Anyone using circle hooks on tip-ups? The guy that taught me to use tip-ups always used trebles, therefore I have always used trebles. Have been using circle hooks the past couple years on live bait rigs for open water. Just wondering if they are effective on tip-ups & figured I would solicit any advice from fellow IDAers before I began my experimentation. Thanks.
I’ve alwasy been under the pre-notion that treble hooks are a must as well..but i recently saw a diagram of a tip-up where the shiners were hooked using circle hooks. These particular hooks had a extra long shaft and you ran the long part of the hook down through a shiners back. I’m assume this would only work w/bigger baits.
This isn’t the diagram, but my own rendition. Try not to laugh. 
Ive been using circle hooks on my tip ups this year for crappies. So far Ive used them 5 days, and caught probably 20 crappies, and atleast 30 bass. I rig them with a #6 cirlce hook and a walleye fathead, or a crappie minnow. I have found that I get a much better hookup success rate, I would say 80-90%. Also with the circle hook I get much less trouble gut hooking fish, cuz you can set on them right away instead of having to wait for them to run, and turn to swallow the bait. And you can set the hook while the fish is running, just stop the line, and the hook is set. As you probably know, setting with circle hooks can be tricky, but once you get the hang of it its very effective. Just make sure you dont jerk to hard, lol. My next expirement is going to be using crappie rigs with circle hooks. Double the bait, double the fun!
Dave
I believe the circle hooks are better in catching and returning the fish. I don’t have to dig the hook out, always in the top of the mouth.
Save some for seed.
Can you give me an idea of what your “run” to hook up rate was? I like the idea of using the circle hooks…. very curious! Thanks in advance.
I hate to say this but I tried circle hooks one winter on Tip-ups. I didn’t get past the trial stage. When I am tip-up fishing I want to hook my fish. For pike I use quick-strike rigs all the time. Flag up-Wham! You don’t have to let them take it. I have yet to kill a fish on a quick strike rig.
For walleye, I prefer a small treble. I just don’t have the confidence in a single hook or a circle hook anymore. I did a lot of reading/experimenting with circle hooks when they first became popular and I personally wasn’t impressed. That is just my two cents.
If you can use them and be successful, more power to you. I wish I could get comfortable and have the confidence in them that some guys do. But, as I said, my testing showed WAY to many missed fish for what I do.
I’ve used circle hooks on tipups and on my ice rods and had good luck. Like everybody else has noted you usually get a nice hookup for a clean, healthy release of the fish. I saw someone mentioned using small trebles – you have to be careful when using treble hooks in MN. Page 13 of the MN General Regulations, under “Angling Methods” states: “… A treble hook, when not part of an artificial lure, is considered three hooks and is not legal.” Most quick strike rigs have a small spinner permanently attached to them which makes them an artificial lure and thus legal. If you don’t have this spinner or some other type of lure attractor permanently attached to the treble rig you may find yourself in trouble if you are using treble hooks on your tipups.
This sounds alot like the discussions I’ve had with the cat guys. Some love ’em. Some miss the hookset too much and hate them.
James
Have you ever thought of using a circle hook for dragging live bait for walleye? I was thinking of trying it out this spring.
Gator Hunter
Yes, we use a tiny bead and spinner with our single treble rigs and a little larger spinner bead combo for quick strike rigs.
James: We had 8 flags and 5 fish. My 12 y/o son was the one pulling them. 4 of the fish were sitting still and he pulled line until he felt weight then gave a small tug. The 5th fish was running when he pulled the tipup and hooked itself. The other 3 had stripped 2-3 ft of line from the marker but nothing there..?? He had fun and all fish were in the 24-28″ range.
Circle hooks,
While I am not a tip up fisherman I have used these in smallie fishing. The key to this hook it to NOT set the hook. What makes them great is that you just put a little pressure on them and the hook does all the work. If you try to SET, you will most likely miss the fish. The reason these are so effective is that any time you set a hook with any type hook you take a chance of missing the fish. The circle hooks are less noticeable to the fish, they allow the bait to be eaten without gut hooking the bait, and they will hook the fish themselves if you just stop the line from swimming. If you put enough tension on the line to let the fish swim away but have some pressure you can bet your hook up percentages will be better. In theory the circle hooks should be much more productive for tip up fishing.
Jc
Wow, one of the last people I’d expect to like circle hooks! How much time (or how many missed fish) does it take for a bass fisherman to remember that a bone-crushing hookset cannot be used?
I’ve used them in summer, but always in current. I think that the hook design is such that the fish has to be running from the boat and in still water the direction a fish will take seems a little less predictable. For ice fishing, it seems like they’d work well since any direction is away from the hole.
JC,
Quote: “and they will hook the fish themselves if you just stop the line from swimming.” What kind of line do you use that swims!! I want a 1,000 yard spool of that stuff. 
I’ve used them for summer smallie fishing too! It’s not hard to learn not setting the hook if you use it in a rod holder! 
Circle hook, bait of choice, drift with the current, casting where you may………….and every now and then having your own double or simply reeling the extra line in and then tend to the circle hooked bass. They’re not going anywhere so the “hurry up before you lose him” reaction doesn’t take over either. I’ve found that some hooks don’t perform as well a others but overall, I sure like them if I’m going to use live bait!
They are deadly on a slip bobber to. Dont have to wait as long for the fish to swim and swallow the bait, all you have to do is close the bail, and you got ’em. I’m going to the store to invest in 3 more tip ups, hope to do more testing this weekend.
Where you planning to test? I’ve more or less taken a sacred oath to get the heck out of the house this weekend for a few hours, regardless of weather. Being cooped up is just getting to be too much!
(Nothing to do with this thread, but I need a place to put a new profile pic)
John, im heading back north, someplace, pry either harpers or new albin.
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