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Catch & Release – The Type of Hook Can Make A Difference
While in Florida in the winter Jan and I learned some things about different type of hooks and when different ones were legal and illegal. So we did some investigating about how this affects fishing in Ontario and found the following information.
Although considerable variation exists between species in the effects of gear type on catch-and-release mortality, several generalizations can be made. While there is some variation among species, the use of circle hooks tends to reduce mortality. Circle hooks differ from traditional J-style hooks in that the point of the hook is generally perpendicular to the shank (Figure 1). Circle hooks have been found to be less susceptible to becoming deeply embedded; however, there is some evidence that, in bluegill, the incidence of eye injuries may be greater (Cooke et al., 2003b). In a review of the effectiveness of circle hooks, Cooke and Suski (2004) found that, the use of circle hooks reduced overall mortality rates by approximately 50%, but that there was variation among species. For More Information on Catch & Release Strategies, visit the following Ontario’s MNR Catch and Release article |
