Circle Hooks for Catfish
I started fishing for catfish last year around the beginning of August until it got too cold late October. Through trial and error I was able to catch some decent sized channel cats and I felt like I was dialing in my technique. I live in Wisconsin so the water is just getting warm enough for catfish to start being active this spring. I went out last night for about 3 hours. I had a ton of hits but the hook wouldn’t set on any of them. The only change I made was going with a cheaper circle hook. The hook on top is a cheap store brand that I used for the first time last night, on the bottom is the Gamakatsu Circle Octopus hook I used last year. Does this small of a difference with a hook make that much of a difference? I used the same rig, line weight, and fished in the same place. Last year the hook would set on every 2-3 hits easily, last night I had at least a dozen hits and got skunked. Would time of year play a part in the catfish not being as aggressive?