# Sheapshead and the type of hook -Circle vs J



## Ajerv

I read a post that some of the fishermen use small strong circle hooks for sheepshead. Since sheepshead are robbers of bait, thay must use those baby teeth and crushing jaws to pulverise the bait without getting hooked. So how do circle hooks help since you don't set the hook with circle hooks? I have never used circle hooks for sheepies so tell us someone..........do you wait and just reel when you see the line go taught like circle hook use with other species??? and what is your ratio of robbed baits and hookups using circle hooks??? Thanks.


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## roofordie

Went out today and I didn't hook ONE sheepy on a circle hook. Just a lot of robbed baits. We got a couple on J hooks though


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## Chris Phillips

I've used circle hooks while sheepshead fishing, but I definitely prefer using a J hook. If you want to try the circles the Owner Mutu Light #4 or #2 will be the best choice!


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## captain wahoo

I have had good success with a small khale hook size 4


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## GONU

J hook # 4, I prefer Mustad. Use a looong florocarbon leader. best of luck.



Kevin


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## sailmaker

I haven't had any luck with circle hooks on fish that need a quick jerk to catch them in the middle of a nibble. For the opposite, I use nothing else.


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## Sam Roberts

C hookwill straightbounce off there teeth dawg....


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## otto

#1 j hook all the way.


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## Tkiller

i see most of you guys like fishing the j hooks, i personally like to use the circle hooks.


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## reel_dedicated

yall got it all wrong... go with a #8 or #6 super strong treble hook... and bring a good pair of pliers and plenty of hooks.. you will catch them just about every time.. here is a pic of my wife's biggest sheepie she caught last year... 5 ounces away from breaking alabama's state record and she has been asking me when are we going sheephead fishing lol


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## Chris V

Both trebles and circles work fine on sheepies but both have very big disadvantages. Small trebles do work good for sheeps but on smaller fish that you might want to release a treble is a lot more damaging or worse yet if the fish swallows the hook it may die. Small circles, the Owner mutu lights in particular are awesome on sheepshead but tend to bend badly while dehooking out of their bony mouths. My favorite sheeps hook is a #2 Mustad 9174 live bait hook. It is small, inconspicuous and heavy duty enough to keep it from bending. Hook style is a matter of opinion and fishing style so I would try all of the above and than some and find out what your favorite is.


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## Sam Roberts

> *reel_dedicated (2/3/2009)*yall got it all wrong... go with a #8 or #6 super strong treble hook... and bring a good pair of pliers and plenty of hooks.. you will catch them just about every time.. here is a pic of my wife's biggest sheepie she caught last year... 5 ounces away from breaking alabama's state record and she has been asking me when are we going sheephead fishing lol


what are you using for bait???


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## reel_dedicated

live shrimp, fiddler crabs, andraw oysters!!! usually when they get spawning really good around the rigs and jetties, me and my dad will pick up a sack of oysters and shuck them and eat them raw on the boat and the sheepies go crazy!! sorta like chummin them up... we will also take a flat spade and scrape the barnicles off the legs of the oil rigs...


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## Dylan

> *alum maverick (2/3/2009)*
> 
> 
> 
> *reel_dedicated (2/3/2009)*yall got it all wrong... go with a #8 or #6 super strong treble hook... and bring a good pair of pliers and plenty of hooks.. you will catch them just about every time.. here is a pic of my wife's biggest sheepie she caught last year... 5 ounces away from breaking alabama's state record and she has been asking me when are we going sheephead fishing lol
> 
> 
> 
> what are you using for bait???
Click to expand...



I think what hes trying to say is you cant use live bait with treble hooks..


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## reel_dedicated

and why not??? im fishing in alabama not florida


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## Dylan

I know this..and you know this..but he does not know this


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## reel_dedicated

gotcha :letsdrink so its illegal in FL to fish live bait on a treble?? i don't ever inshore fish in florida... but its nice to know if i ever do....


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## Dylan

I noticed earlier you said Bama...I think it applies the same to king mackeral fishing but everyone else still does that so i dont know..


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## Chris V

I don't think you can use trebles with live bait in a couple statesin the gulf. In good 'ol Bama you can kill a fish in almost any manner you'd like.


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## Sam Roberts

> *reel_dedicated (2/3/2009)*and why not??? im fishing in alabama not florida


<P align=center>sorry dude..i did'nt read that you were from bama. good luck fishing


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## hebegb

I always had great luck with circles...and Hunter that is one HUGE sheepie!


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## reel_dedicated

no prob man.. i wasn't trying to sound like an ass!! i was trying to cover my ass and make sure i wasn't doing something illegal that i hadn't read somewhere :banghead

ya hebegb it was 12 lbs 10 oz... caught on a penn 4300 spinning reel on 8 lb line off fiddler crab...


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## reel_dedicated

the bad thing was if she had caught it a month later she would have won the Saltwater Sportsman Tournament and been $2000 richer for winning the sheephead category :reallycrying


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## Dylan

I didnt even see the picture! Thats is a huge sheephead! Nice!


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## vietvet

Reel Dedi, that is one heck of a sheepshead.......reminds me of the one I caught under the I-10 bridge in the mid '70's, on a flyrod with 20#test mono, #1 J hook, fiddler. 4th of July as I recall, fishing with my Dad and Daddy-in-law, I had put many in the boat that day and had given up fishing and was trying (key word) to givethem some tips.....you know like "don't use the deep sea bottom rigs with 50# mono and giant treble hooks", etc. Of course they don't want to listen to me trying to tell them how to catch fish, you know how it is....they'd been fishing before I was ever born...in fact, my Daddy was fishing up the Yellow River when my Mom when into labor with me....haha. So I quit fishing and took to easing the boat around the pilings to give them some good exposure, cause if you've ever fished that bridge, you know that the first 30 seconds that you drop your bait to the bottom and tighten up, the sheepshead are already hitting (or gone). After about 20-30 minutes of trying to help them (forget it), I took my 9 ft flyrod, hooked on a fiddler and eased it down about 2 inches from a piling........the very tip quivered (sign of a big one) and I snatched hard. That bad boy ran under the boat, bending the entire rod under the boat and I couldn't do anything but hang on. 'Course my kin wouldn't help or take the rod cuz they were still mad about not catching any so I eventually worked him back and fought him for a good while, keeping him away from the barnacles on the pilings. When he finally winded and came to the boat, it took two landing nets, one on either side, to come up under him and flip him in the boat. The only scale we had was a 12# bass type and he bottomed that out pretty quick....never got a real weight on him....teeth the size of a 10 year old kid..... BTW, the guys that introduced me to sheepshead fishing back in that day (early 70's) used cane poles with 20# mono and #1 J hooks. I upgraded to a flyrod and it seems that we caught more then than now but I've gotten away from the superlight gear and gone to light Shimano spinning reels and 7 foot graphite rods, etc....a little stiffer, but I don't think it's sensitive enough to really "feel" a sheepshead bite (which you know you don't ever really feel most of them....you think you "felt something" and then it's too late). I found 2 flyrods a few weeks ago at a garage sale and I'm going to gear up like back in the day and see what happens......I'll post my findings. BTW, these fish are here year round ......


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## mistout2

We used to use a boat oar an scrape barnacles off the pilings and then use treble to snag em like mullet


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## vikingfan

we want to start trying to fish for sheepshead, but don't know much about them. So you don't feel them bite? What is the best way to clean them? Any info is appreciated. We have a 10 yr old son and all he wants to do is fish!! He's better than the rest of us too.


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## eym_sirius

I clean them using an electric knife. I catch them two ways: In clear water where I can see them, I can see the bite. That's the easiest way. If I can't see the bite, then I try to be super-fast on the hook set. Sometimes they just nail it! Other times,in less clear water, I try to set the hook before the end of the tap. I like to do it that way, because it's an exercise in concentration and diligence. Fiddler crabs, live shrimp (when they're thick) - that's what I've used in the past.

I use a florocarbon leader of about 18 - 20 inches with an egg shaped weight above a small swivel. Definitely a j-shaped hook! I've had the best luck in late March/early April. But late February/early March has worked for me, too, at Bob Sikes, using fiddler crabs right off the bottom.


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## vietvet

Vikingfan,

I'd be glad to show you what I know about the sport....perhaps we could meet up in the next few weeks. When out Sat and hooked 20+, seven good keepers. I fish the I-10 bridge area, Escambia Bay most times. PM me and we'll set something up.


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