Circle Hooks?

Been reading up on circle hooks for catfishing.

Do you guys use them?

What size/brand do you prefer if so? How "closed" does the circle or angle have to be?

They seem like a good idea since I plan to do a good deal of catch and release and these claim to hook them without too much damage for a good clean release.

Thoughts on circle hooks?

Team catfish 8/0 double action circle hooks is what I use most of the time. I have also used mustad circle hooks which is a good hook also. If I'm using a skip cork baited with cut chunks of shad I will use a khale hook. Circle hooks are very effective and after you catch your first couple of fish on them you probably will use them all the time. It is a little different at first and I would recommend to let the fish load up the rod reel good and reel down on them while your pole is in the holder, trust the hook because they work. I know some people who have tried them and just didn't care for them but I like them and is pretty much all I use.

I use gamma 8/0 and owner 10/0 in the winter and gamma 6/0 and 8/0 in the summer.

Reel in slow or fast?

This year I've been using gamagatzu 7/0 circle and octopus hooks. Been working great. Both on the bottom and under a float

So the 8/0 seems to be the common size.

Yeah I have read that you dont set the hook at all.

Just reel them in when they hit it. That will be hard to get used to, being I mostly bass fish, but I guess they work great and hook up really well from what I am reading.

To the guides on here, do you guys also like the circle hooks as well?

slow, you want the catfish to feel just a little pressure to trigger its instinctive reaction by turning it's head, you don't want to yank the hook out of fish mouth by reeling too fast.

Reel down until you load up the rod then keep the tip up. If they hammer it or you're drifting they are usually hooked before you even get there. Nearly everyone fishing cut and even live bait are using circles even the guides.

It is important to Snell knot your circle hooks and don't overload the throat of the hook with bait. I like offset circles and will bend them to offset if I have to.

I use anywhere from a 5/0 to 8/0 depending on where I'm fishing and the size cats I'm fishing for.
One thing you must absolutely remember when fishing circle hooks is don't use a chunk of bait that completely fills the hook gap. You want some space in there so that the bait doesn't prevent the hook from hooking the fish.
Fishing with circles you have to resist the urge to set the hook. Once you learn to be lazy about picking up the rod you'll start catching more fish.

8/0 teamcatfish all the way...

Eagle Claw L197 is the best circle hook for the money. You can usually find them in boxes of 40 hooks. Other people will tell you that theirs is better and it might be, but I'm not going to pay $1.50 or more per hook until these hooks fail me. You can get cheaper hooks on Ebay if you search and I have used them as well, but the Eagle Claw hooks are more solid.

Just ordered some Eagle Claw L197 off of Amazon!

Size 8/0.

Also got some Dead Red Spray Cant wait to try out the hooks and the spray.

The eagle claws work good. When using circle hooks make sure you hook the bait so that it can not swivel around and hook itself. Also make sure that you take any scales off the hook point cuz it can keep it from working. I used straight hooks for over 20 years and switched to circles 3 years ago and will never go back. I drift with 8 rods and 99% of the time they hook themselves if you set the drag right and you need a fast action tip rod to help with it

I only run circle hooks when chasing catfish weather im fishing by myself or running a trip. During the summer I use 5/0 gama's and during the winter I will run 8/0 - 10/0 circle hooks. Last year I ran the bass pro shops Catt Max hook in a 9/0. The keys is to reel down on the fish and keep steady pressure on the hook. Any slack giving to the fish can cause you to lose it. You will just have to get use to reeling down and waiting for the fish to take the bait before you do so. I love circle hooks and there are a lot of good ones out there. I would test the waters on brands tell you find one you favor more than the other

Another good point to know is that it is best to snell your circle hooks