Second Hookset After Weak First?

[leadslinger]

I know this sounds amateurish, but I am.

Following up on a recent hookset thread by bassr95, I wanted to ask if a second hookset is okay if you're unsure about an initial good set.

This is my first year fishing the t-rig, and it is my favorite weapon right now. I am usually making long casts to cover a lot of water. Every now and then the hookset doesn't give me that solid feedback as when you know you got it set well. On those weak feeling sets, often the fish seems to just let go half way back (still underwater), and the plastics didn't move off the hook tip very far, or at all.

I'm using braid w/ 6ft. fc leader, and 3/0 - 5/0 gammy offset ewg worm hooks.

Not sure if it's the long cast that makes the hookset tougher. I do reel down before setting, but maybe still a little slack.

Thoughts on setting the hook a second time if I sense it wasn't set well?

Thx.

[HeavyDluxe]

I'm interested to hear what others have to say, but here's my guess just based on observation.

I'd wager that 'resetting' the hook is probably not a great idea for a couple reasons:

• More likely to cause damage to the fish's mouth by snatching on it
  
• That damage is more likely to give the hook extra room to wiggle out if the fish gets slack in the line
  
• You're more likely to give the fish a little slack as you're getting ready to swing on it again
  
• If there's any abraded sections of the line or weakness in the knot, you're adding stress there that might increase the chance of breaking off (note that I fish mono still, so this might not be an issue with braid or other lines)
  

In the end, I think the best move is probably to try to use sharp, lighter-wire hooks where possible and trust your equipment. That said, I will admit that there are times that the first 'pump' I give while reeling in a fish has a little extra mustard on it.

[Loop_Dad]

I know this sounds amateurish, but I am.

Following up on a recent hookset thread by bassr95, I wanted to ask if a second hookset is okay if you're unsure about an initial good set.

This is my first year fishing the t-rig, and it is my favorite weapon right now. I am usually making long casts to cover a lot of water. Every now and then the hookset doesn't give me that solid feedback as when you know you got it set well. On those weak feeling sets, often the fish seems to just let go half way back (still underwater), and the plastics didn't move off the hook tip very far, or at all.

I'm using braid w/ 6ft. fc leader, and 3/0 - 5/0 gammy offset ewg worm hooks.

Not sure if it's the long cast that makes the hookset tougher. I do reel down before setting, but maybe still a little slack.

Thoughts on setting the hook a second time if I sense it wasn't set well?

Thx.

I'm armature too

How do you 'sense it wasn't set well'? You don't. You find out the hook was not set well only after you lose a fish.

However, sometimes I know I didn't give a good hook set the first time for various reasons, like maybe I lost balance as I set the hook. Then I'll sometimes give a proper hook set to fix that.

[bleedingshrimp]

would I drop the rod and do another over the head hookset? No. But instinctually, I keep tension on the line and may sweep set in the opposite direction the fish is swimming. Is that the right thing to do? Dunno

[ClackerBuzz]

i wouldn't do a second set...rather focus on a better first. drop rod, reel in ALL the slack, firmer snap of wrist while sweeping rod back. AND tweek ur ewg hooks by bending the point up some. it will help ur hook up ration alot. use off set round bend hooks if its possible with ur plastic of choice. worms work fine with them and u will instantly notice a better hook up ratio. good luck

[WRB]

It sounds like youndidn't get a hook set to start with! The only way a hook can penetrate the basses mouth tissue is you must move the hook forward with enough force. You can create a lot force with a snap set to drive the hook home, but only with a few inches of slack line verses a few feet of rod movement. The reel and sweep set also works well, but the same dynamic must occur; force applied to the hook to move it.

If you haven't loaded up the rod and the bass isn't fighting hard, then give it a second shot.

It also sounds like you are pegging the sinker? Bass bite down on prey very hard and if the sinker is being clamped down on, it's harder to move the hook!

You should have a higher % hook set ratio with a straight shank hook vs the EWG off set, everything being equal,

Tom

[papajoe222]

When I fish for muskie and northern, I always give a second and sometimes a third set, and that's with braid tied directly to a wire leader.

With a bass, however, the only time I attempt a second one is when I feel I screwed up initially. Sometimes, it's just a feeling, like you said. I'd rather loose a fish because that second hook set opened up a bigger hole in it's jaw that loose one that the hook never penetrated.

I notice you use a fairly long leader and it seems to be paying off for you. The problem I find with long leaders is the fish moving toward me as I'm attempting to set the hook. You can reel down until you feel the resistance of the fish and their reaction will almost always be to turn away which will help in keeping the slack out of that long leader when you sweep that rod to the side and back. If you're not using that style of hook set, you may not be moving enough line to get a hook into them.

[wnybassman]

I routinely do multiple hooksets, but mainly just fishing for smallmouth while dragging open hooked jigheads. Over the years I have discovered that smallmouth will sometimes clamp down so hard on your bait, that the initial hookset will not even move the bait in their mouth. The result of this is having the bait fly out of their mouth the first time they break the surface during the fight, all they are doing is opening their mouth. So for years I have been setting and resetting the hook during the early stages of the fight and have lost fewer fish because if it. If the fish becomes unbuttoned as a result of this multiple hook setting, you probably weren't going to land the fish in the first place.

The power of their mouths proves itself over and over to me too. Just last month I landed a small 2 pound smallie on the Niagara River that only had the dropshot weight in its mouth. The first time it took air and opened its mouth, my net was already under it, so I caught it. This happens A LOT with tubes and football heads too. I always feel better about landing fish once they take air the first time, and I still have them on after that.

I don't worry about largemouth so much, but find myself resetting if I think I flubbed up my first hookset. Seems like I do this mostly with frogs and T-rigs.

[wademaster1]

concentrate on that initial set and keeping the line taught afterwards; i also try to keep my rod to the side and the line tight so the fish won't jump and try to throw the hook near as much; also, in my opinion the longer casts that cover more water are great but at the same time i think your initial hookset could be a little weaker just due to the amount of line between you and the fish; make sure to reel the line TIGHT before setting the hook on long distance hooksets; good luck

[Jig Man]

One of my buds insists on a second hook set. I have watched him lots of times. He drops his rod tip a bit before setting. He looses over half of his fish and he can't understand why. I know that a human has a reaction of 3/4 of a second from the time you decide to do something send the message from the brain to muscles and start the job. I read that bass have 1/25 of a second reaction time, so letting them have just an itty bit of slack has to be a no no.

I set the hook once and keep pressure on them all the way to the boat.

[shimmy]

always a gamble for me. There are sometimes that the fish is swimming towards you on the hook set and you know the hook is not in there deep, especially with a thicker hook. So, i do a second hook set only when i feel i need to. And to no surprise, i pop it out of the fishes mouth sometimes. As i weigh the pros and cons, i have decided to always do a second hook set it i feel the first was poor for any reason. Who is to say the hook would stay in the first place after a poor hook set and if i never did the second, just pure speculation, so i swing again.

[Jim_M]

No expert for sure. BUT I abandoned the "swing for the fences", "cross its eyes" hook set this year. I do not have the skill set needed to know when to do that.

I am experiencing far more success just keeping slack out of my line. When I get a bite I sweep the rod in the opposing direction with increasing firmness.

Not sure that makes sense, but a giant jerk of a hook set usually means I have a ballistic lure coming straight for my head.

[MichBassMan]

I never double up on a hookset, I've seen too many others do it and lose fish. If I feel a hookset is weak because of rod position or a fish moving toward me I just reel faster and try and keep extra pressure on the fish. With smallies, regardless of the hookset, as soon as he's hooked up my rod tip goes down into the water as deep as possible. Jumping smallies often can cause cussing.

[BrianinMD]

Never a second hookset for me, it will introduce slack into the line which is the last thing I want.

[Dave P]

Any time I've ever doubled up, if it's gotten to the boat it's had big holes in it's mouth. I don't do it anymore.

[Bluebasser86]

I can only see a couple of things happening with a double hookset. Either you'll put slack in the line and the hook will fall out when you drop the rod tip or you'll tear a big hole in the fishes mouth and it will shake out. Even if I feel like I got a bad hookset I'd rather just crank and lean on them to try to get the hook to dig.

[MarkH024]

I can only see a couple of things happening with a double hookset. Either you'll put slack in the line and the hook will fall out when you drop the rod tip or you'll tear a big hole in the fishes mouth and it will shake out. Even if I feel like I got a bad hookset I'd rather just crank and lean on them to try to get the hook to dig.

I'm with Bluebasser. They're bass, not great whites.

[mikey5string]

Reel fast and keep the rod loaded.

[SirSnookalot]

Just hang with it, bass sometimes have the tendency to swim at you and not away, taking the tension out of the line. In my experience the bigger the fish, the harder the strike with a better hookset, especially using braid.

[roadwarrior]

Reel fast and keep the rod loaded.

I'm with you!

No double hook-set for me.

[Jake P]

I dont see how you can have a bad hookset. Its either in or out, there is no inbetween. I know the top lip is the ideal spot. But as far as penetration goes, IMO, its either hooked or not. I would bet a paycheck that the hookset is not the problem. If you are hooking the fish enough to begin reeling her in then that is not your problem. You may not be keeping enough tension on the line and she is shaking free. like previously mentioned sometimes the fish will dart straight at you creating slack and thats when the fish will shake free.

Keep tension on the line and reel like heck if your rod is not loaded up and you know there is a fish on the end.

Like MarkH024 said, its not a great white with 5 1/2 inches of mouth to penetrate. Good luck and TIGHT LINES!

-JP