Im very new to catfishing. could you guys tell me the way to use circle hooks? I always pull too hard i guess and cant seem to set them. i heard that you are to let them hook themselves...so how does that all work? do I just start reeling in and not pull up? thanks for your input.

Tie them with a snell knot. Then when a fish gets it either let him run and he'll hook I'm self(if your drag is set right) or start reeling. Just don't set the hook like a normal hook!!! And good luck

Snell or clinch work... reel down till your rod loads up and pull back with a sweeping motion! A good beginner circle is the team catfish double action hooks. Those you can actually set but its a bad habbit to get into if you use gamas or owners.

+1. Took me a long time to stop trying to cross their eyes.

Cinch knots work too but I got more hook ups with a snelled hook. To each his own I guess.

I find it eSt to point the rod tip down twords the line and reel in. Stop reeling and lift the rod tip. Kinda like you were reeling the fish in. But in most of my cases, they tend to hook them self as long as the line is tight.

#1 on the line being tight and your drag being set tight enough to set the hook but still let them pull line

You want your drag set to where they have resistance if they run. But not so lose that you can't reel em in. I find that if I take my rods and before I fast my lines, ill take and hand pull line and adjust my drag to it takes some effort to strip line, but its not super hard. It's hard to describe. And it also depends on what size fish your most likely to hook in to. You can always fine tune drag on the fly. Some thing a guide taught me though, with a normal circle hook, if you have a habit of trying to jerk the fishes face off. Use a couple of plyers to off set the hook point from the shaft. It dosent take a lot, just make shure that when you look at the hook straight on, the shaft has a seperation from the hook point.that eat you can fish it like a normal circle. Or set it like a J hook

Listen to this, should cover just about everything you need to know

http://www.learntocatchcatfish.com/catfishing-circle-hooks

I use 9/0 circle hooks with a wide gap and Bee Ready rod holders, 20 pound test on the reel and a 30 pound test leader.
I set the reels drag at 10 pounds of pull, use a scale to pull against the drag until you have 10 pounds of force to pull drag out. This will seem like a lot of resistance to most as usually in fresh water drag is set at 5 pounds or less.
Using this set up I like to let the fish run against the reel's drag until the rod tip is down in the water and line is being pulled off of the reel.
Having the drag set at 10 # will let the cat fish set the hook by swimming against it, if set lighter big cats can pull drag from the reel and not get hooked in their very tough mouths and you will miss the fish.
When the rod goes down and drag is peeling off the reel I either reach over and spin the reel handle quickly before lifting the rod out of the holder or if it looks the hook setting part is over I lift the rod sweep it to the side smoothly and reel.

Sometimes that is a moot point as with the drag at 10# and the rod tip in the water sometimes the fight is on before you get the rod out of the holder.

But still I make at least 2 or 3 "hook sets" a day like I fishing with a J hook, old habits die hard.

Don't set just reel down til you feel the fish and lift the the rod upward,should set itself pretty much.

thanks alot guys. i really appreciate your willingness to share info. Im gonna try it out this weekend for sure

good information above, really hard not to jerk when this is all you have done fishing! Like they say reeling in on the strike is usually all I need for a good hook set.

good thing is the blue cat attacks bait and runs.....but i love setting the hook--its old school!

If you are using the circle hooks, use a snell know and let the hook do its job. Rod tip has to be loaded up for it to work properly. If you like setting the hook, use a kahle hook.

I tell my clients that there are times when you do everything right and you will still miss a fish and times when you do everything wrong and will catch the fish but your catch ratio will improve if you let the rod load up before reeling down or picking the rod up and putting pressure on the fish.

Good luck.

Question... how do you handle a light bite, or small fish who have a tendency to nibble? on bigger fish, i let the rod load up.

Let it sit maybe the littlun will accidentally become bait!!

Great question....If I have a fish pecking on the bait without taking the clicker if using them or bending the rod if you lock then down I will gently pick the rod up and raise it to about 45 degrees......slowly reeling the line to tighten it up, then when I feel the fish nibbling I reel as fast as I can....This will either hook the fish (many times a channel cat or very small blue) or will pull the bait away from the fish. Either way it ends up is fine with me because I am not fishing for that small fish.

great answer. thanks tex.

+1
I love the hell outta team catfish self setting

what do you mean by "loading up"

Let the rod bend and stay down when a fish takes the bait.

I just have to say there are a lot of great people on here. Thank all you guys for the willingness to help us beginner's

+1

Nobody has asked the most important questions... Where and how are you fishing?

If you are drifting: I like to preset my drag such that my hook could easily pierce a catfish's mouth but not stop him in his tracks or break my rod if I snag it on something. Obviously this will depend then on the size of the catfish you are targeting. Reel down until the rod has a good bend in it before removing from the holder.

Stationary: Set your lines then turn on your clicker and release the spool brake if using a baitcaster or open bail if using spinning. I like to preset my drag such that my hook could easily pierce a catfish's mouth but not stop him in his tracks. Obviously this will depend then on the size of the catfish you are targeting. When a fish hits, engage your brake while he is pulling line out and begin reeling. This will ensure that he sets the hook on himself against the pressure of your drag. At this point I usually continue to tighten my drag until he cannot pull anymore line out.(If you hooked a biggun I'd set the drag just enough so that he doesn't snap your rod or throw your back out. The less drag you use the more of a give and take fight you'll get. This would be preferred when possible, but I'd avoid it around heavy cover where he could tangle you.)