Gut hooking was terrible today and not sure why

[BrianMDTX]

First off, no bass died. I was able to get the hooks out quickly with little to no bleeding. 
 

Other than the one bass on a jig that smashed it immediately, 6 of the 9 bass I caught were gut hooked. On either a wacky or Texas rig. This was not a “I fished the bait dead-sticked” or “I wasn't watching the line” issue. I was working both baits back to the boat and never saw or felt a thing until the line got tight and I had a fish on. Even with a semi-slack line I normally see the line start running or you can see/feel the bait get hit. I’ve never had so many bass simply take a bait without some indication. All I know is that I’m darned glad I went through the gills and got all the hooks out cleanly. 

[bp_fowler]

It truly is one of the worst feelings.  Especially how quickly you go from the elation of catching the fish to the painful realization that you’ve gut hooked them.

[Flushdraw]

This happened a lot to me when I started fishing senkos. I've since changed my technique and keep a tighter line. I might get less bites, but gut hook a lot less fish. Sometimes, you don't feel the bite and the line doesn't move...or you can't see your line due to sun/wind. I love the fish I catch and it hurts me when I hurt them.

[BrianMDTX]

I fish Senkos (both TR and WR) a lot. And I’ve gut hooked a few here and there, but I would have said “that’s on me”. Either too much slack or not watching the line as close as I should. Today was different. It’s like they were inhaling and swallowing them in a heartbeat. I reeled the line in tight, never felt anything, stopped a second, started reeling again and the fish was on. Normally that’s a good hookset in the lip or upper jaw. Not today! ?

[gim]

A vmc neko hook greatly reduced the number of foul hooked fish when I was wacky rigging. They almost all get stuck in the roof of the mouth now.

[BrianMDTX]

@gimruis I would have said the same about either the 1/0 circle octopus hook (WR) or the 3/0 EWG hook (TR) I've been using. 

[Bird]

John Denver wrote a song " some days are diamonds and some days are stone"

 

Was fishing a deep clear lake last week and had issues with deep hooking them on a Shaky head/Zoom speed craw.

 

Had to go behind the gill on several fish but each fish swam away fine.

Crazy part was gave a guy on the dock the same bait I was throwing and he caught one under the dock......deep hooked.

Had to jump back out of the boat and unhook the fish for him.

[Darth-Baiter]

20 hours ago, bp_fowler said:

It truly is one of the worst feelings.  Especially how quickly you go from the elation of catching the fish to the painful realization that you’ve gut hooked them.

this sums it up.

 

i dont even get pictures.  quick operation and fish goes away into the water ASAP.  

 

i know some days, when i dont feel the bite, they get the hook way down there.  

[TnRiver46]

Sounds like they were biting good, some days they won’t bite at all 

[looking45]

Switch to a circle hook on your wacky rig and use a reel set. No more swallowed hooks

[BrianMDTX]

I use a circle octopus hook. It made no difference. Normally, it does. Yesterday it did not. 

[TOXIC]

20 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

@gimruis I would have said the same about either the 1/0 circle octopus hook (WR) or the 3/0 EWG hook (TR) I've been using. 

First let me say that there are some days the fish and conditions match up and you will gut hook some.  There’s nothing you can do to avoid it and it sounds like you are skilled at the “through the gill” technique.  That is good.  On my guide trips I had a lot of inexperienced anglers and was getting more gut hooks that I would like.  I see you use a 3.0 ewg.  That’s what I used to use.  Try stepping up to a 4.0.  The bigger hook has a tendency to make contact in the fishes mouth earlier in the strike than a 3.0.  Reduced my gut hooked client fish by a lot.  It’s all I use now. 

[gunsinger]

22 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I fish Senkos (both TR and WR) a lot. And I’ve gut hooked a few here and there, but I would have said “that’s on me”. Either too much slack or not watching the line as close as I should. Today was different. It’s like they were inhaling and swallowing them in a heartbeat. I reeled the line in tight, never felt anything, stopped a second, started reeling again and the fish was on. Normally that’s a good hookset in the lip or upper jaw. Not today! ?

I had the same experience over the weekend fishing yum dingers.  Never felt the...but saw the line moving, more often than not, towards me.  Set the hook but it was too late.  Fortunately, in each case, it was a bigger fish with room to manipulate the hook and disgorge it without bleeding or death to the fish.

[BrianMDTX]

You know, the first thing that crossed my mind was, “are they moving at me?” And as pretty much every bass was caught about 1’ from the bank (and that is no typo-they were tight on the bank under overhanging limbs or under weeds), unless they moved to the side ( which I should have seen) moving towards me makes a ton of sense. 

@TOXIC I have no 4/0’s on hand, but I do have 5/0. I’ll switch to that and see if it makes a difference. 

[TriStateBassin106]

I also gut hooked a 14inch fish this past weekend on a texas rigged zoom u tail, I cut the line and took the hook out from the gill method but the fish then started to bleed badly, I even got some blood on my sneakers which sucked, immediately threw the fish back but it was probably gonna die, it really is a horrible feeling but I've come to desensitize myself to it. It's simply part of the game at this point and it sucks. I know the feeling man.. 

3 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

You know, the first thing that crossed my mind was, “are they moving at me?” And as pretty much every bass was caught about 1’ from the bank

@TOXIC 

This happens to me sometimes when I'm fishing a texas rigged creature bait like a pitboss or rage menace, sometimes I'll make a pitch at a piece of cover and won't get any bites on the initial fall but as I reel it back to the boat I'll feel a hard thump and it's a bass that ambushed it like a moving bait. 

[BrianMDTX]

What a difference a day (or two) makes. Caught two bass. Both on the same weightless TR with a Zoom Trick I used on Monday. Both hit the bait hard. Both hooked in the lip. I feel like I’m being played! ?

 

[VTFan]

On 5/29/2023 at 4:40 PM, BrianMDTX said:

I fish Senkos (both TR and WR) a lot. And I’ve gut hooked a few here and there, but I would have said “that’s on me”. Either too much slack or not watching the line as close as I should. Today was different. It’s like they were inhaling and swallowing them in a heartbeat. I reeled the line in tight, never felt anything, stopped a second, started reeling again and the fish was on. Normally that’s a good hookset in the lip or upper jaw. Not today! ?

I feel your pain my friend.  My last outing was exactly the same except in my case two fish died.  I thought I had gotten the hooks out cleanly even though there was some blood but in both cases I ended up seeing them both floating belly up.  It is a terrible sinking feeling to see that.  And in both cases I never knew I had a fish on and was reeling in for my next cast when all of a sudden there is weight on the other end.