Last time out I had multiple cats swallow my circle hooks. The wind was up and I was drifting fast with rods in the rod holders. I don’t have a sock but sometimes I throw out a bucket to slow the toon but I didn’t since I was holding sideways drift and fish were eager to get in the boat. The cats weren’t large, 1 to 2 lbs but they were hooked in the gut on multiple size hooks. I was running 3/0 and 6/0 hooks and had trouble with both. Multiple baits as well. I was running shrimp and minnows. They weren’t going to survive so I filled the freezer but does anyone have any idea on why they were swallowing them?

They were HONGRY!!!

HAHAHA! That’s what it sounds like!

We’re you using offset circle hooks? If so, I would switch to non-offset. I’ve had that happen with both catfish and stripers with offset circle hooks.

Try to use drop shot rigs with hooks tied directly to the main line. The main line will prevent deep hook swallowing.

They were offset. I was using the santee cooper rig to minimize snags. Thanks for the input.

I have used offset circle hooks for many years and have never had a problem with blues swallowing them. Striper are a different story. I try and use the right size hooks and bait for the size of fish I’m catching. I use 6/0 June-September when I’m catching 1-10 lb fish. I switch to 8/0 on all my big chunk cut bait rods October-May. I use 10/0 with an 8/0 stinger hook on all my whole big baits when targeting trophy sized fish in the winter If your having fish swallow the hook your using too small of bait and too small of hooks. 3/0 hooks will catch fish 6” long but if you get lucky and hang a monster you’ll most likely lose it.

6/0 are good for 1 lb fish up to 20lbs.
8/0 are good for 5lb fish up to 50
10/0 hooks are good for 25-100lb fish.

Get rid of the 3/0 hooks for blues and use a bigger chunk on your 6/0. Or better yet, switch everything to 8/0 cuz it’s almost go time.