March 21st 2008
about : fishing in Port Klang
Suicide Hook/Mutu Hook/Circle Hook
Here’s how the circle hook work:
1) the point of the hook is sort of curved inwards, so at first glance, the uninitiated will think it is a faulty manufacture. I have a funny true life story about this, but I’ll save the story telling to Strikemaster if he wishes to tell, as he’s heard it before. Lets do a little experiment to see how it works for ourselves:
2) Fold a piece of A4 paper in 2 and sandwich the snelled circle in between. Hold the snelled [non-offset] circle hook between the folded paper in your hand and slowly pull on the leader- the hook won’t catch on!
3) Now point the “mouth” of the folded paper away from you and hold the line tight, do not pull. Instead, push with the paper holding hand, in the opposite direction of line pull. Observe carefully what happens?The hook will be pulled till the corner of the paper, (at the fold). The eye and shank appears to slide out the corner, and all of a sudden, the the hook catches at the corner! It may not always happen with this paper experiment, as paper doesn’t have loose skin and undulations of jaw bone to assist the hook catching on, but in real life (if you try on any market fish), it will.
4) If you do this slowly, you can observe how the hook actually rotates at the corner till only the point of the hook is poised in perfect position to penetrate the paper, and when you continue to push the paper away, the point will penetrate while the hook rotates backward (cam against the point to help penetration) until the point punches through the paper, and the hook is rotated back to encircle the hole created.
Now Imagine: that when the fish eats the bait, part of the line is also mouthed with the hook. The line is then rubbed between the teeth till the shank comes back out at the corner of the mouth and the point penetrates the hinge of the mouth. Although the pressure is not enough to cut the line at the point where the fish eats the bait and line is dragged between teeth, I’m sure you will put unnecessary worry upon yourself with the “what if the line is scratched” thought, and lose focus on fighting your trophy but instead think “should I loosen tension just a bit in case the line is weakened”? But if the fish possess triangular shaped teeth with serrations on the edges, you can be certain there is a very high chance the nylon leader is nicked.
Although Circle hooks are better for CnR, misuse of the hook can also cause problems similar to using regular J hooks.
1) Using “offset” point circle hooks: Brands like Owner Mutu hooks have their points “bent” slightly off the axis of the shank. These hooks have a slight tendency to catch on places like gill rakers compared to “True” circle hooks (without offset points) like Mustad and DaiIchi.
2) Freespooling when fish takes, waiting for the bait to be swallowed: CnR circle hook users should not wait for the fish to swallow, nor give loose line for the fish to swim a long distance as the bait can be swallowed. The throat of the fish is a spincter muscle, and it is a good place for the hook point to get caught on if bait is swallowed.
3) Using hooks gapes that is too big: Circle hooks are by design, smaller in physical dimensions than a similar sized J hook. This is beneficial in better bait presentation. But it also allows people to use hooks too large for the targeted fish. With a wide gape of a hook that’s too large, it is easier to get tangled and caught up in the gill rakers of the fish.
