i agree with burying your rod in the water, not just the tip, but i put nearly half my rod in the water to keep em from jumping, more frequently with treble hook baits. Once you get em in close, steer the bass in figure 8's to help keep em from going under the boat until he's done fightin. that's when i lose a lot of my fish, after the fight and getting them next to the boat, they like to take that one last dive. Figure 8's can help maintain control of the fish until they are ready for lipping. Also, as far as using light line, I've learned the thinner gauge wire hooks are more easily set on light line than say a Gammy Superline or Owner extra strong.