CountBassula Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Hi Gang! So I rigged one of my rods (Compre / Curado) with 50 lbs braid and hooked some hollow body frogs with a goal to catch some snakeheads today. Well, my first catch was a decent size bass (see attached pic), and after than I caught 4 snakeheads. First one I got it to land but it got off the hook before I pulled my camera out. Then there was THE MONSTER! OMG it must have been the single largest fish I ever hooked! It felt massive! I felt like my rod was going to break! It put up a huge fight! I casted 20 yards out along canal's edge, and almost instantly got a bite, fought it for about a minute and right when I almost had it on land my raided line snapped!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in tears, almost :-) one because I lost a nice frog, and two because I lost what looked like the largest fresh water fish I ever hooked! This got me thinking... snakeheads sure LOVE some frogs! BUT what can I do to prevent line breaking... I know it wasn't the weight of the fish that broke it, it must have been it's teeth! So I had this idea today (borrowed from my ocean/shark fishing days): very think and short steel leader! What if I got 2-4 inch long steel like at the end of my braid, and attach the frog to that! There's no way snakehead would eat through that, right? Has anyone tried it? Anyways, I hooked 1 bass and 4 snakeheads today, they all got away except the bass! So what's the right setup for those elusive monsters?!? Thicker braid? 60, 70, 100lbs braid on my reel? Or a steel leader? HELP! ME! M. P.S. I know it's probably blasphemy to say this on this forum, but I'm really enjoying going out and targeting snakeheads, they are just so much more fun to catch! I mean the fight they put up is nothing a bass could even dream of doing :-D Quote
mg4u2nv Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 My personal opinion is to stick with what u have already. A steel leader may hinder action of the bait, which results in less strikes IMO. I target snakeheads(when i can get up to coral springs). I throw 40lb power pro and break offs arent all that common. I just need to pay more attention to my line and re-tie more often with the snakeheads. Just my .02. Nice bass btw! Matt Quote
Gotfishyfingers? Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I use a steel wire leader with a swivel on one side and a split ring on the other with all my snakehead rigs. There only a couple of inches long. Haven't had a break off since. Also if your going to use hollow frogs, use the cheapest ones.They will tear them up quick. One more thing, superglue or silicone works wonders to patch puncture holes in the frogs Quote
shallow thinker Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 I like to put 18 inches of mono leader material on my topwaters. A uni to uni knot works well and I use 40 or 50 lb for both snakeheads and snook. That leader gives you better abrasion resistance than braid. Another advantage of mono leader is that I can tie a loop knot to my bait. (I haven't bothered to learn a good loop knot using braid). Quote
Diggy Posted April 25, 2013 Posted April 25, 2013 What band braid? Was your line already frayed? What is the drag set at? What action rod is it? What knot are you using? I usually have my drag locked down for hard, solid, hook sets. Sometimes it's not, the drag slips and the hookset isn't as good as it should be. I usually adjust the drag during the fight. I use no leader, Ive broken off once ever on a beast from trying to horse it up on a rocky bank. I've lost snakes but not from break offs.Palomar knots seem to be the choice for most, I use the trilene, both are super strong. I assume you have a m to mh rod, Hopefully mh to h. Some bands of braid are garbage unfortunately or some spools are bad but many times the line is frayed or the knot isn't a well tied knot. 50 will work, 65 is better, not for the fish, but getting back your frog if you get it stuck in vegetation, trees, etc. My all purpose braid reel has 50, my other has 65 I use for flipping and snakes occasionally. Quote
CountBassula Posted April 26, 2013 Author Posted April 26, 2013 What band braid? Was your line already frayed? What is the drag set at? What action rod is it? What knot are you using? I usually have my drag locked down for hard, solid, hook sets. Sometimes it's not, the drag slips and the hookset isn't as good as it should be. I usually adjust the drag during the fight. I use no leader, Ive broken off once ever on a beast from trying to horse it up on a rocky bank. I've lost snakes but not from break offs.Palomar knots seem to be the choice for most, I use the trilene, both are super strong. I assume you have a m to mh rod, Hopefully mh to h. Some bands of braid are garbage unfortunately or some spools are bad but many times the line is frayed or the knot isn't a well tied knot. 50 will work, 65 is better, not for the fish, but getting back your frog if you get it stuck in vegetation, trees, etc. My all purpose braid reel has 50, my other has 65 I use for flipping and snakes occasionally. 50 lbs braid. 6'8" MH/F Compre rod with Curado reel. Drag set not too tight but not too light either. it will go if I pull hard. palomar know of course. the line was cut clean! i got some 6" steel leaders and clopped the swivel on one end. i'll tie braid directly to the loop end of leader and attach frog on the other end with a clip that's on it. leader is rated 40lbs. stay tuned... Quote
Hannock Posted April 27, 2013 Posted April 27, 2013 Wow, honestly surprised it broke off 50lb test. Like posted above, I would stay with it. It may just be tough luck but still, 50 lb braided is no joke. I've pulled out fallen trees with stuff that heavy. If youre skeptical about the line breaking, I would suggest PowerPro. The stuff works. Its hard to keep the adrenaline from flowing when youre hooked into a monster, but try not to horse the fish. Just keep your line taught and reel in when you feel it tiring. You have to battle the fish. As they jerk this way and that, you just have to keep your line taught and the rod high. Quote
Diggy Posted April 27, 2013 Posted April 27, 2013 50 lbs braid. 6'8" MH/F Compre rod with Curado reel. Drag set not too tight but not too light either. it will go if I pull hard. palomar know of course. the line was cut clean! i got some 6" steel leaders and clopped the swivel on one end. i'll tie braid directly to the loop end of leader and attach frog on the other end with a clip that's on it. leader is rated 40lbs. stay tuned... I keep it locked until I feel I need to loosen it during the fight. Might be loosing fish because of it. Their head is bony. Try it, lock it down what brand frog are you using? Quote
CountBassula Posted April 27, 2013 Author Posted April 27, 2013 I keep it locked until I feel I need to loosen it during the fight. Might be loosing fish because of it. Their head is bony. Try it, lock it down what brand frog are you using? Booyah and Strike King KVD or something... Quote
Diggy Posted April 28, 2013 Posted April 28, 2013 Booyah and Strike King KVD or something... Sometimes the hooks on the KVD can act up, you may be able to bend them out slightly. Some of the hooks just bend back no matter what you do. I had one kvd frog Id lose fish on and another that always hooked up. Not sure if that is also a reason the fish are coming off. Booyah is pretty consistent with hookups for me at least. Koppers is now the same price as KVD at Dicks sporting goods btw, they lowered the pricing. Good if you want a heavier frog. Booyah is always a good value. Quote
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