Bass coming off after jumping

[juicebass]

Lost a few smallies the other day... Hooked em good, took my time and brought them to the boat only for them to jump out of the water and throw the bait. I was trying to keep my rod tip low so they wouldn't jump but that didn't help..

what should I try next time to keep them from throwing the hook? 

 

Thanks

[visagelaid]

What kind of hooks are you using?  Sometimes they just shake the hook and there is nothing you can do.  Sometimes it can feel like its happening a lot of times in a row, when it is just by chance.  Especially with the brown fish...they are fighters.  Its a good chance that there is nothing you could have done.

[Ray K]

Agree with the above response.  One thing you can try is to respond as quickly as you can as soon as the bass comes out of the water and lower the rod tip into the water several feet and jerk his head back down.  Might make some difference in thrown hooks.  Just a thought.

[Ratherbfishing]

Might need to sharpen the hooks a tad

[j bab]

Trebles or single hook? What kind? Also you should lower your rod tip pretty quickly after you set the hook if possible. Keeping it high is making it easy for the fish to jump way out of the water

[GORDO]

I will literally stick my rod tip in the water and keep reeling to keep pressure on the hooks. Sometimes you hook them in the skin between their lips and their nose(if that makes sense) and will rip that with your hook set. Not much you can do when that happens sadly. Best advise I can give you is set your drag to when you set hook it will give just a little, especially on your jig rod to stop ripping their mouth allowing the hook to be thrown a little easier. I have all of my rods drag set like this and I haven't lost a fish from it throwing the hooks this year at all. *knock on wood* 

[riverbasser]

If you watch the pro's you"ll even hear them say "don't jump" as it is always a possibility to lose them on the jump. Keep pressure and rod tip down that's all you can do

[Hogsticker]

I always keep my rod tip at water level and WATCH that line. As soon as I see the line start to rise I stick that tip under water and start reeling down in an attempt to get them to head that direction. Trying to keep them from breaking the surface as much as possible is the only play, but obviously it doesn't always work. In shallow water up us the only place they have to go, so hold on and cross your fingers. 

[Spankey]

Not sure what you were throwing. Probably nothing you were doing wrong. Sometimes when throwing crankbaits and they are only hitting the tail of the bait they tend to only get on a single hook of the rear treble hook and not even come close to the front treble. Pretty easy to throw that. I think we all have days like that. Touch up your hooks and give it heck tomorrow. Whatever you were throwing they wanted.

[tkunk]

I don't think keeping the rod tip low helps much.  I've stuck my rod tip 4' under the water (so people driving by don't see that I'm on fish) and they still jump.

The best thing to do is start reeling as fast as you can when you feel them coming up to jump, and continue to reel when they're in the air.  You can gain a lot of real estate when they're in the air.

[Dwight Hottle]

Bury your rod in the water when the line is moving up to the surface & keep pressure on them. If you cannot keep them from jumping keep the line tight when they clear the water. Don't give them any slack. I almost always hold the rod to the side parallel to the water when fighting a bigger smallie. The side pressure seems to help keep them from jumping.  

[Hogsticker]

5 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Bury your rod in the water when the line is moving up to the surface & keep pressure on them. If you cannot keep them from jumping keep the line tight when they clear the water. Don't give them any slack. I almost always hold the rod to the side parallel to the water when fighting a bigger smallie. The side pressure seems to help keep them from jumping.  

Exactly. I disagree with portiabrats strategy. That's actually what I do when I want to shake a small fish. Horsing a big smallie in open water is poor choice imo. I'll play her till I know she's done, which generally translates to less airborne time when you're ready to land it. It may mean less time to caress the fish. Whoops, I mean take pictures (haha), but at least I got the picture! 

[gim]

Part of what makes bass so much fun to catch, especially the brownies, is their ability to leap and head airborne in an effort to avoid being caught.  Sometimes the fish wins and sometimes you win.

[Angry John]

Sharp hooks.  Hook design all hooks are not created equal.  Correct action rod medium fast or moderate for trebbles.  Rod length.  All things to consider.

[Glenn]

Have you considered this?

 

["hamma"]

I will employ the, rod in water and reel in when you see the line coming up techinque. But also, I have the drag set to set the hook good, but when I hook a smallie,(especially the heavier feeling fish) I will loosen the drag just a bit, so the fish has some room to flee, therefore allowing it pull drag easier and not so much needing to jump. Of course this doesnt work 100%, smallies are fiesty and some will jump anyways, but any option I have to deter it is welcome, and this does seem to work most of the time

 

[offsidewing]

On 8/23/2016 at 5:33 PM, portiabrat said:

I don't think keeping the rod tip low helps much.  I've stuck my rod tip 4' under the water (so people driving by don't see that I'm on fish) and they still jump.

The best thing to do is start reeling as fast as you can when you feel them coming up to jump, and continue to reel when they're in the air.  You can gain a lot of real estate when they're in the air.

This times eleventy billion for me.  I when fishing for smallies in deep water I use as high ratio reels as possible.  When they head for the surface I try to beat them to the top, tip up.  I suck up as much line as possible to eliminate slack and keep reeling when they jump. This keeps tension on the line and hook.  When I do go tip down, its to steer them vs prevent jumping.  You can also create a whip in the line transitioning from tip down to tip up if you're timing is poor. . 

 

 

[visagelaid]

11 hours ago, offsidewing said:

This times eleventy billion for me.  I when fishing for smallies in deep water I use as high ratio reels as possible.  When they head for the surface I try to beat them to the top, tip up.  I suck up as much line as possible to eliminate slack and keep reeling when they jump. This keeps tension on the line and hook.  When I do go tip down, its to steer them vs prevent jumping.  You can also create a whip in the line transitioning from tip down to tip up if you're timing is poor. . 

 

 

+1 for "eveventy billion."  My favorite number.

[BassB8Caster]

From my small sample size (started fishing bass last summer), I side on the side of "not a whole lot you can do". I got into some good smallies (4 one day from 3.27 to 3.69lbs). I was using a 7:1 reel with 30lb braid with chatterbait and swimbait trailer. They hit the bait hard. The first hit I got I just kinda set the hook gently and kept tension. She came up to the surface, jumped and shook my lure. So I would say first thing is a strong hook set. Then it's keep tension. These bigger smallies are fast and strong. When they decide to swim at you it's a challenge to keep up. You can see the line come up before they jump. But I've found it hard to keep them down. IMO the jump isn't the killer. If you have a good hook set and keep tension through the jump you should be in great shape. Then you need to be quick and efficient with the net. This can be a challenge as well. 

Nothing is 100%. But I feel if I do these things, I have a great chance at landing the fish. 

[everythingthatswims]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned already.... 

 

Sometimes it's better to take your time fighting them so that they are tired by the time you get them to the boat, less chance of a "violent" jump.

[A-Jay]

~ X2 ~

Agreed.

I never actually realized to what extent I employed the "Go Easy" fish fighting strategy" on smallies in open, until I started watching back my own video's.  Most of the "fights" with bigger smallies take several minutes.(especially drop - shot & treble hooked fish)  My plan is always the same.   As long as the circumstances permit, the hook set is often the most pressure I allow on the bass.  After that, what's the hurry. I've got all day.  Unnecessary extra pressure is a good way to pull a hook.  Take it easy.  Spastic speed reeling is no way to land a trophy smallmouth.  Never was & never will be, at least for me.   Some trips it takes several hours to get the right one on.  That takes patience.  Same concept applies to landing that bass as well.

  Finally, I also attempt to discourage jumping by reeling or applying the same pressure on a downward or opposite direction if I can.  But Smallies are prone to Rocketing out of the water, right up in your face in fact.  And that's at Least Half the fun !  I especially LOVE that brief pause of silence that occurs between when the bass explodes toward the heavens, hangs right up in my grill,  . . . . . .and then plunges back into the lake.     Sometimes I land them, Sometimes I don't.

A-Jay

[PondHunter]

I have 2 guesses. 1. is that your rod is too stiff and it gives the fish a ton of slack if you don't just reel it straight in. As soon as it clears the water, there's a bunch of slack and it just comes right off.

2. Try using a net. Get one with Fine mesh. If you can stick your fingers through it, it's too coarse. It's not all sexy like the Pro's, but you would have landed every one of those fish at boatside if you had one.

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Some trips it takes several hours to get the right one on...

I misread this at first and thought you were saying it takes several hours to get the right one "in".  

I figured you were either using a Snoopy pole with 2 lb test or had come across some new Zen method where the fish gets so bored of being hooked that he eventually just jumps in the boat.

[juicebass]

Wow thanks for all the replies guys.

i should've mentioned I was using a tube.

i was fighting some decent smallies. And would try and tire them out.. I don't have a net so when I would go to grab them, sometimes they would jump and throw the tube, lost at the boat.. Sometimes I feel like fighting them too long also works agains you in that they can also come off underwater...

i will definitely try the technique of keep the rod in the water.. Also. When the jump I won't stop reeling...

i also think the weight tube hooks I were using aren't that great.. Gonna get some better ones!

 

[Airman4754]

On 8/27/2016 at 9:03 PM, everythingthatswims said:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned already.... 

 

Sometimes it's better to take your time fighting them so that they are tired by the time you get them to the boat, less chance of a "violent" jump.

Yep, that's what I started doing a few years ago. I started using longer rods and fight them with pressure at a distance. Let the rod do the work, not the reel. It has worked so well I can remember the four keeper size fish I've lost since then and I fish a lot.