the Hauraki Gulf (within 15 miles of the Americas Cup course). 
This fishery is NZ's biggest inshore fishery for both commercial and recreational fishers. 
The sea trials used four 116 hook longlines which were set daily at sunrise.

The lines were left to fish for 1-2 hours.

Longlines were used to avoid any angler bias due to the different abilities and fishing styles of different fishers.

Each set of the longlines had circle hooks on half the traces (snoods). The other half were a combination of Octopus and O'Shaugnessy hooks.

The the circle hooks seriously out performed the popular J shaped hooks in all size classes of snapper.

The much higher catch of undersized fish on the circle hooks is of some concern

Tying versus Snelling Fish Hooks

Commercial fishers in NZ use a type of circle hook and snell their hooks to the fishing line.

Most recreational fishers tie a knot to the eye of the hook.

As one would expect, the commercial fishers had it right.

Snelling improved the observed catch rate on circle hooks by a staggering 30% while gut hooking of the catch was about the same.

Intresting read.....

Kinda makes you want to snell up a bunch of circle hooks for those jug lines and trot lines dosen't it?


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## OL' LUNGBUSTER (Mar 3, 2008)

I use Circle hooks for cats all the time. They improved my cat catching rate and they never straighten out. I highly recommend them....however i've never used any snell hooks before..may have to now.


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## Gator gar (Sep 21, 2007)

I've never ever gut hooked a catfish with a true circle sea hook and that is all I use.


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## McBuck (Mar 24, 2006)

Circle hooks are definitely more efficient. Interesting the point about snelling the hooks was raised...

One of my buddies and I were early adopters of using circle hooks for tarpon fishing over 20 years ago. Our catch rate was around 90% using the big circles AND we snelled them...


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