scoot i like'um so far ... like i said the first time i used'um was on drop lines in the brazos seems the biggest fish i have taken with is about 20 lb

i would like to try some stanless steel kahle hooks also but the eyse are kinda small

You really have to be careful with the kchle hooks, even the big ones bend pretty easily, we have had bad luck with them holding fish of size, the do great on smaller fish though.

matt

yessir that is another thing i don't like about'um also ... they ain't very heavy but on smaller fish they hook & hold very well ... they do a lil' better on jug lines cuz unless the weight hangs up there is nothing for the fish to really pull against to straighten the hook so easy

hey scoot i once decided not to post this cuz of all the tree huggers that lurk around but anyway here goes ... back during spring break i had to leave my jugs out because the weather turned so nasty & it was several days before i could get back out there ... nothing i could do about it i promise (please you tree hugger lurkers you gotta believe me hahahaha) ... there were 5 blues still on & they had been on a while ... (by the way none of them looked anything like the pics in the hot thread from a few days back there was somethging else wrong with those fish in the pics other than being left on a setline) ... all were on the 175 eagle claw stainless circle 9/0 ... i did have a few eagle claw 090 SS hooks on the jugs & there was evidence that there had been 3 or 4 fish hooked on those but had got off ... these 175 hold purty good

Great deal. I placed an order for a box on Monday. They also had 4/0 90ss for $15/100 so I picked up a box of them too. 4/0 is a little small they will hold a pretty good fish on a trotline fished off a sand flat in the lake where there's nothing to hang up on.
I should have got 2 boxes of the circles because that makes so much sense that they would hold a fish for a few days. Alot of times I like to set out jugs in several places as feelers. Then pick the best spot and put out a 50 hook trotline too cleanup.

scoot you may know it awready but memphis net & twine had 090SS up to 9/0

yea, that's where I used to get my hooks and twine from but I found another place called the fish net company that has a little better price, carry Roscoe swivels and have a cheaper shipping rate to my house because they are closer. They actually charge by weight and not by dollar amount. I usually use 8/0 90ss but I am going with the 9/0's this time for no reason other than "why not". They cost a little more but with gas prices it makes everything else we buy for fishng seem like penny spending.
I got the 4/0's because they are a good hook for certain areas and at $15/100 it's a great price. they are also alot lighter and I think it helps when your baits are small. Heavy hooks wear your baits out so fast. I won't use them on throw lines but they'll do for certain types of trotlines. I am working on a guy right know who has a bass pond full of big mudcats. I am trying to get rights to trotline it for the mudcats and the 4/0 hooks will be great for that. I know cheaper non-stainless hooks would work but I'm just hooked on stainless.

them mudcats can be some hook swallowing lil' turds ... i have gotten in to fish lotsa places when the land owner would just say no before i could really tell him what i wanted ... when they find out all ya want is the pollys & carp most times they will go ahead a let ya in to fish ... some will even say they will let ya if ya promise to try & get all the pollys & carp out

i been gettin' rosco swivels from rosco outa new york ... i'll have to check out the fish net company

I ordered some of those circle hooks ang got them in today. They look OK, but if that is a 9/0 I need a 15/0. I will not be able to get most of my big baits on them.

bigyella....do you have a kid at A&M.
No offense in any way but my bait buddy fishes with some guys from Midland that head out to the Rio. They went last year sometime and had a disaster wrecking out a boat on the river. Needless to say it was an adventure! Blanton said it was awesome and they had a great time.

On another subject for a second. have you ever trotlined Twin Buttes. WHen I lived in San Angelo I saw some pics from the 80's of some really, really big yella's out of there. I saw a picture of a a fish that these guys caught and they tagged it in the mouth with green weed eater string. They turned it loose and caught it again two years later as witnessed by another picture. Very, very hard to believe but I think it was true. They turned it loose again and have neverheard of anyone getting it. I miss that place. It seems like hell to some people but it is an oasis in the desert to me. I really miss the deer hunting. Some areas are unreal like the 92 lb flathead!

Oh by the way, you are the guy that spends $3.50 a hook for the tuna hooks....right? I was checking out a mustad hook on www.fishnetco.com and found a hook called a stump hook. It seems to be very strong and big and alot cheaper. I think they run about $72/100 hooks. they also sell them by the piece. I am going toget a dozen on my next order to see what they look like.

ScooterG
No, my oldest kid is 14. None of mine are interested in A&M at this time. They are for Teck or Horns. That may all change when a boyfreind or girlfreind get involved. I would like to know the guy you are talking about from Midland, that fishes the Rio. I bet I know him. If not I should. I have not heard of any of my freinds wreaking a boat on the river, although it would be very easy to do. Even if you are experianced in reading a river. I freind of mine broke a hovercraft in 2 peices last year on the Rio. I have not fished anywhere but the Rio or the pecos river with an exeption of the colorado river in Bastop county once a year.
I am the guy that uses the tuna hooks. I will have to check into your lead. I need an alterative. The yellas have swallowed alot of these hooks. I like to turn loose what I cant eat and I have had to throw more fish frys than I want. If I set the hook to quik I loose the fish, If I wait to long they swallow the hook. The last 40 pound fish I caught, Swallowed the hook. I caught him eary in the trip , so I decided to stake him out and see if was able to survive a few days. He did not, so he will be the subject of a fish fry on Friday. I kwow of a 73 pound yella out of the Rio on a line, baited with a perch in 2 feet of water. I have heard of a 80 pounder in the Rio, but I dont know the guys and cannot confirm.
I would like to ask you guys, about channel cat. That is my next goal for daytime fishing. I catch about 60 fish per trip, but most are not legal and a few under 5 pounds. My biggest was 12 pounds. They have all come off of stink bait, worm, and dough bait. I have never caught anything off of liver or shrimp. The only crawdads I can find in the desert, are walmart frozen ready to eat, no luck with that Either. I can throw a net an sometimes catch some shad, but not enough to have an opinion on them yet. I know big ones live here. How do I go about improving daytime fishing. I have a good eye for places to stop and fish, but cannot get on a big one.
I dont mean to hijack this thread. If I am, or if this gets long, someone please start a new one. It is not often that I get to sit at the computer.
Thanks
Bigyella

Not often you get to set at the computer?
Would that be because of the teenagers at your home?
I am no there yet. My future fishing buddy is 14 weeks old!
I don't know the guy that Blanton went out there with. This guy was a college student and his dad apparently is pretty big in to the Rio fishing. They carried three boats to fish 4 guys from. They tore a motor off one, smashed the front of another and ended up piulling their lines up early because the river dropped out and they thoguht they might lose all the lines. They still got lots of fish. I fished today for white bass with Blanton. He's a hardworking late 20 something guy thats very, very busy. They are currently catching shad to stock private bass lakes with. He will be swarmed until the middle of May with work. He's a great guy and I try hard not to bother them too much. Once he slows a little I'll hit him up about the folks he fished with from your area. Email me at scott.gilleland@davita.com and I will save it. I will let you know when I talk to him.

as far as i know that is a sbig as the 175's come & they ain't big enuff for huge baits ... it would be nice if eagle claw or mustad came out with a 12 or 15 ought wide gape satinless steel circle hook

The most important thing I've learned about using circle hooks is that your bait must not cover up too much of the hook.

To work properly, the hook needs to be able to rotate inside the fish's mouth and lock into the fish's jaw. One day last year I fished with a large chunk of cutbait on a circle hook under a slip bobber. I missed five or six takes in a row because the bait was too large and covered too much of the hook. I've since learned (with cutbait) to barely hook the bait so most of the hook is exposed.

A couple weeks ago I took my kids fishing, and we used worms on circle hooks. While we caught a few, we missed many because (I now realize) the worms were too large. Some of the hook was exposed, but not enough. Next time we'll use baitkeeper J-hooks with worms.

Last month I caught three catfish on four takes using cutbait (properly) on circle hooks. The strange thing is that one, a five or six pound channel, was hooked on the outside of its mouth with a circle hook. I still don't know how that happened, unless the fish ran into my line with its mouth open and the hook snagged it.