The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I know the forum is for all things traditional however I would say all the members are people that also value fish welfare...

So the last few years I have switched to using single hooks for my pike and zeds for pretty much all rigs and with great success. I'm using size 2 and 4 super specialist's or some catfish circle hooks, in both cases barbs crushed and usually attached to soft wire.

I've experimented with the knotless knot and adding a hair / speed stop, partly to make it easier when eels take the bait. Using small baits on the hair and good bite indication has meant all my fish have been hooked in the scissors. As for the Zeds, all have been caught float legering using a small handmade balsa pike float that I modified to take a star light.

So out of interest who else has switched to singles?

I use trebles with one hook cut off and two hooks per trace was pike fishing the other day I always hit them straight away the first hook on the trace missed the second double caught it in the scissors I use some biggish baits so need one hook that’s buried in the bait and one hook for the fish barbless hook for the fish I use some large baits I think I would have trouble either keeping the bait on a single hook the hook would be huge but you said hair rigged so Iam assuming it would be a small bait or a kebab mike

I've sung the praises of single circle hook for a while now Slumption. For small baits they are excellent but for bigger baits I sometimes put a treble up the trace and bury two points into the tail of the bait for secure casting so it's just another single really.

Black Prince - If you are not firing a larger bait to the horizon, I also carry shirring elastic and will hook a circle just behind the head of the bait then tie the trace to the tail with the elastic. As the bait is always taken head first it's a sure fire hook up. Traces can also be threaded through the body with a single hook at the head but I find that more trouble than it's worth.

I have just tied up some rigs with circle hooks but have not yet had a chance to use them. I now favour pike fishing with either a single hook or one treble de-barbed.

If you touch ledger for predators and eels, one gets a great impression of the way they're feeding. It's a much better method than using bite indicators. One can feel the slightest knock and sense little runs.

Here is an article I wrote about it 29 years ago...

Yes of course bait elastic my memories not good the head injuries gave my brain a good few years ahead of my age 57 I forget all sorts of simple things thanks Dave mike not tried a large circle hook but you have to let them run with the bait and hook them selves some thing I am not used to doing might try one next time out caught a 18lb pike it had some one else’s two treble trace down it’s throat I managed to get it out some body had been using a lamprey by the looks of it and had cable tied the bait with a plastic cable tie it was still around the treble when I got it out mike

Great article Iam going to try a single on a very hard Water here in the north west and see if it makes a difference mike

Black Prince wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:12 pm Yes of course bait elastic my memories not good the head injuries gave my brain a good few years ahead of my age 57 I forget all sorts of simple things thanks Dave mike not tried a large circle hook but you have to let them run with the bait and hook them selves some thing I am not used to doing might try one next time out caught a 18lb pike it had some one else’s two treble trace down it’s throat I managed to get it out some body had been using a lamprey by the looks of it and had cable tied the bait with a plastic cable tie it was still around the treble when I got it out mike

Cable ties Good grief.

With regards to letting them "run with the bait and hook them selves" , I should ignore that if I was you BP. Circle hooks were designed to self-hook fish on longlines but that was done against the immediate weight of the line and whatever anchored it. When a pike takes your bait with a circle hook, you just need to wind down and start playing the fish - immediately - and you will find the hook well attached to the scissors. Incidentally, that's how I hook them with trebles. There's little point in whacking a big hero strike over your shoulder. I watched my mate do that once when using a rod I'd built for him. As the rod was flying backwards a little noise uttered forth from my throat but it was too late - Crack! The fish, a low double hooked at close range, was landed with me holding the rod and broken butt section together, another mate reeling it in and my idiot colleague netting it. He also claimed it as his own capture But I digress. Don't strike, wind

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:35 pm Here is an article I wrote about it 29 years ago...

Good article Shaun, I'm pretty sure I read this when it came out but I never did get around to hair rigging my baits, probably a confidence thing. It also took a while to convert to singles - sometimes good sense takes a while to permeate my skull