Hookset Philosophy

[flyfisher]

deecting a lot of strikes is about the process of elimination....you eliminate what the bait normally feels like, how the line is behaving etc..and subsequently set the hook. 

[greentrout]

A lot of my worm fishing is with Crème and Zoom finesse worms using 10lb test and Tru-turn hooks with weights down to 1/32 oz.. Soon as I feel 

the strike, no more than 2 seconds, I set it hard and reel 'em in.

 

Old school basser...

[frogfish195]

On top i'll pause

underwater I aint waitin'

Crankbaits easy sweeping hookset

spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, soft plastic texas rig.....fairly solid hookset

frogs, flippin' Carolina rig, I do all I can to rip their lips off........drag cranked down, skull drag em to the boat

[Justin Mott]

I'm with the rest of the crowd on this one. I want to set the hook as soon as I feel a fish. I like to think that a fish that is worth my time will fully engulf my bait.

 

On that same note, I am not that worried about a fish spitting out my bait. I fish a lot of swimming jigs completely out of sight. Many times, I will get bites that I don't know about for a few seconds. I know they feel me pulling back on them. But in my head, they think its a fish trying to pull away and clamp down harder. I do fish with a medium action rod to not put too much pressure and I rarely lose fish like this.

 

Justin Mott

[*Hootie]

The first tap you feel is them engulfing your bait, the second tap is them spitting it out!

An old 70's B.A.S.S. pro, John Powell said that.

Hootie

[*Hootie]

And the third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking why you didn´t set the hook on the first tap.

Again, John Powell.

Hootie

[hatrix]

Tom made a lot of good points. Waiting on bottom baits to set is debatable. In my experience like Tom pointed big fish don't run while smaller fish do. The double tap type bite also is usually a smaller fish deal and big ones either give no tap or can be one super hard slamming hit and anything but a instant set is usually leads to air. If you fish enough moving soft baits you can kind of get a sense of if they ever fully grab it just like you can with topwater and don't set because you need them to hit again.

On a bottom bait bait I am not feelin for a bite thats painfully obvious usually and I am concerned about what I no longer or shouldn't be feeling.

The lightest bite you ever get is the biggest fish you will ever catch. That statement has a lot of merit to it but is not 100% of the time true.

[Weld's Largemouth]

You guys made some great points. Can you guys give me some tips on the sideways hookset. I am 50/50 with that one.

most of my hooksets are to the side, because im working my lures with my rod to the side

[Senko lover]

I never allow the bite to reach the rod tip. I am always watching my line, and the second I see a twitch, or my line going out, I rare back. I always keep contact with the bait too, so I typically don't "drop and reel" or anything.

[Catch 22]

I used to fish crankbaits in a deep river reservoir a lot ,mostly for lmb.I held the rod  low and to the side so I had an accurate view of the rod tip. Many ,many times I felt no appreciable  strike but the rod tip would stop vibrating because a fish had taken in the bait and was swimming along with it.======Set the hook.. Sometime the rod would just go straight.===Set the hook. 

I learned to set the hook anytime the rod changed attitude. Many bass came on board by this method.

 

Softbaits except for Senkos ,set  the hook now.

 

Also I seldom ever drop the rod before  a set. With braid and a mono leader I  don`t need the extra uummff

C22

[Giggidy564]

I used to fish crankbaits in a deep river reservoir a lot ,mostly for lmb.I held the rod  low and to the side so I had an accurate view of the rod tip. Many ,many times I felt no appreciable  strike but the rod tip would stop vibrating because a fish had taken in the bait and was swimming along with it.======Set the hook.. Sometime the rod would just go straight.===Set the hook. 

I learned to set the hook anytime the rod changed attitude. Many bass came on board by this method.

 

Softbaits except for Senkos ,set  the hook now.

 

Also I seldom ever drop the rod before  a set. With braid and a mono leader I  don`t need the extra uummff

C22

 That last part makes a lot of sense to me.  Having the right tackle really does play a major role in hooksets. I saw Aaron Martens set the hook like he was crappie fishing when he was dropshottig for bass and he had great hook penetration due to his tackle. Thanks

[Jtrout]

On soft plastics it's usually a few taps then I rip them lips on cranks soon as I feel a fish grab it I give it a little yank to make sure I got some hooks in.

[tatertester]

I love to fish bass in lily pads and mixed weeds, BUT , I have a poor percentage of hooksets.....I have tried to hookset fast, waiting to the feel fish,and just can't seem to get a good feel for it...I've read many times the way to do it, and watched videos, yet, am lucky to get 50% hookups.....I have no trouble with plastics, or most other surface lures, just those floating frogs......ARRRGH.