Hook set problems with Senko

[K1500]

I'm having a bit of trouble lately making a hook stick with a weightless senko. Fishing a 4/0 EWG hook, point is not buried, but is lying flush with and parallel to the worm. They hit and some even feel as if they are on, but they spit the hook after a second. I am using a medium action spinning rod with 12 pound mono. It seems to have plenty of backbone for normal hook sets. I am wondering if they may have just been holding on to the tail of the worm and no hook set would work. Thoughts?

[Mike L]

Sure that's possible. 

Maybe even probable. 

But if you're making looong cast's it's also possible you're not able to get a good set because of the mono. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[12poundbass]

I vote bluegill checking it out.

[Derek1]

That’s two for blue gill grabbing the back end. 

[Fishingmickey]

Three for tail grabbers.

 

[GreenPig]

Probably bream. If you're experiencing this on long cast give braid to a leader a shot. It'll get rid of all that stretch. 

[Heartland]

3 hours ago, K1500 said:

I'm having a bit of trouble lately making a hook stick with a weightless senko. Fishing a 4/0 EWG hook, point is not buried, but is lying flush with and parallel to the worm. They hit and some even feel as if they are on, but they spit the hook after a second. I am using a medium action spinning rod with 12 pound mono. It seems to have plenty of backbone for normal hook sets. I am wondering if they may have just been holding on to the tail of the worm and no hook set would work. Thoughts?

Medium is a power, actions are typically moderate, moderate fast, fast and extra fast.  It is very important to know and understand the difference between these two terms, they are not interchangeable.    A 5" senko weights around 3/8ths of an ounce.  A medium power rod depending on brand an model may be fine for this application, I would generally recommend at least a fast action.   I prefer to fish 3/8th oz baits and up on a Medium Heavy Power - fast action rod at least 7ft in length.  A good quality copolymer fishing line may also help with reducing some of the stretch you are most likely experiencing with 12-pound mono.     Could be small fish, or complications from lack of hook setting power.

[LxVE Bassin]

If the bites vibrate rapidly it’s bluegill. I personally miss a lot of fish with EWG hooks, switch to a 3/0 or 4/0 offset round hook and I guarantee you will have better hookups. Some love EWGs but I can’t catch a cold with them.

[CrankFate]

Could also be rock bass. They can be like overly aggressive bluegills at times and feel like bass that can’t be hooked.

[Hower08]

Are you fishing a superliner hook or just a regular ewg. A superliner hook is a lot heavier Guage of steel and takes alot more nuts to drive that hook home. Any time I fish a worm in lighter tackle I try to use a standard hook instead of a superliner hook, same goes for thin hooks on big heavy tackle. They just bend out and rip out of the fishes mouth.  

 

I would agree bluegills are often trying g to eat soft plastics 

[K1500]

More info...there were two of us with identical 7' medium power/fast action Shimano Exage spinning rods. The hits were a fairly rapid Tap/Tap. Most were fairly close in, some near my feet. A couple of times the bass up was either turned or pulled/leapt out of the water. We were both having hook set issues. They were regular H2O express (academy brand) EWG's.  I switched to wacky at the end and hooked up in the first strike. We probably missed 7-10 and landed only two when rigged weightless Texas style. I think I'll give the offset round hooks a try. 

[Glaucus]

2 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

If the bites vibrate rapidly it’s bluegill. I personally miss a lot of fish with EWG hooks, switch to a 3/0 or 4/0 offset round hook and I guarantee you will have better hookups. Some love EWGs but I can’t catch a cold with them.

Count me as an EWG fanboy who can't believe people miss fish on them. Goes to show how personal fishing is, and how different people are. I even fish EWG with skinny baits like trick worms.

[Bluebasser86]

Look for scratches on fresh plastics. A new bait will show scratches from being bit after a missed hookset if it's a bass. Sunfish and bluegills don't cause any unless they're really large ones and then it's usually only the very end of the bait. 

[TOXIC]

You've been given all the options on what could be wrong and I agree it could be any number of reasons.  There's a way to eliminate at least 1 that can be done with the setup you are fishing.  With 12lb mono (much heavier than I would throw) there's no reason not to reel down and whip set that hook like you are trying to cross their eyes!!  You are not going to break your line on the setup you have.  99% of the time I T-rig my Senko's with a 4.0 Gamakatsu EWG hook (not Superline) and I have no problems setting the hook on 6-8lb test mono.  All that being said, with the description you gave, my vote goes to the bites being Bluegills or some other small fish.  You might also try delaying your hookset until the Senko actually moves instead of when it gets bit.  

[Choporoz]

7 hours ago, K1500 said:

The hits were a fairly rapid Tap/Tap. 

Textbook bluegill 

[Lead Head]

Lol... good ol' bluegill and the "machine gun" hit. When I know they are in the area and harassing my bait I usually do a pretty good job of laying off, but if those little buggers start picking up and actually moving my bait I can't take it... have snatched a few rigs right back at myself and had to Matrix dodge them.

[Paul Roberts]

Ditto above ideas. A bass worth catching should be able to take that hook in.

 

I actually have the opposite problem, bass taking stick-worms too deep. Since bass often hold onto a soft plastic, esp a stick-worm, I'll "weigh the line", if I'm not sure whether the fish has it or not. This means bringing some tension on the line, to assess whether it is indeed a bass, rather than a panfish, small bass, or weed. This is about the only area I want a soft-tipped rod, which allows me to pull into a fish gently, although it can be done with any good sensitive rod. The most sensitive way to do this is, though, is fore-going the rod altogether and holding the line in your fingers. But, I don't wait too long or I may have an esophagus-hooked fish.

 

Other thoughts:

-Your "M" power rod may be a tad weak, for a 4/0 hook, esp if it is of heavy wire, and esp if its dull. Is that hook sharp? It should stick instantly into your thumbnail, not slide across it. If you are able to get away with a M power rod, then you may not need the big 4/0 T-rigged, even Texposed. Either go to a lighter wire hook, or, go wacky, with a 1 or 1/0 wacky hook.

 

-Are you by any chance fishing on a very short line, with the fish very close to you? The bass needs to have time to inhale the hook, then clamp down on it. This is not something we tend to notice at any distance, since it's done by the time our rod hand gets the signal. But, on a very short line I've found it's easy to pluck the bait from their mouth.

 

 

[K1500]

Thanks for all who took time to reply, I appreciate it. I am soaking it all in and learning a lot. I am new to fishing Senkos and in my very limited use of them with the same setup I have not had the hookup problems I had this past weekend. I may indeed have been setting too rapidly on short line and plucking the bait from their mouth. 

 

I will give some of the suggestions a try, but I am guessing it may be a combination of things, not the least of which are bluegills. I may have to get a bobber and some red worms to verify the bluegill content of the pond!

[Sherlock 60]

On 4/3/2019 at 5:22 PM, GreenPig said:

Probably bream. If you're experiencing this on long cast give braid to a leader a shot. It'll get rid of all that stretch. 

Agreed. 

[KayakFish107]

On 4/3/2019 at 9:16 PM, CrankFate said:

Could also be rock bass. They can be like overly aggressive bluegills at times and feel like bass that can’t be hooked.

I have problems with those around me. On one lake they love to try to slurp in a frog. Here’s one that choked down a live target. Crazy!

 

[J Francho]

On 4/3/2019 at 11:39 PM, K1500 said:

The hits were a fairly rapid Tap/Tap.

Blue Gill.

[K1500]

Thanks again to all who responded I went out with the identical setup and caught several this weekend no problem. I will chalk it up to bluegills. 

[CrankFate]

6 hours ago, KayakFish107 said:

I have problems with those around me. On one lake they love to try to slurp in a frog. Here’s one that choked down a live target. Crazy!

 

 

Around here they like anything shiny.

[Josh Gann]

Sometimes tho that rapid peck peck peck is a big girl. Yes a lot of the time it's bluegill, but unless I know for sure fact that it's a bluegill I set the hook every time. Sometimes that bluegill peck ends up being a 4 lber

 

[Allen Der]

just wacky rig it instead