I have been reading for some time about how much better circle hooks are for fishing bait for large fish like stripers. So when I last went to buy hooks to use on my family fishing trips I saw a package of circle hooks in a size that were well suited to the perch and sunfish that I catch. I thought that I would give the new hooks a try.
Usually a family fishing trip is a busy event for me with several lines to keep baited and at least one fish needing to be taken off of a line at any given moment during the trip. Yesterday right ahead of the afternoon rainstorm I had a trip with a grandmother and her grandson. The grandmother decided that she did not want to fish so I had only one line to contend with providing a little time for experimentation. I tried the new circle hooks and while they did not improve the number of fish hooked they were much better at not getting too far into the fish’s mouth. Most if not all of the fish were caught right in the corner of the mouth and easily unhooked. A real improvement over the old style hooks. One concern from my perspective thought is that the hooks are extremely sharp a cause for worry if a child or dad decides to bait a hook. This is not a complete negative I just need to stress even more that a great deal of care should be taken around the hooks.
The single angler yesterday also gave me time to try something else that has been on my mind for a while. We occasionally catch large shiners mixed in with the sunfish and I know that they can be excellent bait for big bass. I rigged one line with a float that is normally used for fishing herring for stripers on the coast and baited the line with an eight inch shiner (yes a bait that size can pull the float under all by itself) I had three fish take the bait but was unable land them. I think that part of the problem was the rod not being stiff enough to deal with a large fish and I am wondering if the hook I was using was big enough. No matter though, a fish that can swallow a bait eight inches long will definitely add a little excitement to an already exciting family fishing trip. I plan to experiment on it again soon.
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