My hook up ratio sucks

[12poundbass]

Today I went out for a few hours on our lake. I decided to try a new set up I haven’t really given much attention in the past. I had a bites and had three largemouth and one decent rock bass on. Only one I was able to hook good to where I had to take it off the hook. The others let go at the boat or came unhooked at the boat, pretty frustrating. 
 

My rig was a simple weighted Texas rig. I had a 3/0 EWG, 1/4oz bullet weight pegged at the hook, and I was switching between a Missile Baits D-Bomb, Rage craw, and a Rage bug. I lost a bass on all three and the D-Bomb was the only one I was able to land a bass on. 
 

I will add almost all our bass are post spawn (I did see a few small ones on beds), and we have had a MAJOR cold front come in. We’re on day two or three of temps 20-30* colder than they were, blue bird skies, and very very windy. 
 

So what say you Bassresource? Is the hook up ratio normal for this rig, is it the cold front, post spawn, should I slide the weight up? 

[ISuckAtBassFishingBoise]

what brand of hooks?

[MN Fisher]

Okay - I gotta ask.

 

Was the hook sharp according to the fingernail test?

[12poundbass]

Brand new Gamakatu. 

[RoLo]

 

You might give the ‘Mustad Grip-pin Big Bite Hook’ a try. It's not as radical as an EWG bend,

instead it has a moderate shank-offset and round-bend hook.

In addition, the point isn't aiming at the line-eyelet, and although the grip-pin isn't large,

it has remarkable gripping power. In overview, the Mustad grip-pin hook

is midway between an offset-shank and straight-shank hook, and works 'real' well. 

 

Roger

 

[Mike L]

2 of the 3 plastic’s you used are always in my rotation year round, regardless of conditions in and around grass and submerged structure. 
 

However, I always use a 4/0 ewg hook with them. 
If you’re confident in your hook setting and have sharp hooks, I suggest you increase your hook size. 
 

You may be surprised. 

 

 

Mike

 

[12poundbass]

2 minutes ago, Mike L said:

2 of the 3 plastic’s you used are always in my rotation year round, regardless of conditions in and around grass and submerged structure. 
 

However, I always use a 4/0 ewg hook with them. 
If you’re confident in your hook setting and have sharp hooks, I suggest you increase your hook size. 
 

You may be surprised. 

 

 

Mike

 

I usually only use 4/0 and I have several, but tied on the 3/0. I’ll switch and see if that does the trick. 

[Mjmj]

Try movi g your bobber stop about 1/2" away from the weight. That should help

[12poundbass]

5 minutes ago, Mjmj said:

Try movi g your bobber stop about 1/2" away from the weight. That should help

I did do that a few times. I can’t be certain that the problem occurred while it was moved up. 

[A-Jay]

Use the 4/0

Also if the bait is balling up on the hook,

add a Parasite Clip

Or even a Parasite weight 

A-Jay

 

http://parasiteweights.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=30&osCsid=heuigpglumupstl65rp6jg3uu0

 

[NYWayfarer]

Cold front here as well. Was the fish you landed warm? Mine were as the water temps were not overly effected by the temp change.

 

As far as the hook up ratio sucking all I can say is Mama said there’d be days like this.

 

I had 5 fish hit the Whopper Plopper today. I was only able to land 2. I had most 3 quarters of the way to the bank before they came off. Heartbreaker but it happens. 

[12poundbass]

18 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Cold front here as well. Was the fish you landed warm? Mine were as the water temps were not overly effected by the temp change.

 

As far as the hook up ratio sucking all I can say is Mama said there’d be days like this.

 

I had 5 fish hit the Whopper Plopper today. I was only able to land 2. I had most 3 quarters of the way to the bank before they came off. Heartbreaker but it happens. 

The water temps were 10-15* cooler. Our overnight lows dipped into the upper 40’s the past couple nights, and highs were in the mid 60’s compared to 93 only a couple days ago. 

28 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Use the 4/0

Also if the bait is balling up on the hook,

add a Parasite Clip

Or even a Parasite weight 

A-Jay

 

http://parasiteweights.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=30&osCsid=heuigpglumupstl65rp6jg3uu0

 

I didn’t have much of an issue with the Rage baits. The D-bomb, that was a different story. I’m going to give these a shot, thanks! 

[scaleface]

I like to use a regular offset hook and I run it all the way through the worm to create a channel , then back it inside . I have a decent hook up ratio with Texas rigs .

[jbrew73]

ewg hooks suck.   Regular round bends hook up almost 100% for me. Maybe 95

 

maybe it’s my hookset style but ewg just don’t work for me.

[12poundbass]

10 minutes ago, jbrew73 said:

ewg hooks suck.   Regular round bends hook up almost 100% for me. Maybe 95

 

maybe it’s my hookset style but ewg just don’t work for me.

I’ve never had issues with EWG, to each their own I guess. 

[A-Jay]

36 minutes ago, jbrew73 said:

ewg hooks suck.   Regular round bends hook up almost 100% for me. Maybe 95

 

maybe it’s my hookset style but ewg just don’t work for me.

Round bend hooks suck.

EWG hook up almost 100% for me.  

Maybe 95

Round bends just don't work for me.

A-Jay 

[OkobojiEagle]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Round bend hooks suck.

EWG hook up almost 100% for me.  

Maybe 95

Round bends just don't work for me.

A-Jay 

Do you fish EWG hooks direct from package, or do you open the hook gap very, very slightly?

 

oe

[Heartland]

Tell us about your setup, rod power, action and length.  What line are you using type and test.  It is possible that you are just not getting a good hookset.

[dodgeguy]

i use ewg and dont have issues. check the hook point maybe its bent over slightly. i also dont peg my weights.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Do you fish EWG hooks direct from package, or do you open the hook gap very, very slightly?

 

oe

While I will admit to opening up a few on the rarest of occasions, 

 the vast majority are fished as they come. 

A-Jay

[Catt]

11 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

You might give the ‘Mustad Grip-pin Big Bite Hook’ a try. It's not as radical as an EWG bend,

instead it has a moderate shank-offset and round-bend hook.

In addition, the point isn't aiming at the line-eyelet, and although the grip-pin isn't large,

it has remarkable gripping power. In overview, the Mustad grip-pin hook

is midway between an offset-shank and straight-shank hook, and works 'real' well. 

 

Roger

 

 

 

[Ogandrews]

I also was throwing a d bomb and a rage bug, mostly on a 4/0 Gamakatsu superline ewg. with a 1oz pegged tungsten weight punching through the heaviest weeds I could find. Fishing it on a dobyns 766 with straight 65lbs braid. Had an almost 100% hookup to land ratio with over 20 fish caught with that setup. I always seem to have a better ratio when flipping with a 4/0 instead of a 3/0, doesn’t seem like a big difference in size but I’ve seen it make a difference. Same conditions here yesterday, 20+ degrees colder, 20-30mph winds and water temps dropped about 8 degrees. What rod/line were you throwing it on? My hookup to land ratio skyrocketed back when I switched from floro to braid/braid to leader.

[smalljaw67]

Based on the info it may not have been the hooks or equipment at all. There is a good possibility they weren't engulfing the bait, we call it lipping. They aren't sucking or inhaling it, instead they are going down and picking the bait up so it is just across their lips. Switching out to a larger hook when they do that really doesn't help, we found downsizing the bait with lighter weights gives a little better hook up percentage. In my waters you can tell when they get like that because the bite isn't hard and sometimes it is just the line moving. When fishing a T rigged sweet beaver you either miss the hook set or you "skin" hook the fish, just barely on. Once you get a few bites like that we will switch to a smallie beaver or a 6" straight tail worm and if they hit it they usually get hooked, not 100% but much better. The only problem is they don't always take the smaller offerings when they get like that so it isn't foolproof. 

[BassNJake]

Stop horsing the fish in tough guy?

 

You said it was a new set up: is it stout enough to get good hooksets with a texas rig?

Did you reel down and feel the fish before swinging? What about your line?

Were the appendages ripped off like they didn't get it all the way?

If the bait wasn't balled up near the bend, my guess would be hook penetration.

Either they didn't get it or you didn't get them

 

 

[12poundbass]

So my wife and son replaced my Kastking rod that broke about a month ago with a 7’6” HF Lightning rod (father’s day gift early) 20lb braid and the hooks and lures previously mentioned. Maybe there’s too much backbone? I figured the fast tip would help with that. No appendages were ripped off. 

1 hour ago, smalljaw67 said:

Based on the info it may not have been the hooks or equipment at all. There is a good possibility they weren't engulfing the bait, we call it lipping. They aren't sucking or inhaling it, instead they are going down and picking the bait up so it is just across their lips. Switching out to a larger hook when they do that really doesn't help, we found downsizing the bait with lighter weights gives a little better hook up percentage. In my waters you can tell when they get like that because the bite isn't hard and sometimes it is just the line moving. When fishing a T rigged sweet beaver you either miss the hook set or you "skin" hook the fish, just barely on. Once you get a few bites like that we will switch to a smallie beaver or a 6" straight tail worm and if they hit it they usually get hooked, not 100% but much better. The only problem is they don't always take the smaller offerings when they get like that so it isn't foolproof. 

Now that you mention it, I did see a fish (couldn’t tell what it was) pick up my bait and move it, but never really committed to engulfing it. I didn’t see a bed, but the water is pretty stained. My son was throwing a blades jig and lost a few as well. The one I did bring in the boat was barely hooked in the lip, so it’s quite possible they just didn’t want to commit. 
 

I’m still going to go to a 4/0 hook.