Anglers who sling chunks of bait from the surf have no lack of hooks to choose from. Circle hooks and J-hooks the two most widely exploited hooks for propelling chunks into the surf.
Both hook styles will hook and land fish. But, for chunking, I find that in-line circle hooks outperform J-hooks. The wider gap in a circle hook “hangs” a chuck better. My go-to circle hook is the Owner SSW in-line circle hook (8/0 or 9/0 depending on the size of the chunk).
After I dress my Owner SSW in-line circle hook with a tasty chunk, I use a small elastic to secure the chunk. I use red elastics for mahaden and herring, blue elastics for mackerel chunks, and tan elastics for clam chunks (or the entire clam!)
The key thing to keep in mind when chunking with a circle hook, is not to set the hook! When you feel the fish on you bait, lower your rod tip. As the fish swims away with the bait in its mouth, the slack line will go away proportionalitly. When the line will become tight, crank the reel slowly: this will set the in-line circle hook in the corner of the fish’s mouth.
Off-set point circle hooks work equally well to in-line point circle hooks. However, they tend to cause more gut hooks because as the hook travels from the fish’s gullet up to the corner of it’s mouth, the off-set point tends to snag the fish’s internal organs.
I use in-line circle hooks for chucking because they perform better than J-hooks. The fact that they conserve fish is a welcomed bonus.
