Am I doing something wrong?

[GORDO]

I am new to the whole heavy rig and extreme grass but I want to become proficient on any sort of water. Anyways, I was out on my favorite lake yesterday. I was using a "slither rig" im not sure if thats what it really is called but its a pegged 3/4oz skirted tungsten bullet weight with a t-rigged rage craw and I was fishing it in the thickest grass I would find. Im using a brand new spool of Suffix 832 65lb braided line. Not even 20 pitches in, I feel it hit bottom, then weight. I think to myself fish! I set hook and line goes slack. It broke off. I couldnt help but think the usual suspect, a northern pike. That was until I rig up a 1oz tungsten weight, flippin hook and the same rage craw and continue on my way. I was still flipping heavy heavy grass between really old docks. Same exact scenario unfolded. I feel bottom, weight, set hook, and the entire rig is gone. Im religious about retying knots and I know its not my knot. Well I dont think it was seeming as I had a bead between the hook and the weight on the first rig. 

Could it have been 2 northerns in a matter of 50 yards? What could I possibly have been doing wrong to make my line break like that? Is there a secret Im missing here? This area of the lake/river Doesnt have hardly and rocks or wood plus I would have felt them if that were the case... Any input? Ive been thinking about it all day. 

[Ktho]

Are you breaking off on the hook-set? Do you feel a pop or resistance or does your line just go limp? I'd also check and see where on the line you're breaking off.

[GORDO]

Just now, Ktho said:

Are you breaking off on the hook-set? Do you feel a pop or resistance or does your line just go limp?

On both, I broke off a millisecond after hookset. Set hook, feel weight for a split second and then nothing... Idk if i would describe it as a pop. Its like someone grabbed it and cut the line. Im so confused on what could have happened/how to prevent it. If it were a pike it must have been 2 big boys that inhaled the rig but the odds of that are slim to none. 

[tkunk]

In my experience, pike really seem to like big skirted jigs with plastic trailers.  Even small pike will inhale them.  I don't know if using a heavy (50+ lb) fluoro leader will mess things up, but you might want to try one.

Also, I don't know if you're using the Palomar knot, but when you use heavy lures, the tag end can slip through the knot, so you need to leave a much longer tag end than you normally would.

 

[Gundog]

65# braid shouldn't break that easy, even with pike. I've brought in big pike on 30# braid. If you are concerned I'd try a wire leader. Something flexible but strong. 

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, GORDO said:

Could it have been 2 northerns in a matter of 50 yards?

Yeah.  I have a spot where there may be 50 or more at once, and it's maybe 50' x 50'.  They stack up, and feed aggressively. 

Just now, Gundog said:

65# braid shouldn't break that easy, even with pike.

Not my experience.  I actually break off less using copoly, like CXX than with braid.  It's also different per bait.  With a jig or a T-rig, they are suck the hole bait in.  You're more likely to get bit off on that, than say a big spinnerbait or other moving bait.

[Gundog]

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Yeah.  I have a spot where there may be 50 or more at once, and it's maybe 50' x 50'.  They stack up, and feed aggressively. 

It could even be the same dang pike. I've caught the same pike 3x in the same place. One thing I want to add, OP try adding a little bit of glue on your knot and see if that doesn't help. I do it with my braid knots and it works good. 

[J Francho]

In my spot, they aren't the same...I generally catch 4-5, and leave the spot alone for the day.  There's another spot where hundreds of them sit in the shallows, waiting for the DEC to dump the trout fingerlings, lol.  It's pretty awesome, and creepy at the same time.

Most are around 8-10 lbs.

Get some Cortland Toothy Critter knotable fly leader.  It works well with jigs and T-rigs, and doesn't seem to repel bass.

[GORDO]

18 minutes ago, Gundog said:

OP try adding a little bit of glue on your knot and see if that doesn't help.

That is an excellent idea! Ill start carrying some super glue in my bag!

 

31 minutes ago, portiabrat said:

Also, I don't know if you're using the Palomar knot, but when you use heavy lures, the tag end can slip through the knot, so you need to leave a much longer tag end than you normally would.

Yes im using the Palomar knot, I usually leave about half an inch of the tag end on them already! 

 

23 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Yeah.  I have a spot where there may be 50 or more at once, and it's maybe 50' x 50'.  They stack up, and feed aggressively. 

Makes sense seeming as this lake is known for big pike but they arent very common. Ive caught a handful of ones that are under 5lbs, most of the ones I have caught in there are 10-25lbs.

I will try some heavy CXX I have a spare spool of 20lb in my bag right now actually. I know that line is tough as nails.