# topwater:replacing treble hooks with circle's



## FishHard2009 (Dec 3, 2009)

I was curious if anyone out there likes to change out treble hooks to circle hooks or j-hooks with their top water plugs. 

i really enjoying using plugs for reds and trout but i do a lot of kayak fishing, trebles have a great hook up % but they can be hard to deal with especially form the yak...i am thinking about switching my favorite plugs over to circle hooks or j-hooks and seeing how that works out...

just looking for some opinions on J-hooks vs Circle hooks for plugs...thanks guys!!


----------



## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

I haven't tried a circle hook on a topwater plug but I have tried them on jigs. The results are less than flattering. If you are moving the lure fast you will have a horendous hookup ratio, because it would be just like trying to set the hook with a circle hook. Doesn't work. On a slow moving jig we had to fix the cirle hook to kinda keep it in place so the hook would set in the corner of the mouth. A free swinging circle hook on split ring was terrible. Hope this info helps.


----------



## Whitie9688 (Sep 28, 2007)

horrible idea. Circle hooks are made so that when i fish EATS a bait and then swims away it will pull the the from of the mouth and will hook its self. Thats why there is no need to set the hook and if you try to set the hook it will pull right out of the fishs mouth. 

Treble hooks are great for when i fish HITS a bait which is the most common case. You have a lot better of a chance of getting one of those barbs in.

The best thing to do in this case if it really bothers you is to take off one or 2 of the trebles(depending on what you are using) and either not replace at all or replace with a j-hook.

Good Luck out there!


----------



## FishHard2009 (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks for your replies fellas...yeah I figured circle hooks were not a good option for that reason, I might try a j-hook on there, or maybe just try flattening the barbs down for a easier a release..
thanks for the input...appreciated!


----------



## hogdogs (Apr 19, 2010)

J-Hooks have long been swapped to lures intended for large off shore species. They have been used from the factory on many big plugs.

But the thing to remember is that the size of the treble hook would be huge and this would be excessive risk. For traditional smallish inshore lures, I didn't get any benefit and lots of missed strikes so I gave up on it and just respect the trebles...
Brent


----------



## timeflies (Oct 3, 2007)

I have never tried j hooks but know people do it all the time. I have tried removing the front treble and leaving the back one as is. I get good results, and it doesnt hinder the action on most baits.


----------



## hogdogs (Apr 19, 2010)

I also take front hook off top waters quite often like timeflies said.

Brent


----------

