Reduced C & R mortality

[SilverFly]

Hello Salty Dogs. This is my first post on this board. I thought some of you guys might be able to answer this post I put on the main board about circle hooks:


Reading the thread on circle hooks for sturgeon made me think that this might be a way to reduce release mortality for steelhead and salmon. I was curious if anyone has tried them for salmonids. My understanding is that they are primarily used for saltwater bait fishing (tuna, etc...) but if it is possible to use them for lures or flies as well then they might be a great way to reduce sport impact on native fish (and get more fishing opportunities!) Another benefit might be reduced foul-hooking in situations where fish are concentrated.

If it turns out that circle hooks do work in river fishing for salmon/steelhead then it would also solve the old hookset problem. Supposedly you just come tight to the fish and they're on!

Just kicking around an idea. Maybe some of our Tuna guys might have some input.


Thanks.

[Mark Mc]

Here's one data point, for what it's worth. In California, circle hooks are required when mooching (drifting) for salmon in the ocean. Before circle hooks, the "J" hooks would frequently hook the salmon way down the throat. Now, with the circles, most of the fish are hooked in the jaw or corner of mouth.

- Mark

[corrirod]

I used them last year for sport trolling for salmon and they work great from the standpoint of keeping the fish on once hooked however I did notice they reduced the hookup ratio on the first strike.

Now keep in mind this was new to me so I'm still working out the bugs of rigging and with some tweaking can probably improve that ratio. The reason I switched was because I use a long "mooching" pole for salmon which is basically a big fly pole and reel(1 to 1 ratio). I was loosing fish because of my inability to reel fast enough when they came right at me so I switched to circles to try and keep them on the line and it did work well. No more lost fish due to barbless hooks.

[backlash442]

Didn't know they were required when mooching in Cal. I did know that barbless hooks are required north of Point Conception all the time while fishing for salmon. Unless that law has changed too.
I use circle hooks a lot while tuna fishing. No line abrasion if hooked in the corner. You just crank down until the line come tight then one upward motion. No repeated setting of the hook. Although it's fun to "set" the hook. One thing I've found is that even when using a circle hook you don't get the fish in the corner of the mouth all the time.