school me on circle hooks

[Keywest18]

Well ive been running jugs the past two weeks and been averaging 4-5 fish out of 20 jugs. Most of the time i would be happy with that but out of 20 jugs i usually only have one with bait left. And since im using live bait and i know im missing alot of fish. Right now im using regular eagle claw trot line hooks. They always did well on my trot lines but not so much for jugs as it turns out. My bait is live mullet about 5" long whats the best size circle hook to use?

[elebouef]

I been using the cheap ones from Academy. They are red in color and are a number 5.
Last week when I went out I also lost a lot of bait. I think it might of been crabs that were taking it.

[eman]

3/0 -5/0 circle hooks are what you need .the circle hook is designed to not need a hook set when fishing w/ rod an reel .You just start reeling. So it makes sense that they would work good on jugs.

[Gasper Master]

i had read a study on circle vs J hooks on snapper off of the east coast. They were set on trot lines. The circles whipped the J hooks. They also did a test on snelled circle hooks vs circle hooks with regular knots to the eye of the hooks. The snelled circled whipped the regular knotted ones.

[LPfishnTIM]

I use 3/0 or bigger all I use is circle hooks when fishing live or cut bait. I don't care if someone swears by trebles, a circle hook does the job better!

[cmcnabb]

I use trot line hooks and catch just fine. I jug after goose season ends until it starts getting hot. Once it starts getting hot the garfish move in and eat the bait before the catfish get it. You never do good on jugs or just sometime? Try running them at night or very very early. Once the sun comes up good I think them cats go in deeper water and ain't shallow enough to mess with a jug

[Keywest18]

Ive been doing what "I" consider good. Out of 20 jugs im averaging 4 fish, some trips 6-7 .all of which are good size. My main problem is when they get hooked they run for cover and flip/spin off. So im "assuming" a circle hook or a hook with a shorter shank wouldn't have as much room to wiggle and move and possibly work its way out?

[cmcnabb]

Thats not too bad. I don't have that many twist off, but I don't leave them out overnight or anything. I probably run them every hour or so to put fresh bait on and keep fish from twisting off. If your leaving them out for a while try putting swivels so they don't twist off. I have never used circle hooks because I have always found the trot line or khale hooks in big packs for cheaper but I really think they will twist off any hook

[Keywest18]

I leave mine for about 2-3 hours, next time ill try keeping an eye on them i just dont wanna disturb the area chasing one jug

[cmcnabb]

Man I don't think them cats care much about an outboard. I know an old man who used to idle in circles while dropping pogy meal for a few minutes then start fishin. He said the idling excited them lol. But seriously I have ran down a ditch that is about 20 yards or so wide at full throttle, let off and pull up in the grass, cast a line out and be hooked up 5 minutes later.

I don't really have a certain amount of time I leave them. What I do is put them out in a few different areas. Once I'm done I'll go back to the first area and work my way to the last. They soak for probably an hour. Then I'll determine where I'm catching and not catching and move my jugs accordingly. I'll then skin whatever I caught and once I'm done with that I'll go run the jugs again. Just keep doing that until I'm ready to go. I usually run about 40 or 50 jugs

[Keywest18]

What i do is get up and go catch bait. Most of the time i only get enough to set them out once. But i set them out, come home and eat and find something to do then come back about 2-3 hours later. The place im fishing is about 30-40ft wide. i set mine out about 50ft apart the areas i catch in i set them a little closer. When i get more jugs ill be able to seperate them a little more

[elebouef]

I snelled 15 and left 5 with the circle hooks just tied to the string and I didn't see any difference today. Looks like they all caught about the same.

[j.e.hagen]

I've fished a lot with McNabb and a lot on my own I don't think it's your hooks if your jug is tangled up you hag one twist off if it's not tangled a lot of times it's those little needle fish a lot of times you will see your jug looks like its bobbing and pull up to find a shined hook that's mostly needle fish and sometimes crabs I only tried circle hooks once on 5 jugs and only caught one and it took me twenty minutes a priest and a chainsaw to unhook it so I quit using them

[elebouef]

I use these to remove the hooks. Catch the hook and flip it. They are the 5 and 1/2 inch long ones

[j.e.hagen]

I knew there had to be trick bc I almost lost meat trying to get it out lol it got nasty which now I know better to just cut and retie

[elebouef]

YUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP, work great and usually keeps the fingers away from the hook and fish, heck I used them on any kind of hooks. Cheap at Harbor freight but expensive at Academy