I recently saw a fishing show where they changed the treble hooks on their crank baits to circle hooks. They reversed the hooks, and said this made the baits practically snag proof & seedless. Has anyone tried this?

Maybe it works for some people, but knowing how circle hooks work I can't imagine any scenario that doesn't see the hookup ratio drop drastically. When I say drastically, I'm guessing a drop of 75% or more. 

 

That is just a guess, its something I would never test. Circle hooks dang near need to be swallowed, and do not react well to hard hook sets. I have heard of people having success with single hooks like trailer hooks, but never circle hooks.

Circle hooks work by the CHUNK of bait BEING SWALLOWED !!.  They are never to be used on lures that are clamped near the frontal lips.

3 hours ago, cyclops2 said:

Circle hooks work by the CHUNK of bait BEING SWALLOWED !!.  They are never to be used on lures that are clamped near the frontal lips.

 

Every snapper and grouper we catch offshore with circle hooks is hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth.

 

Maybe we're just wizards, I guess.

I saw that episode of Bill Dance. Interesting idea, but I'd personally just throw a Keitech, or swim jig, or ribbontail worm in that same cover. I'd probably get just as many, or more bites, and enjoy an excellent hookup and landing ratio. 

No circle hooks on lures for me. 

Don’t we mean inline singles not circle hooks? If so, yes. 

I guess if you wanted to throw a crankbait into the weeds it would be a good idea.  I mean, your hookup ratio would go down, but not as low as it would if you didn't fish the weeds at all, right?  And you'd need specialized crankbaits just for that scenario, as I'd hate to have them on any other time.  It seems to me like there are just better options out there if you want to fish in the weeds.  

However, I'm lazy and cheap.  

As long as the mouth is somewhat closed circle hooks will work especially if they're offset.  Like anything else theres a bit of a learning curve which is frustrating.  

You could get the same weedless effect from single replacement hooks and still have confidence when you set the hook.  

Circle hooks are designed to hook the corner of the mouth as it slides out. A bass would need to completely engulf the hard lure and reject it so it can be pulled out as the bass turns with the lure. The odds of that happening are very low.

Tom