stugeon hook

What type and size hook do you guys use for sturgeon fishing. Thanks for aany help you can give.

I’ve been using a 3/0 Team Catfish Double Action Hook for several years now Jason.

They can be “set” like a regular J hook or just swept back like a circle hook.

Strong enough to land a 65″, 69 pound Lake Sturgeon.

There are other hooks out there as well and some folks like the bigger 5/0 and 6/0 hooks. I haven’t tried larger because I haven’t found a reason too.

Have fun dancing with the sturgeon this spring!

3/0 to 5/0 circles for me.

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I’ve been using a 3/0 Team Catfish Double Action Hook for several years now Jason.

They can be “set” like a regular J hook or just swept back like a circle hook.

Strong enough to land a 65″, 69 pound Lake Sturgeon.

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I like these a lot as well. All I have used the past few seasons on the St. Croix.

3/0 offset circle hooks …gamagatsu or how ever you spell it!

3/0 to 8/0

Mostly use 5/0

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3/0 to 5/0 circles for me.

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X2. Usually Gamakatsu offset circles.

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3/0 to 5/0 circles for me.

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x2- I’m a big fan of circles

I also only use circles.

Bigger baits like 5″ or bigger shad i use 8/0 but really became a fan of smaller hooks this past year and even downsizing baits a little too to make them easier for sturgeon to pick up.

One word of caution. I started off using 2/0 Gama circles.

A female client of mine lost a fish because the hook straitened out. I don’t think she knew what she had on but I did. She never had a chance to fight it. It just took off and a few seconds later…bent hook and no fish.

I’ll never use anything smaller then 3/0 again and then only if I trust the hook.

Set that drag guide boy!

Blamin it on a girl…….

I am curious as to the reason the majority of anglers here prefer using circle hooks over regular style hooks for sturgeon? From what I read and understand on them, circles are for non-hooksetting situations and times when gut hooking is a concern.

I have had 2-300 sturgeon in my boat over the years, all caught on regular 4/0 or 5/0 J-hooks. I have never seen even 1 single fish that was throat or gut hooked. The VAST majority of bites I have had are simple light tug-tug-tugs, not the rod-loading bites that excel for circle hooks. A simple, firm sweep and rod-load has worked well for me over the years producing nice, solid hook-ups time after time.

What advantage are circles giving you guys?

T

I anchor the boat very well, with very little movement. Hang lines vertical, toss some lines out a ways, put rods in rod holders with jingle bells and keep lines tight. As soon as the rod gets bumped, i leave the rod in the rod holder and crank fast on the reel until the rod doubles over.

Because i use my rod holders (And if you don’t have good boat control i wouldn’t recommend rod holders) i hook them while in the holder. If i was using J hooks, i would have to remove the rod from the rod holder without any premature jerking and set the hook.

That is why I use Circles on sturgeon and channel cats.

Flatheads – clicker and J’s, though i have caught an over 50# flathead on an 8/0 circle and many other smaller flats on circles as well.

2c

Do you fish the rainy? Near vertical is tough there, IMO.

I have done the same rod holder/reel like mad technique for hook setting up there with good results, but I prefer to put the stones to them the old fashioned way. I haven’t noticed one way being better than the other for me.

Sturgies and channels mouths were made for circles.

Not saying J’s don’t work.

I also flatten the barb for fast easy hook removal. The circle in a circle or Double Action IS the barb.

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Sturgies and channels mouths were made for circles.

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What advantages does a circle give for sturg? Are they any better than “J” or just as good/equal?

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Do you fish the rainy? Near vertical is tough there, IMO.

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I spend close to 20 days (24hr days) fishing the st. croix in the fall and about 3 fishing the rainy in the spring. Will make an effort to get to the rainy this summer too though.

It just takes more weight to fish vertical on the rainy…Nothing is impossible.

I’ve yet to try it up there as i haven’t been up there sturgeon fishing for 2 years and last year I adapted the vertical style of sturgeon fishing. But i’ll be up there on the 25th this month so we’ll give it a go.

I’ve grown more fond of loading the rod up in the rod holder than ramming it home…But like i said before, flats get J hooks and i give er the onion . Ice fishing i have what i call a “Roof Top hookset”. If your outside of my portable and you all of a sudden see something slam into the roof…That’d be me setting the hook

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i give er the onion

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Hmmmm….

thanks for the help guys.

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i give er the onion

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Hmmmm….

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Haha, Now i realize that’s probably not a well recognized metaphor for setting the hook hard…Guess most people get it in my tone of voice. Don’t make much sense i guess
Catfeesherman aren’t supposed to make sense anyway.

Oh, no. I got it. I know the gentleman that coined that phrase. He doesn’t live too far from you either.

Since it’s seldom used, you made me scratch my head a bit.

Catfeesherman

…and that even makes more sense.

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3/0 to 5/0 circles for me.

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X2. Usually Gamakatsu offset circles.

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These in 5/0 for me.

I use circles 90% of the time… There are days its just fun to set that hook but beyond that there is no other reason to use a J hook IMO! with a circle they do not feel that hook point till it hits home.
If you have fished for Sturgeon any amount of time you know how light they can be on the bite. I believe there are lots of times that fish has already been chewing on the bait for a bit before you even know it. Most the time you can feel the pickup but if not and they feel that hook point on a J style hook they will spit it out like a gob of chew. When they feel that hook point on a circle it is usually too late for the fish. You get more time on the bite itself anyways. The only reason to go to a larger size than a 4/0 or 5/0 is if you want to build a bigger bait wad on that hook.
One thing with circles to remember is to not loose that hook gap with a bunch a bait blocking it. Especially on rainy where you have fast water. everything will crawl down the hook. When I really wanted to load the bait on up there I would chop a couple crawlers and slide them up past the eye of the hook/knot. Then take a small piece of foam from my old yellow bustem ice fishing bobbers and slide that up just above the knot also to prevent that bait from sliding down. This way you already have a ball of bait to start and the rest of the hook to use for your standard bait setup without loosing that hook gap.

4/0 5/0 circle works for me.