Circle hooks for crappie?

[StacyR]

I was out at one of the local reservoirs the other day and catching a few crappie on jigs. In Idaho they allow you to use two poles, so one I set up with a bell, baited with a worm and an Eagle Claw #8 bait circle, just dangling straight down while I walked around on the dam dinking a tube jig just off the bottom.

The worm was getting plenty of attention from the crappies, but I was having difficulty hooking them, and the ones that did get hooked were almost all hooked in the top of the upper lip, which is not what I've heard you're supposed to see with circles. No, I wasn't setting the hook with a jerk, either. Any ideas on why it was happening?

Curiously, I did manage to hook a nice trout in the corner of the mouth, which I promptly lost due to a boneheaded maneuver getting him up over the rail.
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[lunkerhunter2]

Not sure about why it is in the top but maybe because it is a vertical presentation? Also, i am going to move this post to the Idaho board and just maybe you can make some new fishing partners up that way. Sound ok?
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[packfish]

1. Circle hooks for crappie----- why
2. A circle hook goes to the corner of the mouth because a fish moves off with your line(bait) as the trout probably did. The crappies were not I am assuming and you were just pulling straight up and down.
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[monstermasher]

The only place I have had any luck with circle hooks is in Alaska for Halibut. I sometimes use them for catfish. But I would never reccomend them for crappies. Just buy some baitholder hooks, and set the hook on the little guys. Gamakatsu walleye wide gap are also great hooks for crappie. Good Luck[]
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[StacyR]

I used a circle hook because I couldn't always be right there to set the hook. I was on CJ Strike Dam, which is about 100 feet long, give or take and was walking up and down the length of the dam. With a circle hook, the fish usually hook themselves.
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[iliketofish]

don't you have to be close enough to tend all of the rods you have in the water? I thought that was the rule
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[Got_Bait]

I know I have done plenty of fishing where I was close enough to tend all my rods, but wasn't right there to set the hook when one bit. maybe I was breaking the rule
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[666kad]

When crappies are hitting real lite, a circle hook is a great idea.
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