Catfish hooks are a matter of personal preference and every angler will have their own personal favorite style, size, and brand of hooks. Many of these may be specific to the size or species of catfish they target, the techniques they use for catching catfish or even the time of year they’re fishing.
Circle hooks are the most popular hook for catfish. There’s no argument that circle hooks are the most widely used and popular hooks for catching catfish, especially among the hardcore catters.
That wasn’t always the case though as the popularity of circle hooks has really exploded in the last five to ten years. There was a time where it was relatively hard to find a catfish angler that actually used circle hooks.
Years ago I heard a lot of “hype” about circle hooks for catfish and tried them on numerous occasions. Each and every single time I tried them I ended up putting them away and switching back to other more traditional hook styles because I missed too many fish or couldn’t catch fish with them. Every once in a while I’d go back to them again and would have the same results.
Several years later I was saltwater fishing on the coast where circle hooks were the hook of choice among local anglers. I had a chance to use them in a saltwater environment which gave me an opportunity to use them and learn while they were in use and really understand what makes them work and more importantly what doesn’t.
I made it back from the coast and immediately began testing circle hooks again using my new-found knowledge and quickly learned that the past issues I’d had were because I was using the wrong hooks and wasn’t using the hooks correctly.
Switching to a new hook style and making some tweaks in my habits changed this and put me on a path to success and I’ve been using circle hooks exclusively ever since.
This is all about learning the essentials of choosing and using circle hooks or better yet “what you shouldn’t do” when fishing for catfish with circle hooks.
These are the mistakes people commonly make that keeps them from catching fish.
I’ll be back with another video on different techniques for fishing with circle hooks as well as dispelling the myth that you can’t set the hook with circle hooks because you actually can!
3 Common Mistakes Anglers Make Using Circle Hooks For Catfish
Here’s what you need to know to make sure you get the best performance from circle hooks for catfish and help you put more catfish on the end of your line.
The circle hooks I suggest for catfish are the Triple Threat Catfish Hooks that I designed for Whisker Seeker Tackle they’ll work with any catfish rig and any species of catfish.
Size Matters
For a circle hook to perform correctly the hook has to slide, turn and catch in the corner of the mouth of the catfish.
For this to happen like it should the hook has to be large enough to do so.
Unlike a j-hook or many other styles of traditional hooks that hook virtually anywhere, they make contact with the circle hook functions in a different way.
When a fish strikes a bait with a circle hook the hook slides until it reaches the inside of the lips and the hook then turns and hooks, setting itself in the process. Traditionally the hook will set itself right in the corner of the mouth.
Because of the way the circle hook functions it’s essential that the gap of the hook remain open. If the hook gap isn’t open or isn’t large enough the hook will slide right out of the fish’s mouth.
Make sure you choose a circle hook with a large enough gap for the baits you’ll be using and the size catfish you’ll be targeting. Not all hooks are created equal and sometimes even very large hooks will have a smaller gap.
Keep in mind catfish have very thick (and tough) mouths that aren’t like the paper-thin mouths of many other species of fish so make sure you choose your hook style and size wisely.
Using a circle hook that’s too small is one of the biggest mistakes anglers make when targeting catfish with circle hooks for the first time.
Make Sure Hook Pulls Forward
Learning how to tie good fishing knots is important and there are many options you can use. Typically when attaching a hook to a fishing line how you attach the hook doesn’t matter much.
Most anglers that use circle hooks prefer to snell the hooks and swear this is the only way you should attach a circle hook. The argument is in how the hook lays when attached to the line and the hook should always pull forward as this helps you catch more fish.
I typically snell my hooks because using my easy snell technique the process is super easy and it’s no more work than using other knots.
I’ve kept in-depth records for nearly two years now of how circle hooks perform with a snell versus tied to the line with a Palomar knot that I’ll be releasing later this year.
Snelling the hook is not nearly important as many people make it out to be, what’s more, important is that the hook doesn’t pull back on the line. Even then it’s not a deal-breaker.
Keep The Hook Gap Open
As explained earlier it’s essential that the hook has an adequate gap when using circle hooks.
It’s equally important that the hook gap remain open as well.
It’s a habit for many anglers to deep hook baits or buries the hook as deep as they can with the bait and fill as much of the hook up as possible. You might have even heard that you need to cover the hook point because the fish will see it and not bite.
This is an old wives tale with absolutely no truth behind it (at least with catfish).
When baiting a circle hook you want to shallow hook the bait keeping the hook gap open and also make sure you hook the bait in a way that keeps the hook from getting fouled.
A fouled hook occurs when the bait flips around on the hook, fills the gap, and covers the hook point.
The easiest way to prevent this is to hook the bait at an angle when you insert the hook, just don’t fill the hook gap up with catfish bait!
Here’s The Video
Everything you need to know is covered in this week’s video.
Which Circle Hooks Should You Use For Catfish?
To get recommendations on the best circle hooks to use for catfish as well as all of the other suggested catfishing tackle and gear check out the Ultimate Guide To Catfishing Gear.
This in-depth guide covers everything you need to know to choose and use the right catfish tackle and gear and save money in the process.
You’ll Catch More Catfish
I use circle hooks exclusively for blue catfish and flatheads and very often for larger channel catfish. I rely on treble hooks when fishing prepared bait channel catfish with the Secret Catfish Rig and rarely have a need for any other form of hooks.
When you learn to use circle hooks correctly as well as make sure you choose the right hooks you’ll put more fish in the boat.
If you’ve ever had a bad experience with circles give them another try and apply these tips, you’ll be glad you did because they’re a very effective piece of catfishing tackle.
I’ll be back with more information on techniques for fishing with circle hooks including busting the myth that you can’t set the hook with circle hooks, because you can.
Want More?
To get on the fast track to catching more and bigger catfish check out some of the Catfish Edge products. These in-depth guides available in ebooks and online video are like a guided catfish trip online at a fraction of the cost of hiring a guide.
Topics cover everything from learning how to locate and catch shad, techniques like drift fishing or splat fishing, and seasonal guides that cover everything you need to know to catch fish at certain times of the lear like Spring Blue Catfish Techniques, Summer Channel Catfish Techniques, and Transition Cats.

Chad, watching your videos over the winter has me changing my gear and tactics. Looking for great results thanks to your helpful videos.
What is the best rig set up if your fishing off land
Check out https://www.catfishedge.com/catfish-rigs/
Good info, I snell my hooks using your easy method and it work great. One of the other pro,s show how to snell going toward the point and then coming back to the point. Which ones right? Enjoy all your tips and videos. Be safe and good fishing. jan
Excellent video and tip, keep up the good work.
Great videos ! Learned a lot from you. It’s fun watching your videos, better than TV. I can pass the information on to others.
Circle hooks…I have read and heard not to use too large a hook for the size of fish. I’m mainly interested in 2-3 lb channels and most of the time I release. Won’t too large a circle hook stand a chance of hooking through the back of their eye making them not too good for releasing? What size and brand of hook should I be using for 2-3 lb channels?
I absolutely love your videos, and plan in the future to take a tour with you. It’s not that far from Wichita, to Dallas!
Ciao
I catch channel cats ranging from your size to 20 lbs. Brand, I don’t really know but I believe I use Gamakatsu circle hooks, and when I’m targeting smaller cats I use a 4-5/0 for size. I’m no expert by any means but this works well for me!
Gamakatsu 2/0-5/0 Octo circle I have success in catching 1#-6# channel cats with them. On a few of them, the hook, hooked them in the bottom of the lip. No other issues I’ve encountered.
that’s good information on the circle hook,i think I will use this info.,thanks so much.
I do believe I found the proper article to read, I was very identified with stated above. I live in Venezuela and lot of catfish are in our rivers, I got a small container with about 75 different circle hooks sizes, I tried most of them and I was very disappointed with results, while my fishing partner was catching with traditional hooks y was missing fishes with circle hooks. After reading the article and watching the video I am very exited to go out for fishing and try again circle hooks implementing above techniques, thanks for posting this.
Chad, This is an excellent article on circle hooks and the most important one I find is making sure your hook does not foul on the bait. One other thing that I have found to help me catch more fish is to change those hooks out every once in a while. If you are using the same poles and set ups day after day and you are catching fish, that hook will get dull…. and a sharp hook catches more fish.
Most of my channels AND blues are 3lbs and less. I’m a bank fisherman. I note that the smaller cats (especially channels) have mouths too small to inhale 4 and 5/0 circles. Believe it or not, I hang with 3/0 primarily and can go so low as size 2 in Eagle Claw. Advice about hooking bait is critical. Net a lot of approx 2 inch young-of- year gizzards from shore and small sunfish with crappie pole and 14 – 15 hook size white yarn grub. Bluegill hooked at base of dorsal as per usual. Small gizzards are next to impossible to keep alive. Hook them thru hardest part of gill cover behind eye. Don’t double them over hoping they will stay on better. That fills hook gap as advised against. Use live gills at night with lighted floats. It’s a blast seeing float take off and submerged when flats take off! That typically in avg 2 feet of water – or even less. Flats come right up to banks after guess what?
I seem to miss more fish using circle hooks..I use a santee cooper rig with 8ought hook with 3′ of 50 pound leader attached to 20 pound main line with a 8ounce tear drop flat sliding sinker..the river i fish has a fast current and the sinker often twist’s up..And when i feel a nice hit i gently sweep the rod to set the hook..No hard fast hook sets..But unless its a hawg that picks the bait up and hauls butt,i seem to miss alot of fish..Take anyadvice you guys can give me..I use menhaden or shad cut into 1 1/2 wide chunks leaving about 3/4″ of hook point exposed..these baits are mushy so you kinda have to go somewhat deep in order to keep the bait from flying off during casting..i was thinking about trying kahle hooks..look forward to you guys advise
I use #9 circle hooks for sharks and big catfish whole bluegills for bait no sinker just let the bait sink to the bottom put the reel with the clicker on free spool and stand by they don’t bite this way they just pick up the bait and swim off with it. after about 3 seconds lock the reel in and let the fish load up the rod point the rod at a slight angle and start reeling they hook themselves every time. Haven’t missed one in over ten years I average between 15lb and 25lb channels I also use 65lb braid