Fishing – Into the unknown

Autumn has brought some mixed results in from anglers. Some have had real patchy days getting a feed and others have had the occasional good day out on the water when everything works. Some have tried shooting over to Little Barrier to try to get a better day’s catch on board and some have gone as far wide as the Mokohinau and Great Barrier Islands for the same reason. All are hoping to find that magic new spot that will produce lots of big fish one after the other. That is what brings us back time and time again, the sound of screaming reels and the unknown factor. Yes, the unknown factor, not knowing what the day will produce until we are out there. The winter months are harder to fish than the springtime, and it is this easy fishing in springtime that we all use to set the bar as to what a good day’s fishing is. The fact of the matter is that winter is harder to fish, but it teaches us to fish better and try new things. Don’t forget that snapper like to feed up for winter and with the warm autumn weather we have had, they have not yet kicked into this aggressive feeding mood.

Some advice on hooks. Many anglers do not realise the key difference between a j-shaped hook and a circle hook and how to use them. If you have been brought up to strike aggressively when a fish bites, then you cannot use a circle or re-curve hook. You must use a j-style hook instead. To correctly use a circle hook you simply take up the slack in your line when a fish bites, enabling the hook to roll into the corner of the fish’s mouth.

The reason a circle hook won’t set if you strike aggressively is that the point of the hook is turned back acutely. If you draw a line from the eye to the bend at the tip of the hook (see diagram), you can see that the point sits inside the dotted line. If you pull the hook on a flat surface you will see that you cannot get the point to hook/set, hence the reason for not striking while using these hooks. The advantages of using circle hooks is that you get a better hook-up rate, you mouth hook the fish (released fish will not die if only hooked in the mouth) and there is less chance of an accidental hook in the foot or hand of an angler. These hooks were the brainchild of the Japanese who used them extensively on their long lines to get a better hook-up rate. That is why traditionally all long line hooks are circle or re-curve hooks. For live baiting, the circle hook must be your first choice. Tight Lines!

Anthony Roberts, Tackle & Outdoors
tecnisportnz@gmail.com