If you were using a four or five inch live bluegill on a circle hook to fish for bass, what size would you use? Would a Gamakatsu 7/0 be too large?

I like weedless dropshot hooks from gamakatsu. You want the bluegill to be able to swim freely without being weighted down. They tire out too quickly if hook is too big. Lip hooked especially

I like a 1/0 Owner riggin hook

I should have explained that I will be leaving this rod in a rod holder. That’s why I’ll have a circle hook on it. I like the idea of a small hook that won’t weight the Bluegill down, but if I hook him over the dorsal fin, I’m thinking the fin will interfere with the way a circle hook works unless it is a fairly large hook. ???

7/0 will work for bass. You can drop down to 6/0 or 5/0 depending on how fat the sunfish are. I still get a better hook-up rate with J hooks even when my rod is in a holder. You can use a smaller hook size with J hooks.

I wouldn't use a circle hook, but if I was, it'd be the same one I use for flathead fishin using bluegill, Gama Oct Circle. For Bass, prob 5/0-6/0.

If I was gonna do this, I'd go with a Gama Octopus. No circle. Prob 4/0. Striper hook.

G Love, would you use the Octopus hook with an unattended rod in a rod holder? I will check it pretty often, but it may go 20 or 30 minutes without me seeing it, and I won’t be there to set the hook.

Osborn, i note you too wouldn’t use a circle hook, although the rod is in a rod holder. I guess I need to try a regular J hook or Octpus hook like you and G Love recommended. Just had it in my mind that a circle hook would be more likely to hook up.

If you toss a bluegill out in 20ft of water will it even stay alive I've never tried it

I fish them at 65 feet in the winter and they stay alive. In the summer you have to be careful about the thermocline. If you lower one into an oxygen depleted area it will die.

Good information. Appreciate all the replies. Many thanks.