Need Help! Hookup % W/soft Swimbaits Rigged Weedless.advice Appreciated.

[primetime]

Ok, I just fell in love with fishing soft swimbaits as my "search" bait and I also just love the ability to throw them a mile and fish them at any depth, speed, and they no doubt catch bigger fish regardless of size, although the 6.5" yum money minnows have caused me to almost Lose my rod due to such violent strikes....

I have been fishing some smaller ponds and lakes getting ready for tournaments this year, and I wanted to find another weedless presentation that allows me to cover water while also working all depths.

I have a 7' swimbait rod that is matched up perfectly with a baitcasting reel that I have been using 40lb braid without a leader, tried 2' fluoro in 20-30lb as leader,co-polymer, and Mono...I am not having any line breaks except for a few times when I was lazy and did not re-tie after getting knicked up.

I have always used this rod for fishing spinnerbaits, Big Flukes & Harbaits, topwater at times, and I have used plastic worms and landed 8/10 strikes on average compared to a 3/10 ratio. I have tried all the swimbait hooks from the yum hook, vmc swimbait hooks, and several styles from almost every major company and hook size is not the issue as I have gone as large as 7/0 and 2/0 for smaller 4" sizes.

I get Many strikes as soon as I start my Retrieve, and you can throw these baits a mile, so I know that is part of the problem, but I have started casting shorter distances & still not doing much better. I wait until I feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook, and I have been focusing on keeping my elbows in, and getting a nice snappy upward or slightly angled set as they happen fast and hard.

I have not tried lip hooking with a weedguard, but maybe that is better? Should I be setting like a Carolina rig with a sweep? I have tried to keep this simple and today went out for an hour or so and was throwing 14lb Fluoro and still was missinig most. I am losing my mind as I am not coming up empty after the set, I am getting 5-20 seconds of playing the fish & then the line goes slack.... and lately some of these pre-stage Females have no doubt been in the double digit range as they are racing back and forth in a corner of the lake from the dropoff to shallows, or in some cases they are just feeding like crazy as I love to just slow roll a money minnow or shadalicious under the surface. I use the 3.5 & 5" die dappers,lil suzie,bk swimmer,gamblers,skinny dippers & whatever else I find a deal on. For hollow belslies I use the Money Minnow in all sizes, strike kings, and the culprit versions.

How is this done weedless? what piece am I missing? my buddy thinks my problem is that many of the fish are swimming immediately toward me after setting since they are in competitive mode, but I think that is a decent suggestion and I think Bigger fish just know to swim really fast toward you to get slack for some reason. Even still, I feel I get a hard set, have sharp hooks, but maybe I need to start setting the Hook so if a fish is under a pound it will fly out of the water and land on the beach. I know that is going to create more problems.

Any help would be appreciated...maybe my rod is not a good setup? 7' 3" Med Heavy with some fiberglass, backbone, and a little give at the tip and it is a very well built rod and I have used it with success throwing senkos at times and even weightless flukes/tubes. It is a custom rod my brother made me for Spinnerbaits,bigger hardbaits like 6-10" versions, and topwater if needed.....

ANY TIPS APPRECIATED WHETHER LINE, ROD, SIZE SWIMBAIT, HOOK SIZE OR STYLE, RIGGING, HOOKSET TECHNIQUE..I AM WILLING TO TRY WHATEVER..EVEN WITH SCENT ADDED, MANY TIMES YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW SECONDS TO STICK THEM SINCE THEY WILL LET GO, AND THAT INCLUDES SOME OF THE SMALLER 3.5" SINCE I THOUGHT THEY WERE STUNNING THE BIG ONES....

THE FULL MOON IS THURSDAY HERE IN FLORIDA AND THIS IS THE WEEK WHERE I CAN HOPEFULLY BREAK 10LBS...I KNOW SOME OF THESE PONDS AND LAKES HAVE 12'S AND I HAVE HEARD FROM GUYS I RESPECT THAT A 15+ WAS CAUGHT A FEW WEEKS BACK USING THE RAPALA MEASUREMENTS IN A LAKE LESS THAN 10 ACRES. THE FISH ARE STRIKING SWIMBAITS 5/1 COMPARED TO OTHER LURES OR BAITS.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR READING MY BOOK.

[VolFan]

Two things that jumped at me:

1. Get a faster action rod. Fiberglass is generally not great at truly sinking those big hooks, even with braid.

2. Bend the tip of your hooks ever so slightly out, especially if you're using EWG hooks. The point being in line with the shank doesn't help with hookups. Skin hook the point.

[primetime]

It feels like one of those S-glass rods that Skeete Reese Sells, the blue one's which are all labled a certain technique. I think you are dead on. I love the weight, but I have alway's favored fast tip rods for almost all types of fishing, and I will try the hook points....Thanks, going to throw them on one of my Fast Action Bass Pro Rods.

Thanks for the tips.

[webertime]

Get a faster rod

Wait for the "double tap" then...

Set the hook (horizontally ending with a slight up swing).

 

 

The double tap is always a Bass, single tap and you either set the hook to early on the bass or you set it on a pickrel or pike.

[Mattlures]

There is a simple solution for you. Out here I have done a ton of saltwater bass fishing. the normal depths are between 40-70 ft and I am mosty using 5 inch swimbaits on 1/2 oz heads. This is similar to what your doing because in both cases there is a lot of line out when you set the hook. If I swung the rod hard and then reeled I would probably hook 5-10% no matter how fast my rod is. The key is to reel FIRST. Reel hard until all the slack and stretch is gone from the line, then swing hard and continue reeling. This method is used by all the good saltwater bass guys. Your hook up ratio will go up a lot. For an experiment, have a buddy stand 50 yds ( or as long as you can) and wrap the line around your hand. Have a little slack in the line just like you would if you were fishing. Then have him set the hook. You will be surprised at weak a rod only hook set is. Then tri it again and just have him reel with the rod pointed at you. Just the reel will be a stronger hook set then just the rod. Last try it with reel first and then swing the rod when the line gets tight. This will be the strongest hook set. You must reel fast and you must reel when you swing. Line and rods have a lot of stretch especially when you have a lot of line out. You can get by with a rod first hook set when you are fishing close.

[WRB]

Agree with Matt and have been preaching the reel set for decades for lures fished horizontally, casted over 30 yards. To key to this technique is keeping the rod tip pointed towards the lure, cranking quickly to load up the line whenever you feel a bump, then sweeping the rod back hard to one side to hook set while contineuing to reel. You also need to rely on your reel drag, so set it based on 1/3 of the leader strength or based on your rod and 40 lb braid, between 4 to 5 lbs with a scale.

Also take a look at Owners weighted Twistlock hook and Moaner weighted keel hook for hollow body swimmers.

Tom

[primetime]

Great Info, I appreciate all the above advice and now that I have it visualized it makes perfect sense. I need to think of this as Surfcasting with a 12' rod & big Sluggo for Stripers which I used to do in the Bay on Long Island growing up. I remember having issues with missing strikes when we had to rig weedless in the bay during the summer months when the weeds would be all over the place being pushed by the tide.

I think the braid was causing me to feel the vibrations much longer before the strike & that caused me to slow down and go on auto pilot assuming it was as if the fish just grabbed my fluke or senko. I should have made the connection to a carolina rig sweep where tons of line is out and the strike is different. I was thinking texas rigged Fluke or smaller swimmbait on a light set up & I can see why I was barely getting any power. I was not realizing this is a power technique & the fish is commited & not looking to let go unless I hesitate & only get off a weak hookset.

Trebles and exposed hooks are much easier when cranking and throwing spinnerbaits/swim jigs etc. as your mind is programmed from years of doing it.

You truly never stop learning and this would have been embarrassing if it happened when it counted. I Love fishing heavy weeds, and I think this could be my new go to method for fishing horizontal in weeds and submerged structure.

Time to order some bladed jigs, bladerunners, and new hollow bellies as I just saw some awesome looking colors and custom hand pours and some nice bluegill and perch shaped swimbaits with a hammer tail.....I will check out the Keel hook, and I have been using some owner twistlocks, and very similar hooks by owner and Daichi. I think the Roboworm texture may be good as it is durable and super soft, and I need to get some more Pro-cure and mix it with some shad oil to make sure they are Inhaling and I am getting every edge.

I will leave and update after completing some Lunker hunting the next few days after and before work since full moon is Thurs, and a few of these days should be epic.