You must not be holding it right....

[philsoreel]

I have lost several good fish this summer due to their keen ability to spit a treble hook equipped lure. I've landed more than I've lost because I opened my mind and bought a rod with a lot more parabolic action than I liked. Thanks KVD for that lesson. However, I have lost the last three good fish. I saw a few pros holding their rod tip down and actually saying things like "Nope, I'm not going to let you jump" or "Stay down, stay down". It looked to me as if they were holding the tip down to keep them from jumping. The first fish I lost I was holding my rod down. The second one, my older brother told me that he felt they could more easily jump holding the rod down. Third one, today, I was holding up somewhat kind of leaned back loaded.

What works best for you?

BTW a good fish to me is in the 9 to 11lb range

[Under the Radar]

Definitely down. Remember, you've got to keep pressure on them to keep them from jumping. It works most of the time for me. Sometimes Murphy's law comes into play and there isn't anything you can do about it.

[5bass]

Sometimes Murphy's law comes into play and there isn't anything you can do about it.

Exactly. Everybody loses treble hooked fish every now and then. All you can do is stack the odds in your favor as much as you can with good equipment with a good drag, allow no slack and keep your rod tip down.

[OHIO]

I have lost several good fish this summer due to their keen ability to spit a treble hook equipped lure. I've landed more than I've lost because I opened my mind and bought a rod with a lot more parabolic action than I liked. Thanks KVD for that lesson. However, I have lost the last three good fish. I saw a few pros holding their rod tip down and actually saying things like "Nope, I'm not going to let you jump" or "Stay down, stay down". It looked to me as if they were holding the tip down to keep them from jumping. The first fish I lost I was holding my rod down. The second one, my older brother told me that he felt they could more easily jump holding the rod down. Third one, today, I was holding up somewhat kind of leaned back loaded.

What works best for you?

BTW a good fish to me is in the 9 to 11lb range

That's more like the fish of a lifetime for me.

I am a firm believer that you should keep the rod tip down, but I have never tried it any other way, so I can't really compare the two.

[philsoreel]

I have lost several good fish this summer due to their keen ability to spit a treble hook equipped lure. I've landed more than I've lost because I opened my mind and bought a rod with a lot more parabolic action than I liked. Thanks KVD for that lesson. However, I have lost the last three good fish. I saw a few pros holding their rod tip down and actually saying things like "Nope, I'm not going to let you jump" or "Stay down, stay down". It looked to me as if they were holding the tip down to keep them from jumping. The first fish I lost I was holding my rod down. The second one, my older brother told me that he felt they could more easily jump holding the rod down. Third one, today, I was holding up somewhat kind of leaned back loaded.

What works best for you?

BTW a good fish to me is in the 9 to 11lb range

That's more like the fish of a lifetime for me.

I am a firm believer that you should keep the rod tip down, but I have never tried it any other way, so I can't really compare the two.

I have a 10 acre lake that I put alot of time into to be able to catch fish that size. For some reason my fish get lockjaw after they reach about 5lbs. but it can be rewarding.

A 10+ on public waters...yeah that's a nice prize.

[OneUp]

I have a 10 acre lake that I put alot of time into to be able to catch fish that size. For some reason my fish get lockjaw after they reach about 5lbs. but it can be rewarding.

A 10+ on public waters...yeah that's a nice prize.

Sorry, I'm going to have to call you out on this...  We'll need some GPS coordinates to verify.  ;D

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

One thing that needs mentioning is that when performing this withyour rod tip down NEVER aim the rod directly at the fish. Always off to one side or the other when doing this. Still have to keep constant tension on them and make the rod bend.The idea is when you feel or see them coming up thrust the tip down and to the opposite direction they are heading attemting to turn their head back down into the water.

[philsoreel]

I have a 10 acre lake that I put alot of time into to be able to catch fish that size. For some reason my fish get lockjaw after they reach about 5lbs. but it can be rewarding.

A 10+ on public waters...yeah that's a nice prize.

Sorry, I'm going to have to call you out on this... We'll need some GPS coordinates to verify. ;D

LOL I'm willing to show you some pics of the fish but GPS naaaaah it's already located in a less remote area than I'd prefer. In fact, two guys all but drained it in 1999. Those ****** were going in at night and keeping every bass they caught, cleaning them, and then selling them. Before that, on average, you could catch 25-30 every time you went with most in the 2.5-6 lb. range and a few above. Haven't been able to duplicate that production this time.

[Nibbles]

Control the head and you control the body. I would keep the tip down.

[gobig]

I agree with most of what has been suggested. One thing not mentioned are the hooks. If you are using stock hooks they are crap in many cases. They are either dull and don't allow for good penetration or bend out easy.

[rboat]

I agree keep the tip down and you can control them better. Another thing that many people forget, or think you don't need with trebles is a strong hookset. I always give them and extra jerk, not too hard, and that seems to keep them from throwing the bait back at me.

[philsoreel]

I was pretty sure holding it down and away was right. It made the most sense to me but I just wanted to hear how others felt.

Not many stock hooks in my bag except for a few lure brands that come with good hooks. I'm really liking those Gamakatsu Short Shank Magic Eyes. The "magic eyes" hold no real value but that short shank lets me get away with a bigger hooks on alot of cranks....I like that

[Nibbles]

I like the Mustad KVD Elite trebles. They have short shanks too.

[baluga]

What works for me well for me.

1.      Replace the any stock hooks of Luckycraft having  #4 and less hooks   with Owner ST41.

2.      Set the drags about 2 to 3 pounds by feel.

3.      Set the hook hard

4.      Give it a couple of jerk once the hook is set to secure the hook.

5.      Play the fish with the rod pointed to the side parallel to the ground.

I still lost a few big ones but these definitely increased my land to hook up ratio.

[philsoreel]

I like the Mustad KVD Elite trebles. They have short shanks too.

I've been eyeballing those for awhile. Do they have a good, thick wire that won't bend much?

[Carrington]

the kvd's are good, im about to start using them but alot of guys on my college team already use them and swear by them.

[farmpond1]

It might be easier to understand if you take your options to their extreme.  If you are directly underneath a fish and you pull, the fish will be "forced" toward you (down deeper) whereas if you are directly above a fish and you pull, the fish will be "forced" toward you and to the surface.  So, holding the rod tip down or, even, under the surface, will keep a fish down a lot better than if you hold the rod high (toward the sky).  Same rule applies if you want to coerce a fish in one direction or another (to avoid a snag, for example).

[repper]

For sure rod tip down, and opposite. If you are using good hooks perhaps the fish are not totally committing to your lure, and therefore aren't getting the lure into their mouth. And constant pressure is good, but too much pressure is bad, especially if they are not hooked perfectly. Fish that size can put enough pressure on the hook to tear it loose, if you have the drag set too tight. You might want to try a slightly different color lure to see if they will commit to it better as well. Good luck...and I hope you realize how lucky you are to have such a great spot to fish. And I hope those two who were keeping the fish moved, or changed their ways.

[repper]

I forgot to mention...if I could fish that spot all the time I think I would just keep the rod tip high sometimes, just to see one of those monsters rise up and spit the hook. There's nothing more majestic than seein' a really big bass come clean out of the water and shake it's head. If you were fishin a tournament that would be different, but you're not, so why not?

[BassThumb]

Those moderate action rods take a little while to get used to. The fish time I tried one I thought it was way too soft, but I liked launching lures with it, so I stuck with it. I think it's a good idea to set the drag nice and light with treble hooks if you're losing fish. After a pretty hard sweeping hookset to the side and down, I try to let the fish fight the full length of the rod, and maybe strip out a few feet of line.

You have to be patient with mod action rods and take your time bringing in a fish. They're too whippy to try to horse a fish. It seems to sometimes throw slack into the line because the rod tip is all over the place.

[Red Bear]

i never hold my rod tip down or in the water and i dont have a problem with losing any fish because of them jumping. in fact i love to see a fish jump on the end of my line

[TBendBassin]

i never hold my rod tip down or in the water and i dont have a problem with losing any fish because of them jumping. in fact i love to see a fish jump on the end of my line

  :-? :-? :-? i don't wana see that bass til shes at the boat!!