My first experience with circle hook flies was full of mixed results. During the day, I had at least six hits on the circle hook juvies that I'd tied, but no hookups. I'm assuming that these fish were stripers, because my partner brought in a few on the standard J hook flies. So I changed over to the same pattern tied on a J hook, and met some success with the stripers.
As night fell, the striper activity slowed down tremendously. We changed to black deceivers and juvies, and found willing bluefish at the end of a breachway at the tail end of the outgoing tide. Most casts resulted in a strike, so I decided to give the circle hooks another shot. I tied on a black circle hook juvie, and nearly every strike resulted in a hookup. My partner and I saw virtually no difference between our success rates (J hook vs. circle), and the lip hooking ensured by the circle hooks was very welcome with bluefish in the dark.
So now comes the inevitable question. Would these hooks have worked in the daytime for the blues, or are they only worthwhile at night when these fish tend to take a fly deep and deliberately and usually hook themselves? I tend to think that they would be just as effective in the daytime, because there's rarely anything subtle about a bluefish strike.
I'll continue to experiment with these tools as the opportunities present themselves. I really can't complain about the results so far. My birthday was full of fish and it turned out to be a pretty good time.
Until then,
Mark
As night fell, the striper activity slowed down tremendously. We changed to black deceivers and juvies, and found willing bluefish at the end of a breachway at the tail end of the outgoing tide. Most casts resulted in a strike, so I decided to give the circle hooks another shot. I tied on a black circle hook juvie, and nearly every strike resulted in a hookup. My partner and I saw virtually no difference between our success rates (J hook vs. circle), and the lip hooking ensured by the circle hooks was very welcome with bluefish in the dark.
So now comes the inevitable question. Would these hooks have worked in the daytime for the blues, or are they only worthwhile at night when these fish tend to take a fly deep and deliberately and usually hook themselves? I tend to think that they would be just as effective in the daytime, because there's rarely anything subtle about a bluefish strike.
I'll continue to experiment with these tools as the opportunities present themselves. I really can't complain about the results so far. My birthday was full of fish and it turned out to be a pretty good time.
Until then,
Mark