Somebody School Me - Catching Big Bass

[Fishingmickey]

X2 with Catt's suggestion. Old school straight shank round bend worm hook. 3/0 or 4/0 Gamakatsu for the 5-7" worm and 5/0-7/0 for 9" worms and up. The majority of the hook-ups with a round bend straight shank are usually through the roof of the mouth.   I also use the EWG hooks when Texas rigging too. I do prefer the standard EWG over the superline for weightless plastic fishing (fluke, swimbait or Senko).  I'd almost betcha you'll get the next one to hand!

Fishingmickey

[WRB]

The title could be school me hook setting T-rigged soft plastics.

Gamakatsu hooks are sharp but they a wide variety of soft plastic hook types. What 3/0 hook? 

Bullet weight? Sliding or pegged? Size and metal type?

Line used, lb test and type?

Weedless worm with or without the hook point exposed or skin hooked? What worm?

 The advantage of a sliding weight Texas rigged worm is bass often continue eating it if they move with it. After detecting a strike Timing the hook set is important.

Big bass have strong jaws and thick lips along a big mouth to engulf the prey and kill it. If the weight is inside that big closed mouth and thick lips the hook point must find soft tissue to penetrate when you try to move it. If the+hook point is covered with plastic no hook set.

If the worm head slides down the hook shaft filling the hook gap with plastic, no hook set.

If the weight is up against and behind those thick lips and the hook is against the weight, no hook movement no hook set.

If the hook is in the basses crunchers and the+point can contact tissue, good hook set.

Tom

[NoShoes]

3/0 is plenty big enough to hook anything you want. EWG works fine too. I’d look at your hook set. Sounds like you aren’t setting well if the hook ain’t breaking the plastic. Could try texposing the hook too. 

[Catt]

Not gonna say my hookup percentage is higher with straight shank hooks but I will tell 98% are stuck in the roof of the mouth.

[T-Billy]

Two lost PB's in a month. That's rough. I feel for ya brother.

 

I've completely gone away from EWG's. I'm using either straight shanks, or 30 degree wide gaps with a screw lock these days. Both give me better hookups and fewer lost fish than EWG's. OMMV. Try 'em all and see what works best for you. 

[lo n slo]

4 hours ago, gunsinger said:

They are not.  It's like it just doesn't penetrate enough.

I hooked and caught 7 others yesterday and the same setup.  Now, I will admit, when I saw how big this girl was my eyes got big and my level of excitement escalated so I cannot say I didn't do anything different from what I normally do.  I probably tried too hard to overpower her.  If I'd have just played it cool...no big deal....maybe the result would have been different.

Oh I absolutely will.  ?

It was a 6" Culprit Fire 'n Ice worm on a 3/0 EWG hook.  I think I probably double set out of fear.  I never do that on smaller fish.

dump the EWG hooks brother ?

[gunsinger]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

The title could be school me hook setting T-rigged soft plastics.

Gamakatsu hooks are sharp but they a wide variety of soft plastic hook types. What 3/0 hook? 

Bullet weight? Sliding or pegged? Size and metal type?

Line used, lb test and type?

Weedless worm with or without the hook point exposed or skin hooked? What worm?

 The advantage of a sliding weight Texas rigged worm is bass often continue eating it if they move with it. After detecting a strike Timing the hook set is important.

Big bass have strong jaws and thick lips along a big mouth to engulf the prey and kill it. If the weight is inside that big closed mouth and thick lips the hook point must find soft tissue to penetrate when you try to move it. If the+hook point is covered with plastic no hook set.

If the worm head slides down the hook shaft filling the hook gap with plastic, no hook set.

If the weight is up against and behind those thick lips and the hook is against the weight, no hook movement no hook set.

If the hook is in the basses crunchers and the+point can contact tissue, good hook set.

Tom

Gamamatsu 3/0 EWG hooks.

sliding lead bullet weight, 3/16

15lb flourocarbon, Seaguar red label

culprit 6” curly tail worm, barely skin hooked

When I retrieved the bait it was free of the hook with the top of the worm still on the eye of the hook. I was about 15’ from the exposed structure when I felt the telltale thump.  I waited for a second thump as I reeled down leaving just a little slack. When the second thump came I set as hard as I could.  I kept steady pressure and got her out from under the log. She started swimming to the right and coming to the surface. That’s when I saw her.  I just said, “Oh my God!”  
That where I made my mistake. When I saw how big she was, I dropped my rod tip slightly and set the hook again. I think that brief slack allowed her to spit the hook. I should have just kept tension on the line and took my chances. 

All I could think was, “I don’t want to lose this one.”  And proceeded to forget everything I ever knew about landing a fish. 
 

Thanks for the questions and feedback @WRB

 

[papajoe222]

Of everything you listed, equipment wise, the only thing I might change is your line choice, but only if you're making long casts. Braid may not be the answer, but something with a little less stretch would be my recommendation.

On the bright side, if you've hooked and lost two fish in a month that woulda been your PB, you're doing something right.  Keep at it.

[gunsinger]

50 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Of everything you listed, equipment wise, the only thing I might change is your line choice, but only if you're making long casts. Braid may not be the answer, but something with a little less stretch would be my recommendation.

On the bright side, if you've hooked and lost two fish in a month that woulda been your PB, you're doing something right.  Keep at it.

What braid do you recommend for worm fishing? Brand, color, lbs?

[jimmyjoe]

13 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

the 3/0 was just too small to get good penetration on a bigger fish.

 

    Use the biggest hook you can fit to the bait without ruining its action, and swing for the fences!   

      https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Hayabusa_WRM957_Offset_Shank_Hooks/descpage-HFOS.html

 

  jj

[Koz]

12 hours ago, A-Jay said:

When I am specifically targeting plus size bass, I prefer to take my tackle right up to and perhaps even past "Overkill".  Meaning I am going Stout; especially when it comes to terminal tackle.

That's one of the reasons why I prefer to fish with 40 pound (or sometimes 30) braid. I also have more confidence throwing braid, and that's part of the battle when you hook into a decent sized fish.

 

As for the OP asking about hook size, I've caught 6+ pound bass on tiny beetlespin hooks. I would also assume that a bigger fish can generate more power to try and shake a hook. And as the OP later mentioned, slack in the line is deadly when it comes to bigger fish.

[WRB]

You all need to understand something about bass anomaly.

LMB head is about 1/3 rd it’s length and the mouth makes up a major area of the head. 

When the LMB mouth is closed very little void space exists, it’s filled with the tongue. The mouth is slightly opened to allow water to flow though the gills to aerate the blood.

When eating prey the LMB engulfs it’s prey by opening=the big mouth and flushing water out the gills sucking in the prey. 

the next thing that happens is the bass closes it’s mouth and kills the prey by squeezing it between tongue and roof of it’s mouth filled with teeth like Cartledge. This is that tape you feel. The prey is engulfed inside the mouth and the moment you need to set the hook. 

If you wait 2 things can happen very fast, the bass rejects the prey or eats it. Your timing determines what happens nest. 

How you rig your soft plastics determine if the hook point finds tissue or is rejected when the bass opens it’s big mouth.

EWG hooks are like a cam and rptendcto flatten sideways in the basses closed mouth, not a high % hook set. If the worm slides downd the hook slides down the shank covering  it  point point, no chance to find tissue. 

Use hooks that prevent slippage or peg thexsoft plastic to the hook eye, springs work, heavy nylon line works, Peg-It II works. The hook gap needs to be at least 2X the worm diameter.

Tom

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with your gear to me. I use EWG worm hooks for most of my T-rigs and I do okay. Never, under any circumstances, double hookset. Even if you think you got a bad hookset, just keep the line tight and keep reeling. If you have sharp hooks, they'll keep digging without any extra hooksets. 

 

I think a lot of big fish are lost due to fighting technique and the angler panicking during the fight. Guys like @A-Jay and @WRB that have caught countless big fish, I promise you remain calm throughout the fight, even with very large fish. Unfortunately, this is a learned skill that only comes with catching big fish. I use to panic when a 5lb fish hit the surface. Now, a big fish shows itself and I go through my process and land the fish like any other fish.

 

 Guys who land those big ones also have a plan BEFORE they hook them. Once a big fish is on is not the time to realize your net is in the rod locker, there's rods all over the deck in your way, or you haven't retied all day and have no idea what condition your line is in. In thick cover, you have to have a game plan on where you're going to try to work a fish to in an attempt to keep it from getting back to the nasty stuff.

 

Do all that, and you're still going to lose big fish, it's just part of it. 

[scaleface]

8 hours ago, gunsinger said:

I was about 15’ from the exposed structure when I felt the telltale thump.  I waited for a second thump as I reeled down leaving just a little slack.

Dont wait for  a second tap . 

[NoShoes]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with your gear to me. I use EWG worm hooks for most of my T-rigs and I do okay. Never, under any circumstances, double hookset. Even if you think you got a bad hookset, just keep the line tight and keep reeling. If you have sharp hooks, they'll keep digging without any extra hooksets. 

 

I think a lot of big fish are lost due to fighting technique and the angler panicking during the fight. Guys like @A-Jay and @WRB that have caught countless big fish, I promise you remain calm throughout the fight, even with very large fish. Unfortunately, this is a learned skill that only comes with catching big fish. I use to panic when a 5lb fish hit the surface. Now, a big fish shows itself and I go through my process and land the fish like any other fish.

 

 Guys who land those big ones also have a plan BEFORE they hook them. Once a big fish is on is not the time to realize your net is in the rod locker, there's rods all over the deck in your way, or you haven't retied all day and have no idea what condition your line is in. In thick cover, you have to have a game plan on where you're going to try to work a fish to in an attempt to keep it from getting back to the nasty stuff.

 

Do all that, and you're still going to lose big fish, it's just part of it. 

I second this. The more big fish you catch the bigger the fish has to be to make you panic. A 4 lber used to make my heart stop, now I just smile and enjoy the fight. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Like @Bluebasser86, I believe your gear was up to the task.  I do just fine using EWG worm hooks, and will continue to do just fine using them.  As you just mentioned, you lost the fish on the second hookset.  The fish was either skin hooked inside the mouth and you tore the hook free or it came free during the moment of slack.

 

I very rarely double set, but when I do it's a 4/0+ jig hook and it's because I was out of position on the initial swing.  The 3/0 Gamakatsu you're using will penetrate rather easily.  If you're not confident in that statement, you can hook the worm in the side and leave it barely under the skin.  Doing so will ruin a lot of plastic, but you'll completely free the hook shank from the worm on the swing.

 

Good luck, I have a feeling you're going to land the next good one.

[gunsinger]

1 hour ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Good luck, I have a feeling you're going to land the next good one.

Thanks. 

 

From your lips (or keyboard) to God's ears ?

[Deleted account]

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

Dont wait for  a second tap . 

This^. The second "tap" is usually the fish spitting out the bait, which is why we hear of so many swings and misses. As Tom mentioned above, a bass will inhale a bait by sucking it in, so ironically, a larger fish's bite will be usually be more subtle than a smaller one's with standard or smaller baits. Once the initial bite is missed, either the fish will hold the bait and maybe move away with it or spit it out.

[BassNJake]

I like a snell knot and straight shank for a texas rig

One of the older guys I was a co angler for must have stuck 15 fish to my one

The fish were barely tapping the bait and spitting it quickly

That little trick turned a bad day into a life long lesson

 

 

[Bigassbass]

Extra Wide Gap hooks are not good for much of nothing, get some straight shank or one with a little biddy bend at the top I think thats called offset.  Soon as you feel the tap crank up the slack and set the hook.  You really need to be quick on the draw to fish soft plastics and hook a big bass well!  Some people drop their rod down and let the fish have the bait but that's a green horn way to fish, set the hook instantly when you feel a tap, and use the sharpest hooks you can buy.  EWG leave too much play in soft plastics.

[Mike L]

Green Horn huh!…OK

There’s 2 reasons to “lower” your rod “tip”

1) If you’re out position to get a strong hook set

2) Take up an unusual amount of slack to get a strong hook set. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[papajoe222]

On 7/7/2021 at 9:40 PM, gunsinger said:

What braid do you recommend for worm fishing? Brand, color, lbs?

It depends on the cover you'll be fishing. The lightest I'd go would be 30lb. You could go up to 50.b and the combo could double for frog fishing.  Power Pro has a lot of followers here and it isn't very pricey. While you're at it, pick up a pack of offset worm hooks. They have a lot more bite than EWGs

[Catt]

8 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

While you're at it, pick up a pack of offset worm hooks. They have a lot more bite than EWGs

 

And straight shank hooks have more bite than both.

 

On 7/7/2021 at 10:42 PM, WRB said:

When the LMB mouth is closed very little void space exists, it’s filled with the tongue.

 

This is why I don't believe in the whole Snell Knot theory. Yeah it looks great holding the weight in your hand while pulling the line but that ain't how it is in the bass's mouth.

 

Sometimes I think we miss bigger bass simply because they have bitten down so hard our hookset doesn't move the bait. While I have nothing but anecdotal evidence that evidence is strong. I've lost big bass on Rat-L-Traps & after inspection of the Trap there was teeth marks on both sides of the Trap.

 

I don't wait for a second tap, I don't wait to see line movement!

 

I drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

[Bubba 460]

 

You win some and you lose some.  Doesn't necessarily mean you did anything wrong. It's a bummer when it happens but also enhances ones determination to fish harder. One day things will go right on that big PB fish. 

[jimmyjoe]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Sometimes I think we miss bigger bass simply because they have bitten down so hard our hookset doesn't move the bait.

 

   Absolutely!  Ever "set the hook" on a texposed bait, fight the fish, fish gets away and the hook is STILL texposed in the bait when you reel it in?

   Big bass are chomp-meisters!              jj