Since many of the species we target vertical jigging are in the snapper grouper complex, does anyone have information on the use of circle hooks on verticle jigs? I assume if you are dropping for Blackfin you are OK but many times I pick up Mr. Grouper doing that. Thanks.
Only need circle WITH natural bait of some sort(cut, live, dead)
Everyone is getting spun up about the circle hook regulation, but it does not mean you cannot use j-hooks anymore. Amendmant 17A states that if you targeting grouper snapper species, you need to use circle hooks. You can still use j-hooks for trigger and other non grouper/snapper species. If you catch a grouper or snapper on a j-hook, while not targeting them, you can keep it as long as you have non stainless circle hooks onboard.
Thanks!
quote:
Originally posted by TunaHunterEveryone is getting spun up about the circle hook regulation, but it does not mean you cannot use j-hooks anymore. Amendmant 17A states that if you targeting grouper snapper species, you need to use circle hooks. You can still use j-hooks for trigger and other non grouper/snapper species. If you catch a grouper or snapper on a j-hook, while not targeting them, you can keep it as long as you have non stainless circle hooks onboard.
You may want to check the list on this link for trigger fish, I think it’s on there…
http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Library/FMP/SnapGroup/SnapperGrouperSpecies.pdf
Tuna hunter…
The law applies to ALL fish in the Snapper / Grouper complex, and our wonderful state is going to enforce it inshore as well (Sheephead).
So Triggers, AJ’s, Black Sea Bass, margates, grunts, porgys, all have to be fished for with circle hooks.
.
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
So can you not say you’re trying to fish for Weakfish or Trout or Redfish if you get stopped and have a cooler full of sheepshead?
quote:
Originally posted by Plan Cmy boat won’t even run without fried chicken and cold beer
This is one of those laws that will be extremely hard to enforce. As long as non-stainless circle hooks are at least on board and maybe even in plain view, the man will have a hard time proving that you are targeting a particular species or even what hook you are using unless you tell him what fish you are targeting and show him your hook. To me it would have made more sense just to publish a statement that says DNR is strongly encouraging anglers to use non stainless circle hooks when targeting fish from the snapper / grouper species. Maybe put out a little educational flier on the benefits of using circle hooks and throw in a little propoganda about how it will be good for the long term…blah blah blah…
Why is it that every goverment agency now feels it is necessary to cram every little thing down the peoples throat? Who really needs all these complex rules and regulations. Seems these days every time I turn around I’m being force-fed some beuracratic BS.
Sorry for the rant, I feel better now.
it all started with Lincoln and the govt has been ramming stuff down our throats ever since.
Jeff Davis is my President
I believe the whole thing is going to end up with the DNR agent who checks you. If you get the wrong guy he is going to take away the “innocent unit proven guilty” to “guilty until proven innocent in court”. I hope this isn’t the case. The DNR guys I have been in contact with seem to be pretty good guys, not head hunters.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
I’m new to the forum and I’m not looking to stir the pot.
Why is everyone up in arms about circle hooks?
Is it because you’re being forced to use them due to more rules and regulations?
I get that… it’s a sorry state of affairs when you spend more time reading rules than actually fishing.
Circle hooks, I switched to them a few years ago for bottom fishing because they worked better for me.
I’m not saying that everyone should love them because I’ve been using them, hell no.
All I’m saying is that this one guy, me, doesn’t have a problem with the hooks, just all the dang rules.
Schark, I don’t know if you fish for Sheepshead or not, but I do. I can only imagine that they will be nearly impossible to catch with circle hooks. As for other species affected by this new regulation, I’m not sure. Any fish that requires a quick hookset will be hard to catch with circle hooks.
Scout 162 Sportfish
90 Yamaha
Molon Labe!
We have enough gun control. What we need is idiot control.
Bow,
Not trying to be a wise guy but have you tried using circles on sheeps?
I was very skeptical of circles at first but my catch rate went up.
I’m not preaching circles, I still like my j-hooks too, but they do work.
You might, I said might, find you like the hooks.
Might not, but there is a chance.
I use circles when fishing live bait for kings, works great. I even use circles sometimes when using cut bait for BSB. Usually when the ring-tails are thick.
What I don’t like is being told that I have to use them. It is micro-management from the goverment, pure and simple.
I should have a right to make an well informed decision on my own as to what hook to use. It doesn’t seem like too much to expect.
quote:
Originally posted by ScharkBow,
Not trying to be a wise guy but have you tried using circles on sheeps?
I was very skeptical of circles at first but my catch rate went up.
I’m not preaching circles, I still like my j-hooks too, but they do work.
You might, I said might, find you like the hooks.
Might not, but there is a chance.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>No, I have not tried them on Sheepshead. But I guess that I will be whether I like it or not. I understand how they work and I have used them on Stripers in fresh water and really liked them for that. With the way that Sheepshead bite, I just don’t believe that they will be as easy (not that they are anyway) to catch. But, with gas north of $3.00/gal. and me being 150 miles from my favorite Sheepshead pilings, it may all be irrelevent.
Scout 162 Sportfish
90 YamahaMolon Labe!
We have enough gun control. What we need is idiot control.
RDW and Bow,
I’m with you both on rules and fuel, I can’t stand either one of them.
Just trying to make the best of a bad situation.
If we’re forced to use circles, it just makes sense to me if we share info to make the best of it.
I’ve gone to 100% daiichi light circles for BSB’s because I’ve had better catch rates when I use them.
I haven’t tried them on sheeps but I do think they could work.
With a little experimenting we may be able to come up with a rig that we can live with.
Schark,
Ever try to catch sheepshead on a circle hook and do it with even a fraction of the consistency that it can be done with a J-hook?
I’m a big fan of circle hooks for many species, snapper, grouper, cobia, tarpon, and sailfish to name a few. However, there are certain species, sheepshead and trigger fish in particular, that are very difficult to catch consistently on circle hooks due to their feeding behavior and mouth structure.
These very factors (mouth structure and feeding behavior) that make them difficult to catch on circle hooks also result in very little chance of gut hooking them no matter what type of hooks you use which really negates the benifit of a circle over a J hook.
It’s safe to say that what’s got most people’s hackles up over this, myself included, is that the people who are making up these rules don’t have enough “real world” knowledge or experience to realize that the rules are not practical in many cases.
I understand the reasoning behind using circle hooks for grouper and snapper, but for a fisheries managment person who’s never fished for sheepshead or even understands where it’s done or how it’s done to tell me that I must use circle hooks to target them because they just happen to be lumped into the “snapper grouper complex” is absurd.
If it even crossed their mind that 95% of sheepshead fishing takes place in waters where the chances of catching a grouper or snapper is extremly rare they did not care enough to go to the trouble of making any distinctions.
It would have been very easy for them to have identified certain species in the complex that should be excluded from the rule; however, they either did not have enough knowledge to do so or simply did not feel that it was important.
Sure there are ways around the rule such as telling the DNR officer who’s inspecting your boat that you are using those J-hooks and fiddler crabs to target black drum or redfish but neither the DNR officer or I should be put into that position because of fisheries managment
Nauti,
I haven’t dropped circles on any sheeps yet and I agree that using them will be challenging. Just trying to make the best out of a lousy situation.
"These very factors (mouth structure and feeding behavior) that make them difficult to catch on circle hooks also result in very little chance of gut hooking them no matter what type of hooks you use which really negates the benifit of a circle over a J hook.
It’s safe to say that what’s got most people’s hackles up over this, myself included, is that the people who are making up these rules don’t have enough “real world” knowledge or experience to realize that the rules are not practical in many cases.
Sure there are ways around the rule such as telling the DNR officer who’s inspecting your boat that you are using those J-hooks and fiddler crabs to target black drum or redfish but neither the DNR officer or I should be put into that position because of fisheries managment’s lack of flexability and common sence."
Well put there Nauti Hooker.
Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
Schark, I switched over to circle hooks years ago to. Since then, my red snapper and grouper catches have gone way up. As people mentioned, it will hurt the catch of other species, but the part that irritates me the most is that this law was implemented to reduce mortality, but in fact, I think that more fish will be harvested because of this law. Why don’t they just start picking ideas out of a top hat or something. It’s the classic case of mis-management by the SAFMC because most of the federal members are not saltwater fishermen and should have no business making decisions about this. I won’t tell Rick Devictor what size test tube to use if he doesn’t tell me what type of hook to use. It’s really nonsense… So, for me, it’s more of a principle. I’m using circle hooks anyway for the most part, but I just don’t like the fact that these guys can take arbitrary thoughts and turn them into federal law…