Hook Set Direction

[TommyBass]

Ok, I have been fishing for a long time. Its almost embarassing to admit this, but I can almost NEVER get a good hookset on the left side of my body. I am right handed, and reel right handed with baitcasting setups. My wheelhouse hookset is from about 1-4 o'clock positions. However, if I find that its necessary to set between 8-11 o'clock positions I cant hardly do it without some kind of awkward, slack inducing baseball swing. I can set it strait up to 12 o'clock, but I don't really like that angle for most situations.

Is this only me? Anyone have advice for setting the hook to the left as a right handed angler? I normally try to avoid it happening, but with a partner in the boat or certain situations along banks / docks it inevitably occurs.

For as experienced as I am, this is a basic thing that is just bothering the heck out of me. Maybe its anatomically inappropriate and I should just stray from it. I guess I'm going to just have to practice setting the hook with a mickey mouse plug in the front yard until I get it right

[00 mod]

Same scenerio as me, right handed, right hand reels.....

80% of the time I set to the right, but I do not seem to have any problems the rest of the time setting to the left!

Jeff

[aclark609]

I try not to put myself in positions where I have to set the hook to the left.

[gobig]

Obviously the best thing to do is not put your self in that position as stated. But it never fails at some point you will be caught with your pants down. In my opinion the best thing you can do is reel and sweep. The combination of the two moves alot of line and if you dont stop reeling you should elimintate the slack in the line.

[flippin Dan]

Sometimes a second man in the boat determines which way you have to swing to keep everyone safe. I am a righty and usually set across my left shoulder to about an 11 oclock position it seems.

[Jigs 4 Pigs]

Sometimes a second man in the boat determines which way you have to swing to keep everyone safe. I am a righty and usually set across my left shoulder to about an 11 oclock position it seems.

x2

[J Francho]

I don't have a single hookset, though I have already envisioned my rod position and how I'll set the hook before I even make the cast.

[LgMouthGambler]

Same problem. I feel like a out of balance newborn giraffe. What I started to do, since I wait a couple of seconds before I set the hook, I turn my body straight to the fish, and reel down, then set the hook. By the time the hook is set, my rod is not straight up and down in front of me, but rather around eye level.

[TommyBass]

Well I'm glad its not just me. I always know what direction I am going to set it, but there are situations when its unavoidable.

For instance, sometimes me and my partner will parallel the bank. If you are driving down the bank with the port side being closest to the bank, and I am standing on the left front of the boat... I have to swing left. Swinging right puts it right into his grill piece lol. I've been trying to work on a 10-11 oclock swing, I'll let you know how that goes.

The reel and sweep works decently, but I generally am in an area / situation when a good hookset is needed... and that method seems to lose me alot of fish halfway to the boat.

[kms399]

I am left side retarded so I feel your pain.

[Sam]

Treble hook baits get the rod swinging to the left or right, with preference going to the right.

Other baits have overhead swing.

I find myself not setting the hook very often on treble hook baits to the left.

I am right handed.

[james 14]

Is this with all baits or only certain ones?

I don't have this problem at all and would have to second what J Francho said about having in mind where my hookset is going at all times. Whether I'm going left, right, up or down under one leg (kidding) I'd have my body in position to make it effectively as soon as I got a strike.

[kylek]

After reading this thread before this weekends tournament I have never even thought about it. So all day Saturday I tried to make a mental note on each one. All of them were to my right side except for one.. I got short stringed on a spinnerbait and all I could do was go left and the same time as I was swinging it into the boat.

[radtech]

hmm now that you mention it. I think i set the hook pretty much straight back when texas rigging or anything of that nature. Crankbaits or anything fast moving I tend to do a sweep hook more towards the right. Of course I'm fishing from the front of a 16 foot aluminum and dont have much of a choice! That way I dont hit the person in the back lol

[SirSnookalot]

I never thought about either, setting the hook should be a natural reaction with no thought involved. My rod may not always be in the same position when a strike occurs, you have to be ready at that moment. I would consider using a left hand crank reel instead of the traditional right, that should give you more agility, strength and reflex time at any position. A second recommendation would be to strengthen your left arm, simple excersize would be to use an elastic band on a door knob for your triceps. Do some wrist and forearm excersizes too. I would actually mimic excersizes that golfers use to add power to the left arm on the downswing.

IMO a fish does not always strike from the same position, from the back, the sides, and from different places in the water column, pretty hard to plan for that, best just be ready for what happens and react accordingly.

[TommyBass]

The issue is more with jigs and texas rigged plastics than anything. Sharp hookset motions. @SirSnookAlot, the same arm is setting the hook the the good way and the bad way. I have no issues to the right, as its a natural and instinctive 'pull' inward toward my body. Its when my forearm has to rotate out away from my body over my elbow that the issue occurs. Maybe I need to get more torso twist in there on the left handed hookset or something.

If you don't think about it odds are you set the hook 90% to your combo's strong side. Basically, if I am holding the rod in my left hand, I set it better to the right. If its a spinning reel and I am holding the rod in my right hand, I set it better to my left. I just can't find the good motion needed for the 'off' hand.

[TommyBass]

I don't have a single hookset, though I have already envisioned my rod position and how I'll set the hook before I even make the cast.

Not really sure how that works, dosn't the direction the fish is going and depth of bite determine your direction at all? I always try to set away from the fish's swim direction... and since I can't set left well it normally means I try to set it up so I have to set it to the right. In otherwords, I like to go down banks with my starboard side toward the bank. When you cast 45 deg ahead, the fish 9/10 times will swim away from the bank in a right to left motion. Then, my left to right hookset lines up alot better, and I miss far less fish.

[Hyrule Bass]

Not really sure how that works, dosn't the direction the fish is going and depth of bite determine your direction at all? I always try to set away from the fish's swim direction... and since I can't set left well it normally means I try to set it up so I have to set it to the right. In otherwords, I like to go down banks with my starboard side toward the bank. When you cast 45 deg ahead, the fish 9/10 times will swim away from the bank in a right to left motion. Then, my left to right hookset lines up alot better, and I miss far less fish.

the direction the fish is swimming and the depth do not determine the direction i set the hook at all. i find if i have to think about that much after i feel the bite, then the fish is gone before i ever make my mind up. soon as i feel the bite, im tightening my line up and swinging in whatever direction my rod position dictates while also factoring in if someone is beside me or not.

basically, you just need to practice swinging left, try to make it a habit of swinging left even when you dont have to...and practice in real water while fishing and/or atleast tie your line off to something. that way you can feel the resistance to simulate hooking a fish, rather than just yanking a practice plug through the grass