Fishing aficionados are constantly discussing the best baits, lines, leaders and hooks to improve their fish-catching odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, a current saltwater equipment-related discussion in North Carolina\u2019s multimillion-dollar, deepwater charter boat industry swirls around which of two types of fishing hooks \u2014 \u201cJ\u201d or \u201ccircle\u201d \u2014 can best hook, hold and land certain open-ocean species popular as seafood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Numerous published studies conclude that circle hooks can significantly reduce the number of fish killed in catch-and-release billfish fishing because the hook\u2019s design prevents deep hooking by helping it slide to the fish\u2019s jaw or mouth corner, not its gut or throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the bulk of the catch in deepwater recreational fishing is harvested, not released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recent N.C. Fishery Resource Grant Program study focused on the catch rates of the three finfish species most often targeted by charter boats in federal waters: dolphinfish, also known as mahi-mahi; yellowfin tuna; and wahoo. Researchers wondered if circle hooks would maintain catch rates for these species. North Carolina Sea Grant administers the FRG Program, funded by the N.C. General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research excluded billfish \u2014 swordfish, marlin, spearfish and sailfish \u2014 which are recreational catch-and-release tournament favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a fear that the National Marine Fisheries Service, which already requires natural baits to be rigged with circle hooks in billfish tournaments, has a goal that will require nothing but circle hooks to be used by all fishermen in the future,\u201d explains Dale Britt, a charter boat captain, and part of the research team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhether on a charter boat or on his own 25-foot Parker, every fisherman wants to catch fish to take home and feed his family,\u201d he adds. \u201cUsing a circle hook requires a whole new learning curve. With J hooks, his chances of catching fish to take home are a whole lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul Rudershausen, on staff at North Carolina State University\u2019s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology in Morehead City, collected hook efficacy data with a team that included other scientists, and charter boat captains and their mates. The results would then be given to captains and fishery regulators faced with making decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCircle hooks may be considered for all offshore troll fishing off the U.S. Atlantic coast because meatfish, especially dolphinfish, yellowfin tuna and wahoo, often are found swimming and interacting with billfish,\u201d Rudershausen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is concern in the charter boat industry that circle-hook regulations developed for and based on billfish, if ever mandated outside of U.S. Atlantic billfish tournaments, would negatively impact catch rates of nonbillfish species and customer satisfaction,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No such rule now exists for charter boats, but having already seen circle-hook regulations enforced in commercial and tournament scenarios, charter captains remain wary, Rudershausen adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The federal Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NMFS, when practical, to minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality in the open ocean, defined as more than three miles offshore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2004, NMFS has required commercial vessels using open-ocean,longline gear in Atlantic highly migratory species \u2014 or HMS \u2014 fisheries to employ only circle hooks. The NMFS website notes \u201ctremendous conservation benefits for sea turtles since the majority of sea turtle mortalities in longline fisheries are caused by ingestion of \u2018J\u2019 hooks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 2008 NMFS regulation requires recreational fishermen on HMS -permitted vessels to use circle hooks with natural baits or natural bait-artificial lure combinations when fishing in Atlantic coastal billfish tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As hook debates continued, Rudershausen and Jeffrey Buckel, a biologist on CMAST faculty, convened a workshop for charter boat industry members, scientists and fisheries managers to discuss gear types and fishing methods to compare the circle and J hooks in other fisheries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two veteran charter captains, Britt and Pete Zook, then joined the team that sought and received FRG funding to look at the performance of the two hook types in North Carolina\u2019s wahoo, yellowfin tuna and dolphinfish troll fishery. The team also used a CMAST research vessel as a simulated recreational craft to collect data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For each species, researchers compared circle and J hooks simultaneously, fished side-by-side, on a total of 75 trips by the charter and simulated recreational anglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team also included Gregory Bolton and Tyler Averett of CMAST; Randy Gregory of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries; and Paul Conn of NMFS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers used the following terms: A strike happens when a fish interacts with gear so the line is pulled out of the outrigger clip. Outriggers allow more lines in the water at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a hook-up, a fish is hooked for more than 10 seconds after striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fish is caught when an angler pulls the leader to bring the fish close enough to be gaffed or when the fish is boated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using ballyhoo rigged with either circle and\/or J hooks, the team members attached leader types typically fished for each species: monofilament for dolphinfish, fluorocarbon for yellowfin tuna and wire for wahoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They compared numbers of strikes, hook-ups and proportions retained, and numbers of fish caught. The team also recorded hook location, including deep hooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study\u2019s results indicated no difference in the number of strikes between baits rigged with J or circle hooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, once the fish was hooked, both types of hooks were equally successful in landing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the big difference was the number of fish: J hooks hooked \u2014 and landed \u2014 more fish. And landing is what it\u2019s all about for those who prefer meat fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe problem is how the fish interact with the baited hook \u2014 swiping at the bait, or trying to swallow it whole \u2014 and what the angler does in response,\u201d explains Marc Turano, Sea Grant mariculture specialist who also reviews FRG projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a fish strikes at a bait,\u201d he says, \u201cbut does not hook up, the bait is often dropped back to get the fish to hook up. But that could lead to the fish swallowing the hook. This is where circle hooks work well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britt concurs. \u201cYou need to size your tackle according to the fish,\u201d he notes. \u201cCertain fish are impact strikers \u2014 they crash the bait. Whereas others will paddle up behind the bait and take it. If you\u2019re targeting white marlin or sailfish, the circle hook is effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brian Efland, Sea Grant coastal resource specialist, agrees that wahoo, dolphinfish and tuna all strike trolled baits differently. \u201cThe techniques employed for circle-hook billfishing during tournaments can produce high hook-up ratios, but may not be as successful for various meatfish species during daily charter operations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, in tournament catch-and-release fishing, an experienced crew trolls slowly, uses a light outrigger clip setting and drops the baited line back towards the fish when it strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis technique may not be practical for everyday charter trips where the ultimate objective is to harvest fish for a charter party, often comprised of novice anglers and one mate in the cockpit,\u201d Efland explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rudershausen maintains, with qualifications, that \u201ccircle hooks are not as effective as J hooks in the dead-bait troll fishery for dolphinfish, yellowfin tuna and wahoo off the coast of North Carolina.\u201d However, as he notes, the fishing tackle industry and charter boat operators continually adapt gear and techniques to increase catch efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are likely untested techniques that allow fishers to catch non-billfish with circle hooks more efficiently than we found in this study, such as other circle hook sizes that may have been more effective than the sizes we tested,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more information, visit the following websites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Full study report: www.ncseagrant.org and search for 10-FEG-06<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 NOAA bycatch regulations: www.nmfs.noaa.gov\/sfa\/hms\/ahms.htm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Circle-hook tournaments: Go to: portal.ncdenr.org\/web\/mf\/<\/a> and follow links for Recreational Fishing and then Fishing Tournaments<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was published in the Winter 2012<\/a> issue of Coastwatch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n