How to Catch a Sailfish with Circle Hooks

Most people lose the first sailfish they get on a circle hook because they still fish it like a J-hook. They see the sail, they panic, and they rear back. The ballyhoo comes flying out of the spread, and they spend the next ten minutes talking about how circles hooks “don’t work.”

Circle hooks work. You just don’t swing.

A sailfish slashes first. Bill across the bait, sometimes two or three cuts, then it turns and eats. That turn is the whole point of the hook. The point slides, the bend rotates, and it pins in the corner of the jaw—the spot that holds a jumping fish and the spot where you can actually remove a hook without wrecking the gills. Gut-hook a sail on a J-hook, and you can cause internal injuries and lessen the chance for survival.

Circle hooks are required in many natural-bait billfish fisheries, including certain federal waters off Florida. Check the regulations wherever you fish. Even where they aren’t required, fish them anyway. Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Mid-Atlantic, Mexico. Same fish, same mouth, same release.

This is the small-bait program. Small and small-medium ballyhoo. Not horse baits. Not a mixed-marlin spread. The kind of ballyhoo you pull for sails.

Why boats switched

Hook placement is the obvious reason. Circles land in the corner of the jaw most of the time. J-hooks find the throat and stomach a lot more than people like to admit.

The part that surprised the old heads was hookup rate. If you feed the fish and come tight instead of ripping, you don’t have to give up bites. Some billfish comparisons have shown hookup rates that are even or better with circles. The fish gets to turn. The hook loads itself. You stay out of the way.

If you feel like setting, you’re about to miss it.

What to fish

Sails are a light-tackle fish. Twenty- to thirty-pound-class conventional tackle is still what most Atlantic boats live on. Spinning works too—4000 to 6000 size, sealed drag, and enough line that a greyhound run doesn’t put you into the arbor. The rod needs to pick up slack fast without being a broomstick. A stiff rod can walk a circle hook right back out.

Start the drag lightly. You can always add pressure. You cannot put a pulled hook back in the fish’s mouth.

Leader selection is where mornings get wasted. Small ballyhoo does not want 80-pound-test mono hanging off its face. You want enough fluorocarbon to handle a bill wrap, not so much that the bait is towing a rope. Keep the connection clean and low-profile. Bimini or spider hitch. No unnecessary bulk.

That’s the job the Billfish Tournament Hook Sets were tied for. Six feet of clear fluorocarbon, a crimped loop on one end, a black circle hook on the other, and a tournament snell so every leader looks like the last one. Ten in a pack, $39.99. A sailfish or another pelagic rags one, clip the next one on and keep fishing.

For small and small-medium ballyhoo, run the 6/0 on 40 lb. That’s the pack. The 7/0 on 60 lb is there if your “small-medium” is creeping up in size or you’re getting wraps. Leave the 8/0 in the bag. That hook and leader belong on a bigger bait than this program.

Clear 40-pound fluorocarbon is less visible in clean water, and the leader provides some shock absorption during the first head shake. The black hook also keeps the presentation understated against a dark ballyhoo.

Rig the ballyhoo correctly

Small ballyhoo is less forgiving than a horse bait. Too much hook and it won’t swim. Too much wire and it kinks. Too much chin weight and it just drills.

Prepare the bait gently. Pinch the guts to separate the meat and remove the waste, break its back so it swims naturally, and trim the pectoral fins if it’s spinning.

Twist a small 1/8- to 3/16-inch rubber O-rings, EZ Swivel or Ringer Swivel, onto a piece of approximately 20-gauge copper rigging wire. Rig the bait so the hook remains exposed and the ballyhoo tracks straight.

Use chin weight to keep the bait in the water so it will track straight. 3/8oz to 1/2 oz egg sinker is usually plenty. You want the bait to swim naturally, so don't overdue it.  "The bigger the weight, the dumber the mate"

The same rig works as a pitch bait. Tease them up on a dredge or hookless squid chain, pull the teaser, and throw that same small ballyhoo at their face. Same 6/0. Same drop-back.

The bite

Have the rod in your hand before you need it. Keep a sharp look out behid the teasers and dredges, have the anglers hold the rods, or the mainline near the reel, be ready to drop back the bait in free spool.

Point the rod in the direction the line is going, towards the fish on a flatline or pitch, or the rigger clip. Clicker off,. no thumb on the spool. Let it eat. Five seconds is plenty on a normal sail. Give it longer if it’s still slashing and hasn’t turned. Give it less if it just inhales and leaves, you will see the line accelerate rapidly—that’s more of a blue-marlin eat. That can happen!

Then come tight. Lever up, or close the spinner, and let the line start coming off the reel before you start to reel. Keep the tip low and sweep to the side as the line loads. You are not driving steel. You’re taking the belly out so the hook can slide and roll into the corner.

Coming at the boat? Keep feeding. Tight and stays tight? You’re on. Tight, then slack? Wind back to the rigger mark like a person, not like you’re trying to skip the bait. They come back.

Once it’s on, don’t try to “make sure.” That’s how hooks walk out in the first half minute. Steady pressure. The leader man goes in when the fish is ready, not when somebody on the bow is bored.

How you pull them

Naked small ballyhoo typically trolls around five to six knots. Same spread you’d run with J-hooks. Flat lines and riggers. If you like, use a Sharpie to mark the line at the clip so, after a miss, you can put the bait back where it was.

Slow it down if the baits start skipping, cart wheeling or washing out. Small baits wash out faster than big ones. Go as fast as you can given conditions, but presentation is more important than a set speed.  Keep the baits swimming!

Keep a couple of pre-rigged 6/0s, 7/0s, and 8/0s on ice, baited and ready to pitch. When a fish shows in the wash or behind a teaser, don’t wait for it to find a dragged bait on its own if it’s already looking at the transom.

How people blow it

They set the hook like Jimmy Houston on Saturday morning bass fishing. That’s most of it.

They bury the 6/0 in a bait that can’t hide it. They hang 80-pound on a small ballyhoo and wonder why nothing eats. They leave the drag locked so the fish feels the bait and drops it. They wind a missed bait out of the water instead of bringing it back to the mark. They pump the rod like they’re trying to win a weigh-in.

Get it off and let it go

Most of these fish come in hooked in the corner of the mouth. That’s the point. Dehook the fish in the water. Don’t gaff a release sailfish. Don’t hang it vertically by the bill while four people take a photo. Keep the fish in the water, support it alongside the boat, and release it when it’s ready to swim away.

If a fish is deeply hooked, cut the leader close to the hook rather than causing additional injury trying to remove it. You’re not doing surgery in the fish box.

What to throw in the bag

Small Ballyhoo Circle Hook Rig for Sailfish — 6/0 on 40 lb

You don’t need a new spread. You need 6/0 leaders that are already tied and a crew that will sit on their hands for five seconds.

Billfish Tournament Hook Sets — 6/0 on 40 lb, $39.99 for ten. Six feet of fluorocarbon, snell already done, black circle hook, and a loop on the other end. Add copper rigging wire, spare crimps, a Sharpie, and some small and medium ballyhoo.

Feed the fish. Come tight. Let the circle do its job.