Rage Swimmer help sought

[Swamp Girl]

I fished a pumpkin 4.75" Rage Swimmer. It's ribbed and has a paddle tail. I paired it with an Eagle Claw Tro Kar weighted swimbait hook in 3/0. Do you wait a sec to set the hook with this setup? I ask because I lost several fish before a pickerel cut my line and that setup was my only one in the canoe. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

It's not so much that you need to wait, you just need some forgiveness or stretch in the equation in order to give the fish the extra milliseconds needed to get the bait fully in the mouth unlike a bait at rest.  

 

I don't have this problem with treble hooked moving baits, but single hooked ones was a really big problem for me until I recently realized I needed a certain amount of "forgiveness" in a rod tip to fish these baits for maximum hookup percentage.  

 

You catch like a 100 Bass each time out, I wouldn't sweat missing a few ?

[roadwarrior]

11 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 You catch like a 100 Bass each time out, I wouldn't sweat missing a few ?

 

                                                          

[T-Billy]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's not so much that you need to wait, you just need some forgiveness or stretch in the equation in order to give the fish the extra milliseconds needed to get the bait fully in the mouth unlike a bait at rest.  

 

I don't have this problem with treble hooked moving baits, but single hooked ones was a really big problem for me until I recently realized I needed a certain amount of "forgiveness" in a rod tip to fish these baits for maximum hookup percentage.  

 

You catch like a 100 Bass each time out, I wouldn't sweat missing a few ?

I agree. Either a fast rod with mono or a Mod Fast with braid, which is what I fish 'em on as I throw 'em into thick stuff. If you can bring yourself to wait a couple seconds before setting the hook, it may help your hookup percentage as well. Rigged like this, it's a natural feeling bait to them and they'll usually hold on to it awhile. A bigger hook may help too. With a 4.75, I'd go 4/0 or maybe even 5/0. Whichever comes through the bait at the back of the hookslot.

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks, guys. I just upsized my hook to 5/0. I was going to use my froggin' outfit tomorrow, but now I know that's wrong. 

[T-Billy]

46 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Thanks, guys. I just upsized my hook to 5/0. I was going to use my froggin' outfit tomorrow, but now I know that's wrong. 

No right or wrong, just a matter of what works FOR YOU. Your froggin rig might work well for you... or not. Only one way to find out. It'll definitely help drive that 5/0 home for you. Being seated in a canoe definitely decreases the hooksetting force you can generate vs those of us standing on the deck of a boat.

[Swamp Girl]

Tim, you are wise. That 5/0 hook is a beast. 

[T-Billy]

14 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Tim, you are wise.

I gotta show this to my wife!!! I might even print it and have it framed!!! ? Good luck tomorrow. Looking forward to your report. I'm gonna get out myself. I'll hit the water a little before daylight and see if I can come up with another pre-dawn musky before I start bass fishin.

[Swamp Girl]

I'm going early too. Not full darkness, but right at the end of night. Full darkness would be too creepy! 

 

Please feel free to share this with your wife: "Mrs. Tim, your hubby is wise."

[JackstrawIII]

Yes, I was going to say you should upsize to a 5/0. That will help tremendously. I use a 3/0 for paddletails up to 3.8” and 5/0 for bigger. 

[LrgmouthShad]

As @AlabamaSpothunter mentioned, I like a slower taper for single hook moving baits. I like a moderate fast as opposed to a fast. On a thread about spinnerbaits a while back, I noticed that several reputable members use and prefer a fast taper, but a few added that while they prefer this taper, they will give time for the fish to better inhale the lure before setting the hook. I don’t believe this period of waiting time is very long, and a slower taper seems to close that gap some, at least for me. I have a hair trigger when setting the hook on a bite, so I prefer a taper that slows me down when using single hook moving baits. 
 

I hope this helps, but I am not able to talk specifically about setting hook on swimbait heads very much as I feel I haven’t fished them enough to give accurate info on them specifically. If more experienced members know some differences between swimbait head bites and spinnerbait bites worth mentioning, I would love to hear about it. I hope my analogy of the spinnerbait is helpful nonetheless