Circel hooks and yellows

[bekkerian]

Hey guys, im not a pro at FF so this might seem like a "dof" question.
I see a lot of self tied flies are done on Circle hooks, now my understanding of a circel hook is that the fish swallow the bait/fly/hook, now the angle doesnt strike but only tighten the line and the hook slides out of the fish's throaght and gets set in the corner of the mouth....ok now the questions, when fishing for yellows, using an strike indicator, seeing the indication disappearing, I strike....how will the circel hook set if I strike?

regards
ian

[Michael]

Hey guys, im not a pro at FF so this might seem like a "dof" question.
I see a lot of self tied flies are done on Circle hooks, now my understanding of a circel hook is that the fish swallow the bait/fly/hook, now the angle doesnt strike but only tighten the line and the hook slides out of the fish's throaght and gets set in the corner of the mouth....ok now the questions, when fishing for yellows, using an strike indicator, seeing the indication disappearing, I strike....how will the circel hook set if I strike?

regards
ian

I don't use circle hooks when nymphing for yellows on the Vaal...for the same reason you state. As you strike, most of the time you just pull the hook out of the fish's mouth. Normal scud hooks are way more effective when indicator fishing for yellows.

[Bryan]

That makes sense and that has been my experience as well.

Here's another interesting one...

What about the use of circles (if you can find them small enough) on dry flies?
When a fish turns on a dry would it hook itself?
Has anyone tried this?

[Michael]

That makes sense and that has been my experience as well.

Here's another interesting one...

What about the use of circles (if you can find them small enough) on dry flies?
When a fish turns on a dry would it hook itself?
Has anyone tried this?

Hi Bryan

I've never actually tried...but the theory behind circle hooks are the fish must take the fly in, start swimming away with it, the line tightens up and it hooks itself, in the scissors of the jaw.
The problem with yellows, is they do not keep the fly in their mouths long enough for that to happen, in my opinion. They can reject a fly in a matter of a second or two, and it's over. And, if you use a circle, wait a second or so, then lift the rod up, you will probably still be pulling the fly out of the fish's mouth.

I may be going back to Sterkies soon, will tie up one or two and try it, but I have my doubts.

[smallstreams.co.za]

What about offsetting the hook point a little? I've never used circles, but maybe this can help somewhat??

[chris williams]

I've experimented with circles in most areas of flyfishing and personally find them a waste of time. I know how the various tried/tested hook styles work for me and I don't need to tinker/adjust my already-lousy fishing style to suit circle hooks. I'd personally rather leave them to the other types of fishing for which they were designed.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

That makes sense and that has been my experience as well.

Here's another interesting one...

What about the use of circles (if you can find them small enough) on dry flies?
When a fish turns on a dry would it hook itself?
Has anyone tried this?

I have seen dries on circles but bear in mind, they were Hoppers,etc tied on Streamer circles.

[Bryan]

I have seen dries on circles but bear in mind, they were Hoppers,etc tied on Streamer circles.

I have actually just tied a few hoppers and crickets on a circle streamer so will see how they go.

[Andre]

Ya, circle hooks for larger dry flies might be an option, although I have never tried them, I can't say for sure. Remember that circle hooks do not come in a very "light ' option, suitable for small dries with light dressing, so will therefore make the dry fly more prone to sink, unless, as I say, it's a larger fly with more buoyant and floatable dressing.
Another comment I want to make, regarding the snagging prevention capabilities of circles..... it's fine to tie your fly, on a normal hook, weighted so that it swims upside down, thus believing that the hook point is going to point upwards, but remember that the current will cause the fly to swirl around, so it's unlikely that your hook point will be facing away from the bottom through the entire drift. Especially if you are fishing in a faster flowing rapid, the fly will be spinning around, bouncing off rocks and going up and down......regardless of how you distribute the physical weight.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

the fish swallow the bait/fly/hook

There's the answer right there,they don't "swallow" the fly,it's more a case of what I'd call a quick nibble/taste,hardly a swallow. (Korrie sit down )It is in that period where you will strike and loose many fish. On the other hand,when you give the fish some rope i.e. time and it did take a fly tied on a circle you will almost never loose a fish.

Did you spot another problem in the previous sentence?How do you know which hook was taken? If you fish 3 flies at a time it could be rather difficult to gauge which fly was chowd.

My advice would be to tie some flies in sizes 1,2,4,6,8,10,12 and possibly 14 and see for yourself.Experiment with circles and establish a reference.

If and when you toss them don't go any further than a Daiichi 1120 Scud hook.The hook is already off set for your convenience.(1xs and 2x heavy)The perfect hook for Caddis,Mayflies,etc.

Cheers