# Circle Hooks for Carp?



## SeanStone

Just curios if anyone has ever tried running circle hooks for carp? We didn't do too much carp fishing this year, caught a few in the spring but thats it. In October I ran circle hooks, with rods in rod holder reels locked down, for carp. I ended up losing two fish. One of which was really nice. Circle hooks work well for catfish and other species, but I'm wondering if the carps sucker like mouth causes circle hooks to be ineffective? Circle hooks are supposed to hook a fish in the corner of the mouth.....carp have no corner. I don't like missing fish so unless I hear otherwise; Ill probably stick with j hooks for carp.


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## dinkbuster1

i imagine a small circle would work great. however, in order to use a circle hook correctly you would have to be tight-lining. 

just thinking about that setup for carp i am envisioning a Rod taking off from a forked stick like an RPG!


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## samfishdyt

I have only used circles once for carp,(had not other option). I tight lined and did hook a couple up, but missed a lot more. When they hit the bait the first time my pole did fly from the Y stick directly into the water, and I lost the fish. Even being extreamly attentive and setting the look as soon as the pole bent I lost a lot of fish. I would stick to the J hooks if you can.


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## SeanStone

Thanks for the info.

I was using a sand spike rod holder and allowing the rods to load fully. I do it all the time for catfish and have a high rate of hook ups with them. I wondered if maybe I had a bad day on that occasion or if circles just don't work for carp.


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## TimJC

I know some carp anglers that have experimented with circle hooks with limited success, but they were all using them with hair rigs. I remember Mishio would attach a sinker with a rubber band to absorb some of the shock.

Isn't the purpose of a circle hook to prevent the fish from being gut hooked? Carp have a tendency to mouth food a bit (suck and blow), which minimizes the risk of hooking the fish deep in the throat. There are options that are designed to take advantage of the way a carp mouths bait..

I realize I sound like a broken record, but have you tried a hair rig with a simple size 4-6 bait holder style hook? The hair rig when coupled with a 1-2oz semi-fixed or sliding sinker is extremely effective. Simply loosen the drag to the point where the fish can take line and wait for the drag clicker to start singing. That sound creates quite a rush.

I have tried all kinds of baits, rigs and methods over the last decade, but the one thing that has been consistent, since I started using it in 2003, is the hair rig. It really is a huge game changer. No more watching for line twitches. No need for gung ho hook-sets when using a 1+oz sinker.


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## SeanStone

Yeah I have caught plenty of carp with the simple j-style hooks. I haven't caught the monsters that everyone else I fish with has, but I catch plenty. My little brother landed a 35lber this spring after fishing 1 time all year, my best friend landed two 20lbers and a 32lber in 2010. (Not trying to brag or anything, because I have seen your posts and you catch plenty of giants ......just wanted to clarify that I am somewhat familiar with carp fishing.)
I have experimented with the hair rig using homemade boilies for a while, but I found it to be too much work for the same amount of bites I would get with other methods. My most success has been with corn on a simple j-hook rig with no weight. (Just threading the corn on the hook.) I wasn't having issues with any of my styles before, I simply wanted to see how well a fishing application from another species would work on carp....since I had found it more effective than j-hooks on catfish (***In most applications) I figured that I would give it a shot on carp. I quickly found that after 2 lost fish one trip, that maybe it wasn't meant to be used for carp fishing. I was kind of looking for people who had similar results to reinforce my findings.


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## SeanStone

Maybe it was my boilies that caused the lack of improvement in bites. Where do you buy carp fishing supplies. I need a real bait needle, stops, and decent boilies for the upcoming year. I got a new bait feeder/runner for carp fishing and im going for a pb next spring


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## steelhead1

SeanStone said:


> Maybe it was my boilies that caused the lack of improvement in bites. Where do you buy carp fishing supplies. I need a real bait needle, stops, and decent boilies for the upcoming year. I got a new bait feeder/runner for carp fishing and im going for a pb next spring


www.wackerbaits.com

*No hate on local bait shops, no one carries this type of gear locally*


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## TimJC

The only thing I can come up with for why a circle hook doesn't work well, is that the hook isn't able to turn enough to get hold of the mouth. I presume the reason it is so effective with catfish has to do with them being ambush predators, versus grazers, like carp. When a catfish attacks it tends to turn away and bolt. I think this action it what allows the circle hook to turn and catch on the fish's lip.

Fishing with a bolt rig, even with corn on the hook instead of the hair, induces the same type of response from a carp. When the carp feels the hook point, it tries to spit the rig and take off in short order. A bolt rig uses a heavy sinker to create resistance and set the hook during that act. Regardless of whether you use the hair rig, which is a pain with sweetcorn, try adding some lead to rig.


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## TimJC

steelhead1 said:


> www.wackerbaits.com
> 
> *No hate on local bait shops, no one carries this type of gear locally*


Ditto. I can't remember the last time I went to Bass Pro and bought tackle other than line. BigCarpTackle.com and ResistanceTackle.com are other good options.


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## SeanStone

Thanks i'll have to grab some supplies.


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## poloaman

The hair rig is the way to go all sorts of videos on u tube on how to set it up 


Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## SeanStone

Ordered a baiting needle, 200 wacker soft bait stops, world classic 16mm strawberrry boilies, world classic 16mm pop up Tuitti-Fruitti boilies, and a weight sling from wacker bait. Supposed to arrive Wednesday. Looking forward to breaking some pbs next year. Thanks for the links.


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