Losing fish when they jump

[Brad in Texas]

5 hours ago, Glaucus said:

I was taught to stop horsing them in with trebles once you know they're gonna jump. Works for me. Lost fewer fish.

That's the main lesson here . . . that different things work for different people.

 

Setting the hook is yet another example. I was watching a video of Gary Yamamoto of Senko fame and he mentioned that he has gone almost entirely to spinning gear nowadays, uses a firm but not too hard sweep hook set. Others do well with other gear, other variations. The results are often similar.

 

If there is such a thing as having a "confidence bait," there certainly are also "confidence techniques" we favor regardless of any text book answers.

 

Brad

[Ksam1234]

I try to prevent the jump in the first place if able. If I feel the fish heading up I’ll take my rod and sweep down and even into the water and try to to pull it’s head back down. Obviously if your 30-50 yards out then you can’t really control that much. Just pray.. give little slack and be ready to take tension again after the fish goes back in. 

[Koz]

On 8/2/2018 at 5:15 PM, Jonny15678 said:

The past couple times I've had a fish i've lost them when they jump out of the water. Is there anyway to prevent this?

 

Thank you for spelling "losing" correctly. My faith in humanity is restored.

[CrankFate]

23 hours ago, Scott F said:

I can see from your post you don't fish for smallmouth. I'm not sure how the fish would know how stiff your fishing rod is or how your drag is set. A jumping bass is trying to shake the hook that is in his mouth. If he wants to jump to get rid of it, you can't stop him unless he is very close to the boat and there isn't much line out.  I had someone else here say you could keep a bass from jumping but with a smallmouth caught in a shallow stream or river at a long distance, they often don't have any other place to go but up. If you can keep the line tight even in the jump, they may not be able to shake the lure loose. If they throw your bait, smile, and go back and catch another one.

I have only caught a handful of small mouths in my life. Only one was intentionally. Literally one. And I located, but never caught, more smallmouths than any other fish in the water. If your rod is soft and the drag slips, they won’t break the surface. The tension on the line, drag and rod gives them the leverage to break the surface. Fishing style has a lot to do with it. I consciously keep the fish from breaking water. It’s easier to do when there is less backbone in the rod. But I never caught a smallmouth on a long cast in very shallow water. And I see how that would make getting airborne easier.

[Black Hawk Basser]

Only thing I'd add is that if there is a significant hole torn in the fish's mouth where the hook is, it's probably all left to chance if it throws the bait or not.

[Bankbeater]

Keep your line tight and watch it.  If the line starts coming up toward the surface fast then chances are the bass is going to jump.  When I see this happen I lower the rod tip and pull back on the rod.  I'm trying to slow the bass down, or turn him so it can't jump not reset the hook.

[Sam]

Glad you joined the club, Johnny.

 

It happens to us all.

 

Keep rod tip in water to help stop jumping.

 

No slack, ever, in the line.

[LxVE Bassin]

Just try to keep the pressure on them with the rod tip down to “minimize” the amount of bass you use. Bass jump and shake their heads when hooked. Ur gonna lose jumpers and non jumpers, just part of the game.