Trouble Hooking Up in the Slop

[BassB8Caster]

Good morning Bassresource. Looking for some tips on improving my hook ups in the slop. Yesterday i fished a small pond at the north end that had tons of cover. Grass, lillies, tulles with milfoild under neath. This is all in 3 to 3.5 feet of water all the way to shore. Pristine bass stalking territory. It was hot so the cover was just what the bass wanted. I had no problems finding the fish. My problems were hooking up. There were a few holes in the cover, but for the most part it was completely matted. I love fishing this stuff, and with my kayak i get right up into it, searching the entire area. I fished with 30lb braid using a few different soft plastics (tube in green pumpkin and white, blue pit boss and a couple craw fatty's) all texas rigged on screw ewg 4 or 5/0 hooks. I just casted out and worked the bait across the surface with a few pauses here and there. In the past these have been perfect for hook ups. But yesterday i didnt land 1 bass in this area. The bass would take the bait, i would set the hook (hard from what i could tell) and the battle would ensue. A few seconds later i would lose it. A couple times i even saw the fish up at the surface as i wrestled it in. But again, i would lose it. Many times i would look at the bait and it still had the tip of the hook down in the plastic. Never being exposed. I cannot imaging a bass having these baits in their mouths and not get a hook in them. 

Am i using the wrong hooks? Like i said, i have done really well in the past with this set up. Yesterday probably had more slop than usual. But i lost a good 7 or 8 fish. doesnt make sense to me. I was using a lews combo with MH rod. Possible that i didnt get enough hook set power between the slop and being in a kayak? For the small ponds i fish, the thick stuff is where a lot of the good fish hide. So i would love to get this solved if possible. Thanks in advance guys!

[Reel Guy]

I just joined the forum and saw your post. I was having the same problem and here is what I came up with. I was using the Strike King Green Pumpkin work with a Texas rig. (3 0 offset hook). I had been catching some nice 14-15 inch bass but had a 'big one' on several times last week and had the same experience. I was reeling him in, thought I had set the hook but all of a sudden everything goes slack. So I go out Friday again hoping to latch onto him again. What I noticed was that I may have gotten sloppy with inserting the hook. I had the tip of the hook probably in the middle of the worm and assumed that a bass would bite through all of it and get set in his mouth. I watched a video the night before and the man said to put the hook all the way through and then insert it slightly back into the worm. That way it would be right there when he bit into the worm. I also had a Yamamoto worm that morning (green pumpkin) which is slightly more flexible and not as firm as the Strike King. To make a long story short, I hooked a 22 inch bass weighing approximately 5 lbs. and he never let go. I think he was the Mr. Big that I had missed several times. Same place, same weed patch. Hope this helps. It helped me and will be putting the hook through in the future. Let me know if it works for you!

[Bankbeater]

Is the hook sharp?  When I have that problem I hit the end of the hook with a file.  Usually fixes the problem right up.

[BassB8Caster]

2 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Is the hook sharp?  When I have that problem I hit the end of the hook with a file.  Usually fixes the problem right up.

Could be the problem. I'll check them out. If it were just a hook sharpness issue I would think I would have the hook exposed and the bait up the line like it typically does when catching a fish. But the majority of the times the bait looked as if it was never touched. And it's not like I can berry the point end very deep in a tube or pit boss. 

@reelguy I agree this could be an issue. I'm very careful in how I reinsert the hook as to not allow this to happen. There is obviously a chance it was the case, and I'll make extra effort to be sure it's not too deep. I try to insert it just enough to be weed less. Just very odd. I'll chalk it up to the bass winning that day. The way I look at it is I found the bass, got them to bite my lures. I will try waiting another second and then setting the hook as hard as possible.  This is the thickest stuff I've ever fished.

Any chance 30lb braid isn't enough in this type of situation?  I have read many times where people recommend 50lb (and even 65lb) with a heavy rod for the thick stuff. I have 2 combos and both are MH rods. Another set up isn't in the budget right now.

[everythingthatswims]

In a kayak you have to set the hook VERY hard, I use rods stouter than what would be typical for whatever technique I'm using to help combat this when kayak fishing.

[BassB8Caster]

10 hours ago, everythingthatswims said:

In a kayak you have to set the hook VERY hard, I use rods stouter than what would be typical for whatever technique I'm using to help combat this when kayak fishing.

This makes sense. Appreciate the feedback