According to Captain Brad Durick, the circle hook is the prime choice when fishing for catfish.

There are now four basic styles of catfishing hooks on the market: the standard J-hook; circle hook; and lately the double-action hook, which is a hybrid of the two; plus the treble hook.

When choosing the proper hook, ask yourself a simple question: Do I want to set the hook, or not? (This is why hooks are discussed before rods in this series.) If you want to let the fish grab the bait and cross his eyes with the hook set, the old standard J-hook is for you. But if you want to avoid a foul- or gut-hooked fish, circle hooks are the way to go.

J-hook
When using a J-hook, you basically can fish any way you want: You can keep the line tight, waiting to detect any sort of bite, or you can open the bail and allow the fish to run with the bait before you set the hook. Most catfish anglers use bait runner or bait clicker reels for this approach. Once the fish has the bait with a J-hook, you must set the hook to get the fi sh. This is a super exciting and very effective way to catch catfish. I contend that there is not much of a better rush than to lay the wood to a giant catfish, and feel those first couple hard tugs before the fight ensues.

Circle hook
Circle hooks exploded onto the catfish scene about 15 years ago, but many catfish anglers still don’t understand how they work. These hooks have a bent beak in the tip. This allows the hook to catch in the corner of the fish’s mouth, allowing for easy catch and release. Important: no hook set is required.

Circle hooks are corner-hooked 99-percent of the time and can be incredibly effective when properly used. This is why I am writing about hooks before rods, because to get the most out of circle hooks, you must pair them with the proper rod to get the hook-setting action that is desired. Many anglers hate circle hooks because they lose fish on the hook set. This is due to the fact that you are not supposed to set circle hooks! With a little more understanding of how they work with the rod as a system, they become just deadly at hooking up catfish.

If you would like to learn more about the proper hook for the job, check out the February issue of MidWest Outdoors magazine, available the first full week of February at a newsstand near you, or by subscribing on our website.