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Hi All, I've been having trouble with hook sets on my ultralight pole. I'm using 6# test, the pole itself is 6', and it's a spinning reel. I'm rearing back and really setting the hook using a traditional hookset but almost never landing the fish. My drag is set pretty tight. I'm typically fishing about 1-2 feet deep with a bobber, and using night crawlers. I give the fish plenty of time to take the bait. I don't have these issues using my 7', medium bass pole.

I have been fishing 3/8 ounce jigs with chunk trailers lately. I'm in Indiana so it has been pretty cold. I have been working them across the bottom very slowly and I have only been able to land 2 fish so far. I have been getting a lot of bites but I end up missing on the hookset. I'm fishing braid with a flouro leader so I can feel the bottom and the bites very well. Are the bass nibbling at the trailer or am I getting too excited on the hookset? Often times the trailer is about to come off once I reel it in after the bass keep nibbling at it. What am I doing wrong? Or is this typical fall behavior?

How do you guys set the hook with a owner wacky hook?(or any wacky style hook) Do you set it vertical and hard or just a reel set or a slight sweep motion? I fish my senko's vertical so I find it easy setting the hook upwards. I usually yank decently hard since I'm pretty used to it but many times the hook pops out of the fish's mouth. Sometimes it will seem like its on for a second or two and then its gone. I'm switching to these wacky hooks because I heard they have a high hookup percentage and I want to maximize it by doing it right!

Hello, my fellow fisherman. I am normally pretty good with hooksets. I have gotten to the point where I think I can determine wether or not a bass has my lure by the tail or fully engulfed. I have fished with individuals who wait as long as 15 to 20 seconds to set the hook. I don't really wait that long. I usually wait until I can fill weight. It usually takes 3 or 4 seconds unless they are running with it. There is a certain amount of line tension that I feel when I know it's hookset time. I said all of that to say this, what is your hookset philosophy?

Tonight I was getting consistent bites in some wood throwing a jig and craw but never hooked a fish. The bites felt like 2-3 pecks on the lure. At one point I made a cast and right as it hit the water the line started unraveling like something was carrying it away but then nothing. There are also a ton of little turtles around too and I wonder if it was them. Any suggestions? One thought I had was going with smaller tackle in these situations.

I've recently begun to see great variance in hook-setting styles, e.g. snap set, sweep set, reel set, and standard powerhook setting. Keep in mind that today's hooks are incredibly sharp, you usually don't have to yank the moon from the sky to set the hook. What sets do you you use for which baits; I tend to use: Sweep set-slowest, reeling slack/loading rod, then sweeping sideways or lightly towards an 11 o'clock position For crankbaits...or anything with trebles. Including lipless crank (a standard hookset can rip them out of the mouth) Top water Soft plastics Reel set-Load rod with reel, (not so much that they can feel you) then set hook (not lightly, not powerfully, find a happy medium) when using smaller, wire hooks, e.g. wacky rigs football jigs/any jig not fished in heavy cover-Hard hooksets can pull the lure, causing that lead head to bust open a bass' mouth and swim away. This also compresses the weeguard before the set. This must be done quickly. Use a high speed reel. soft plastics- Quality Wide gap/EWG hooks and wire hooks Finesse lures (wacky rigs, shaky heads etc.) Anything with circle hooks Snap set- A regular hookset, but without having reeled in all the slack. It can pop a lure while in a bass' mouth instead of just yanking it out Also used for jigs. Good for T-rigged soft plastics when bottom bouncing; especially with heavier hooks Soft standard Hookset-'Nuff said T rigged soft plastics-wire hooks O.K. for jigs with small hooks Tex-posed Soft Plastics Hard-'Nuff Said Flipping and pitching when using massive hooks Swim jigs Spinnerbaits When a lot of line is between you and the bait/heavy cover Thick soft plastics with large buried/weedless hooks Topwater plastics like frog and eeliminators weedless hollow frogs

Mine is weak at best, but tend to land a few good ones on occasion I know most everyone has had these same thoughts at one time or another and I would like to hear from the forum on: What you've tried and failed/succeeded with whether it's techniques or terminal tackle. >>I'm going to "go Ike" soon if I keep missing fish.

Hello there fellow bass anglers. I have been saving up some of my money so I can buy a new rod at my town's Walmart, and I was wondering if the length of the rod could affect the number of good hooksets, or the number of fish hooked in general. The reel I have is a Bass Pro Shops Mega-cast (Spinning), and I've had it for 2 years, and use 12lbs mono-filament line on it. I'm thinking about getting a Shakespeare Ugly Stik, 7'0" medium action spinning rod. I'm only 5'5 but I'm not sure that that matters or not. I keep loosing fish due to late hook sets with my Daiwa Millionaire Classic casting rod, which is 6'0" in length. That too is a medium action rod. Will this longer, newer rod help me to hook more fish, or is it a matter of improving my reaction time? If possible, respond as soon as you can because I'm buying it either tomorrow night or Friday. Thanks.