Hook choices

[Griz]

Hi guys. Here's a question I've been meaning to ask.

If you were fishing straight 50-80# no leader for tuna under 100#'s. Flylining chunks and live baiting. What hook would you use?
Circle w/ no offset, w/ offset, mutu, offshore?

We have been gut hooking (and breaking off) a lot of 40-60 pound fish lately using 8/0 no offset circles on 50. Novice anglers with too much drop back or just a run of bad luck?

Any tips or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jesse

[Sactotuna]

The phrase I like is; "fish don't have hands, if he's running with it, it's in his mouth". If your circle isn't in the corner of the mouth you're waiting too long before coming tight. I personally throw the reel in gear as soon as I'm picked up.

[StillinScrubs]

I speak from one long range trip, but lots of grouper digging experience in the Gulf of Mexico. If the line is moving from a fish you damn well better be reeling.

In the case of tuna, I just threw the drag to strike and let the fish do the work. On the school fish on the ridge I noticed if I "let them have it" I would end up with bad results. The cows were all about holding onto the rod for the first minute or two.

[tunachris]

If your gut hooking with circles, it sounds like your feeding the fish to much line before putting the reel in gear. With the size tuna your talking about you should be able to get away with putting the reel in gear as soon as you feel the pick-up.

[Keta]

I would drop down to 6/0 or 5/0 hooks (super Mutu and EC 2005 is what I'am using) for live bait, I've used these size hooks on cows (I'm not a pro but I have caught 5 cows) with good results. For Pacific Halibut I give them lots of time to eat my bait but for YFT I found that as soon as they take line put the reel to strike. It took me several lost fish to figure this out.

[Steve K]

I lkie fishing the circle hooks and picked up a box of each of the EC 2004 6/0 and 5/0. Quite a size difference between Eagle Claw Circles and Owner Mutus. The EC 6/0 is about the same size as a 3/0 Mutu.

Now that I have over 100 circle hooks for sardine fishing, no worries about cutting off the smaller ones.

[wahoodad]

Sorry, but I have to speak up here. The long range captains are saying to use the Eagle Claw 2004/2005 hooks, but only in the 7/0 range and up. Two boats are saying 9/0 and up. The 5/0 and 6/0s will straighten out on big fish gentleman.
Super Mutus are fine in those sizes, but they have a drawback also. The sharpness of the hooks equate to the hook sometimes lodging somewhere besides the corner, and after you've worked this fish for a long time, it's now at deep color, you pull the hook.
JMHO, but it is an opinion that has seen this happen on several occasions.

[bertram31]

Oh the old question of how much, how hard , what size and so on so on.

I do like the Mutu circles, thats for sure, but I like them ringed. I have always fished a tad on the smaller hook size. I see so many people taking a 4/0 and pinning a dine onto the hook and the dine can barely swim. I fish more of the 1/0 &2/0 even for big tuna when using dines.

As for Macs I usually step up to a 4/0, but butt hooking a Mac can be tough with a circle, doable but tough.

As for chunks, I use 8/0 & 9/0 ONLY in the circle hook.

Except for a real picky albacore bite, I drop the reel in gear after a second or two after the pick up. Many times the YFT are swimming so fast they hook them selves pulling line with just a little thumb pressure on the spool. Its those damn Albys that can seem to just try to sneak away with the bait and you have to pay attention to the hook set.

Jack

[wahoodad]

Good point Jack. Albies are pigs, plain and simple. What happens is they eat your bait, and then come back to the "spot", to continue eating chum baits. Sometimes we only see the line jump a tick, or feel a bump. They have inhaled the bait, and are swimming back at the boat to eat more.

[Keta]

D'oh!! I forgot that circle hooks weren't standerdized, 6/0 & 5/0 Super Mutu and 7/0 & 8/0 EC 2005's is what I've been using. Again, I'm only a beginner on YFT.