OK the comments above about non-offset circles are very good ones. Why they even sell offset circle hooks is beyond me. Defeats the purpose, and it can actually be HARD to find non-offset.
But, yes a 40" leader is way too long. This is because the red comes lazily along and finds a nice cut mullet. He woofs it down and back to the crushers before he feels any resistance from the sinker and figures out something is wrong. With a short leader he will not move far before he feels the resistance and naturally turns away, which will bring the hook toward the corner of his mouth and once the line comes taught he will be firmly hooked perfectly.
I honestly don’t think I have ever gut hooked a red with a 2/0 non offset circle and 12-18" of leader. Gut hooking should not happen with a proper carolina rig.
I agree with Opti here. Plus, with 40" of leader before the 1 oz sinker… How in the world do you even cast that? I’m assuming you are in the harbor or nearshore using 1 oz of sinker, and just dropping it out of the boat?
I agree your leader is way to long 10 to 12" is what I use also. Make sure if you leave the rod in a holder not to have any slack in the line it basically becomes the same as having a long leader. As Optiker said above the fish picks up your bait and with no resistance it then swallows the bait and when the line comes tight it’s to late. I rarely gut hook fish but when I do it seems to be from a rod in a holder that was ignored until the drag starts screaming.
“Work is for people who don’t know how to fish”
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I thought the same thing about holding the rod -vs- putting it in a rod holder. I gut hooked a trout last week using a 3 o non offset circle hook under a float on a 24 inch leader. The rod was in a holder but also it was so dark that I couldn’t see the float. The fish had plenty of time to swallow the bait before I noticed the rod bending.
IMO if you are set up correctly you can keep the rod in the holder and don’t even pay attention until you hear drag peeling off. It should not make any difference vs if you hold the rod. I think the point DDS made about keeping slack out of your line is good also, but the weight alone should be enough for the fish to feel resistance and turn away even if you have some slack.
I fish with J hooks and never have a fish swallow the hook to where I can’t get it out and let her swim away healthy. That being said, the other day I was fishing by myself and put a rod out the back with a carolina rig w/ circle hook. Gut hooked 2 out of the 4 (slot reds). Not a fan of circle hooks, I try to make myself like them but I just don’t see the benefits.
Explain how the length of the leader impacts how deep the fish is going to swallow the bait?
A 40" leader means that fish has 80" he can move around before he gets tension on that hook.
Just for clarification, the 40 inch leader was sort of unintentional. I had to put a new leader on for when I was fishing in the surf last week and had it longer than normal (normally, I’d use about 20-24", which I’m learning is still too long) and I was just too lazy to make it any shorter since I didn’t realize that’s the reason I’m gut hooking fish.
From now on, if I’m fishing live/dead bait, my leaders will be considerably shorter.
Thanks for all the advice and info.
Okay, the consensus seems to be Carolina rig with probably straight circle hook and 12 to 15 inch fluoro leader, with attention paid to when you are bit. One step further, what type of weight is preferred? I personally use a half ounce free sliding egg sinker.I know a charter captain who clamps quarter ounce split shot directly on the short leader. I may be screwing up with the egg sinker, because the whole purpose of the sliding sinker is that the fish can pull some line thru the sinker before it feels resistance…not a lot of line, but some line. Does this possibly defeat the circle hook by giving the fish a little more time to swallow the bait? I know this is splitting hairs, but I think this thread is to the hair-splitting stage. Interested in what weight is best on Carolina rig.
What I intended to ask was what type of sinker (split shot, egg, bullet, bank, etc) is best on Carolina rig to minimize gut hooking of redfish? Am I messing up by using a sliding egg sinker? Does the type of sinker matter?
I fish with J hooks and never have a fish swallow the hook to where I can’t get it out and let her swim away healthy. That being said, the other day I was fishing by myself and put a rod out the back with a carolina rig w/ circle hook. Gut hooked 2 out of the 4 (slot reds). Not a fan of circle hooks, I try to make myself like them but I just don’t see the benefits.
Me too. I hate them.
I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.
