Just Circle Hooks(?)
 

Has anyone had any success rigging their lures with circles? I'm curious about how well they do actually hooking-up...My guess is they do a terrible job.

I've got a few plugs set up with just a single siwash hook on the belly (similar to the pic) that I use when fishing in a few places where dealing with fish with trebles is a pain. (deep rocks/bad footing). You miss some fish but the nice thing is when you go to unhook the fish you can just reach down and grab the plug.

Not sure why you would need circle hooks unless you are worried about plug getting swallowed.

I wonder as well what market Yo-Zuri was targeting when they developed these. The hooks with the twisted eyes are over $1.00 each.

i think one of the big markets was the tarpon crowd, where the bait is more or less engulfed, allowing the fish to hook itself in the lip/jaw than having someone swinging hard on trebles to set the hook deeper

a lot of the bigger lures i saw in florida have the same set up or close to it, most had the newer inline owner or vmc hooks but the tarpon gear had a lot of circle hook baits

One of the nice things with most plugs is there's a split ring on the middle an on some the tail too. So just give it a try. Circle hooks come from the long line industry where an unattended bait or baits just hung there for the fish to eat.Setting back on a circle hook makes for a lost fish. They work to set themselves. When I was eel fishing all the time i loved them as I just let the line tighten an got a jaw hook 95 percent of the time. They might work on a trolled lure but i highly doubt their use on plugs.J hooks like siwash have been used on Tarpon lures since back in the 50s.I think Heddon was one of the ist to do so. I think as a builder glueing the belly swivel so it doesn't twist which will alow the hook to go flat against the plug would be a way to do it. Martin lures used a clip on the plug belly on the old salmon j-plugs.

If anything, I would only use these for tail hooks. Then crushed barbs up front on the trebles
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