I've been having trouble keeping fish on my trotline lately and I want to upgrade hooks and need some advice. I had been using 5/0 eagle claw trotline hooks but I really want to switch to circle hooks. My dilemma is size and style. I want a hook big enough to hold a 40+ lb fish, but also smaller eater fish, 3+ lbs or so. I plan on placing an order on catfishconnection. I've looked at the eagle claws and mustads from 12/0 up to 16/0 and that leaves me with another question, offset or non-offset? So what would you guys suggest? What size, and also what style? I'm just tired of bent hooks, and missed fish....

8/0 octopus gama offset circle hook

I would go 8/0 mustad off sets

+1

I've never had luck with circle hooks on trotlines. Use them on jug lines, but on a trotline that is drawn taught either weighted down or stretched there isn't enough give for a circle hook to be effective in my opinion. It can have the same effect as setting the hook using a circle hook on rod and reel.

Also do you use swivels on your stages? That will help as the cats twist and pull free or bend the hook and with a swivel they can spin like a top and get nowhere.

The hooks as long as they are stout and sharp, is all that matters!

I grew up trotlining and that is how my dad rigged his and he didn't lose many fish as I remember having to clean a lot of cats.

+2 Make sure you are using quality swivels as well.

I agree with most of the above advice. I would add that make sure that the swivels you use are the ones that have a spot to tie onto on two sides, not the ones that are easy change clips. As far as hooks, i have had success with both kinds of hooks on my lines. The only thing i would say about the hook, is make sure it is a pretty good sized hook. Anything over a 8/0 or so and smaller than about a 12 or 14 will catch anything from 12" to 40+ pounds easily. Just make sure the bait fits, though remember that catfish are ambitious and will try for things even too big for it to really eat. Make sure that when you set the line that you are not tying to things that are very stiff or have no pull, such as the stump of a tree or a metal fence post. Part of what makes a trotline work well is that the fish has something to play against instead of pull against. Many old timers will tell ya that the biggest fish they ever caught were on slender willow limbs that allowed the fish to go all over the place, yet no where. If all you have available to set off of is stumps or posts, i would invest in a few bungie cords and put them around the tree or post and tie off to them. This gives the line some play. Remember, if the fish cannot pull against something sturdy, it reduces the chance it will bend the hook or widen the hook hole wide enough to pull off.

Thanks for the tips guys! Gonna order the 8/0 gama octo circles in the morning. Cant wait to put em in the water, gonna have live perch on every single one of em!

Hook gap varies from brand to brand, Minimum gap is 1/2" on the Mustads that is 11/0 While on Eagle claw it is 8/0. I prefer the eagle claw SS in 9/0 stainless. I offset them after purchase.

When I switched to circle hooks I also switched to 100lb test mono for my dropper lines and started adding an extra foot to them. I went to circles when I decided I didn't need to keep every cat I caught, and I could let the real big ones go. Before that I usedd khale hooks.