Your Opinion Please: Circle Hooks and Tilapia

[EMP]

I think I want to catch Tilapia tomorrow. I just wonder how circle hooks would work on them.

Tilapia do not have big mouths like say, the bass. It's mouth is "boney" (maybe similar to bream) rather than "fleshy" (catfish).

Any thoughts?

Thanks heaps.

EMP

[ellicat]

I reckon they'd wanna be pretty small circles. Like you said - they've got small mouths, but if you get a circle small enough they're a well designed hook for staying put.

[tomca]

mustad do some really small circle hooks in a less traditional pattern and when used bait fishing by my other half have never gut hooked a bream, always in the side of the mouth

[HookedOnTackle]

would circles be best for your style of fishing? i haven't caught a tilapia, so am just going off hook patterns best for a style, but circles are designed to be eaten, swallowed at least down to the gills and dragged out till the hook point digs into the corner of the jaw. if tilapia are timid biters or like to chew a bit before swallowing, a circle could miss a lot of strikes.

owner and gamakatsu make some incredibly sharp suicide/baitholder hooks that are well worth investing in. they are also a finer gauge than similar sized circle hooks.

my two cents worth...

[elops]

HookedOnTackle wrote:

would circles be best for your style of fishing? i haven't caught a tilapia, so am just going off hook patterns best for a style, but circles are designed to be eaten, swallowed at least down to the gills and dragged out till the hook point digs into the corner of the jaw. if tilapia are timid biters or like to chew a bit before swallowing, a circle could miss a lot of strikes.

owner and gamakatsu make some incredibly sharp suicide/baitholder hooks that are well worth investing in. they are also a finer gauge than similar sized circle hooks.

my two cents worth...

I agree the fine wire baitholders or wormhooks size 8 to 2 depending on the size of the fish work best for me

Regs Steve

[EMP]

A bit of a short report.....

Gamakatsu circle hooks, size: 4.

Six fish caught; 3 got away.

I'm not sure what could have been done to prevent the lucky 3 from escaping. Maybe a smaller hook? A bigger hook? Or maybe a circle hook is just not best for tillies? I've used the normal J-shaped hooks before but sometimes they don't do the perfect job either.

Oh well, maybe I'm just always going to whinge no matter what.......

EMP

[ellicat]

That's a few more gone EMP. Looks like you got a spangled as bycatch. If any of the natives can give the tillies a run for their money it's spangleds. Thay are a really tough agressive little native.

[HookedOnTackle]

as soon as they make the perfect hook, it ain't fishing anymore, it's catching

sorry to use such a cliche, but dang that is a good catch. may i ask what bait you used?

[ellicat]

I'm pretty sure he was using the humble garden worm.

[51MPL]

mate.. how the hell did u catch fish with no reel? tie the hook onto the end then just lift it out of the water? =]

nice catch haha! i normally use really small baitholder hooks with bread for mullet (works for the tillies) or bread on hook w/o the float which works a little better as the mullet dont really go for them