Worst hooksets?

[Ratherbfishing]

As A Jay mentioned, lipless crankbaits with stock hooks are rather frustrating.  I either widen the gap on these with pliers or replace them with one or two sizes larger-especially the back hooks.

[frogflogger]

I fished frogs almost exclusively for five years in the glades and had good hook up success. Once I quit using too stiff of a rod. I use an old daiwa l&t frog rod that has flex and power. I keep the rod tip low and don't count, after a bit of experience you know when they have the frog and it is usually sooner than you think. I keep grinding at the hookset and don't let up. I never have seen the need to bend hooks up but many claim it helps. I always use a sideways hookset keeping the rod tip low. It took a while to figure this out but my partner and I had many days of rarely missing a strike. I still fish frogs up here in the hills where I miss more spotted bass strikes than I care to admit but I'll just call them small.

[txchaser]

Frogs for me too, but I had a bad habit of either not reeling the slack all the way out or dropping the tip just a little before the hookset. Both had the same effect, no fish. 

[billmac]

Not an experienced frog fisherman.  What's causing the bad hookups?  Are they not taking it all the way in?  

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, billmac said:

Not an experienced frog fisherman.  What's causing the bad hookups?  Are they not taking it all the way in?  

I think it’s Murphy’s law. I had a bucket mouth this summer jumping all around the boat and finally came off. Turns out the barbs had rusted off the frog hooks! And when you throw one around lily pads down in the Deep South? It’s destined for heartbreak. The biggest one in there will eat it, wrap around the pad stem, and stick your hooks into it and be free. Seems like a worm puts more in the boat but you can sure locate them blowing up a frog 

[Paul Roberts]

On 2/10/2020 at 10:18 AM, Jermination said:

not sure if it's necessarily the hookset, but i lose more fish on lipless than everything else combined that i throw.

 

my guess would be if you're having a tough time getting a good hook with a chatterbait step up a notch in rod power, should throw them on at least a MH to drive that big hook home & keep em buttoned

I like this answer. Lots in there to think about.

 

Agree with the chance for fish coming unpinned with lipless cranks. They are heavy and easy for fish to throw. I like a powerful rod that will keep that line tight.

 

I used to fish barbless hooks on my crankbaits, without complaints -(except with jumpers). Have gone to micro-barbs since and learned more about unhooking. Anyway, I found that I lost more fish on softer rods with barbless hooks. Realized the only way to keep them pinned was keeping the line tight at all moments. Too soft a rod allowed moments, esp on headshakes, when they'd easily spit the hook. Power is required. (Barbless hooks and lipless cranks, like jigs, is a losing combination.)

 

Agreed about rod power being a primary consideration. The bigger the hook, the heavier the bait, the more power needed to both set and keep buttoned.

 

If you aren't getting hooks in, beyond hook sharpness, rod power is worth looking at.

[txchaser]

Anyone tried the savage gear hooks that use a braid attachment instead of a metal eye? 

[Bass Ninja]

On 2/11/2020 at 11:12 AM, Jaderose said:

I kinda figured the answer would be frogs/toads.  People get all hung up on "you gotta wait this much time", etc.  Frogging is, to me, more about practice, experience, and "feel" than anything else.  It breaks my heart when I see people giving up on frogging because of the terrible hook up rate.  I have spent hour after hour after hour after hour doing nothing but and I have gotten pretty darn good at it.  My hook up rate at the height of the season is somewhere around 90-95%.  It's that 5-10% miss rate that keeps me doing it...that, and the fact that it is by far the most excitement this old feller can have with a rod in his hand.  I love it. 

Almost the same for me. A friend got me addicted to frog fishing, so now when I go out, 70% of the time I'm throwing a frog, 25% its a chatterbait, and the last 5% whatever else I think might work. What changed for me was seeing a video of some underwater footage showing that a lot of bass slap the frog underwater first, trying to stun it, and then turn and take it in their mouth. I missed a lot of fish till I learned that. Like other have mentioned, waiting for the right time to set the hook was big, but just as big is getting that feel for when is the right time when the bass gets the frog its mouth. I've noticed that pretty much every fish will require a slightly different length of time...its just about getting that feel for what is happening on the end of the line, making sure the fish has it, and then crossing their eyes. It seems to me that when a frog is sitting still, bigger bass over 3 lbs tend to just come under and suck it in. If its on the move, or a smaller bass, it usually slaps it beneath the surface and then bites. I hardly ever fish standing in my kayak, and setting the hook over my head or sideways doesn't seem to make a difference.

[Glenn]

I rarely miss fish on frogs and toads.  Took me awhile to re-train myself on hooksets in order to improve, because it's easier said than done.  But you really have to ignore the strike, and instead do nothing until you feel the fish TUGGING on your line.  THEN lay into 'em!

 

Here's my frog fishing video where's there's several catches caught on film.  The link starts the video at one of the catches. You can see how long I wait after the strike until I set the hook.  I then go into more detail about the hookset, because you're dealing with thick, heavy hooks.

 

 

 

 

[Jaderose]

1 hour ago, Bass Ninja said:

Almost the same for me. A friend got me addicted to frog fishing, so now when I go out, 70% of the time I'm throwing a frog, 25% its a chatterbait, and the last 5% whatever else I think might work. What changed for me was seeing a video of some underwater footage showing that a lot of bass slap the frog underwater first, trying to stun it, and then turn and take it in their mouth. I missed a lot of fish till I learned that. Like other have mentioned, waiting for the right time to set the hook was big, but just as big is getting that feel for when is the right time when the bass gets the frog its mouth. I've noticed that pretty much every fish will require a slightly different length of time...its just about getting that feel for what is happening on the end of the line, making sure the fish has it, and then crossing their eyes. It seems to me that when a frog is sitting still, bigger bass over 3 lbs tend to just come under and suck it in. If its on the move, or a smaller bass, it usually slaps it beneath the surface and then bites. I hardly ever fish standing in my kayak, and setting the hook over my head or sideways doesn't seem to make a difference.

Exactly.  I can't count the number of times I've had bass knock my frog 3 or 4 feet in the air because they were slapping at it.  PLUS, the muck mats I fish are heavy and thick so there is basically no way the frog can actually be seen.  They are guessing based on vibration.  If you set the hook on every explosion you will miss pretty much most of them AND now your frog is gone.  When they slap or blow up and miss, your frog needs to still be there.  Couple of *Pop...pop's* later and it's game on.  They are dialed in and will inhale your frog.  Cross their eyes and get them outta there...FAST

[the reel ess]

On 2/10/2020 at 12:02 PM, billmac said:

In your experience, which baits are the most difficult to get a good, consistent hookset with?

I'm guessing for many, the answer will be with jigs.  That isn't my experience but that's more to do with the fact that I don't use jigs much.

I only started fishing chatterbaits last year, but I had quite a bit of difficulty getting a good hookset with them.

I agree with both of these. To get better at the jig I decided to put one on a dedicated rod and use it every time out. If you're thinking it will be like a T rigged worm with an offset shank worm hook, you're wrong. That's a thick gauge hook with a fiber weedguard in front that you really have to drive home hard as well as a soft plastic that can foul the hook points. Many times I've tried to set the hook on a smaller fish only to have it spit the bait. Thankfully, bigger bass are easier to set it on because they offer good resistance. Basically, it's the same with the chatterbait. I even sharpened my point and still missed a bunch.

 

The frog is one that has a low hookup rate. But that's because the fish don't get the hooks in the mouth as often and you have to compress the bait to expose them. You need to feel that fish's weight before you set. When they do get the hooks, if you don't turn them towards you they have a tendency to leverage the frog out in the weeds. If you'll take some pliers and bend the hook poits out just a tad, so that they're not touching the plastic body, you'll hook more bass. A HVY-F or MF longer rod will help out a lot with any of these.