question on hook sets

[woody9409]

when fishing a spinner bait how hard of a hook set do you use?  i have always used a sweeping motion like with a crankbait instead of using a worm fishing set.  the reason i ask is because yesterday i hooked the largest bass i have had this year, but lost him about 6'' before i could lip him.  i wonder if i should start setting the hook a little harder.  the fish was at least 7 lbs and i am still sick on the stomach.

[Raul]

Actually there are two ways to set the hook, one is with brute force and the other one is letting the fish impale itself on the hook, but in order to do that your hooks need to be razor sharp.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

But you were doing it right.  Sweeping, like a crankbait with a little more of a "pop" after you feel the weight.

[Raul]

That 's the catch when having razor sharp hooks on your baits, you don 't need to pop.

[flechero]

Agreed... either sweep if you have sharpened them yourself or pop a good one after you feel weight.  

One thing to add, I have seen literally hundreds of people continue to set hook a second and third time to "be sure" of a good hookset, but all that does is enlarge the hole and make it easy for the fish of a lifetime to spit your bait.  

Like Raul & LBH said either is fine but commit one way or the other and stick to it.

[Chris]

Something else to consider is that sometimes with larger bass they will clamp down on the head of the bait and hold it so tight that a sweep hook set will not punch the hook. Also if you are using a wimpy rod and smaller pound test line that also will causes you hook to have less power to penetrate.

[roadwarrior]

I just wanted to second flechero, trust your hookset. Most fish that are lost are a result of pulling the hook(s) out of their mouths. I don't know how many times I have landed a fish that is just hooked by the tiniest piece of flesh, but every one of them would have been lost to another hookset.

[gatrboy53]

once he's hooked keep constant pressure at all times.a big bass will exploit every weakness us anglers have don't give him a inch and pray that its ur time to win. i lost the biggest bass ive ever hooked this summer over 10# did everything right and right at the boat he spit lure at me and winked when did it...and poof he was gone...thats fishin...just glad i had the opportunity

[Matt Fly]

I believe the term is "loading up the rod" and letting the "hopefully sharp hook" do the rest.  

I will add that different retrieves such as a suspended lure may require a pop on the stop.

[Guest avid]

I don't think the hookset was the problem.  If you got him withing 6" of the boat then my guess is he was hooked pretty solid but "worked" the hole in his lip big enough to be able to throw the hook.  I find that with any single hook bait that this will happen sometimes.  I swear that their are some bass that just know how to throw a hook.  I have lost some big fish because they pulled real hard for a while (enlarging the hole) and then when the time was right (for them) they would jump and flip the hook right back in my face.  This has happened to me a number of times over the years.  I guess if you fish in big open water like out west you can loosen up on the drag, but down here in Florida that is an invitation to getting wrapped up in weeds.  Some times you eat the bear, but sometimes the bear eats you.

[fishingrulz]

crankbaits and spinnerbaits you set the hook by sweeping, pull the lure. worms-set it over you head as hard as you can.

[Guest River_stumps]

when fishing a spinner bait how hard of a hook set do you use? i have always used a sweeping motion like with a crankbait instead of using a worm fishing set. the reason i ask is because yesterday i hooked the largest bass i have had this year, but lost him about 6'' before i could lip him. i wonder if i should start setting the hook a little harder. the fish was at least 7 lbs and i am still sick on the stomach.

When I'm throwing a spinner bait or a crank and hook up, I give it a good swift sideways motion and two grunts, and 9 out of 10 times I have him in the boat.

[dabluz]

I'm an old man and I have been fishing for a long time.  Most of the lost fish are due to hooks not being sharp enough.  I have yet to see really sharp hooks on any lure.  That's normal because all of the hooks on a lure are treated so that they won't rust.  Just a slight touch with very fine sand paper for metal (tightly rolled) just inside the curb of the hook at the point and maybe a bit at the barb of the hook to polish the barb is enough.  This has to be repeated often because the hooks are now without any finish to prevent them from rusting.

Yes, lots of fish clamp down hard when they first bite.  They do this to kill the bait.  This is very common in fish like pike, walleye, salmon, trout and other fish with large teeth.  You have to strike hard in order to move the lure and penetrate the hooks.

Bass are a bit different.  They tend to swallow but when you look at underwater films of bass biting, they do the same thing.  They inhale the bait in their mouth and there is a slight pause before they continue to swallow.  They don't move much after they first hit the bait.  They open their mouths when they continue to swallow.  This is when most people strike.....and this is exactly when not to strike because the fish's mouth is open.

I prefer the "strike quick and hard" when using a hard lure.  If it's a soft lure or live bait, well the pause must be longer.  Best time to strike is when the fish is swimming away from the boat.  This is when you look at the line on the water or feel the fish with the rod.

I've also noted that badly hooked fish will battle a lot harder than deeply hooked fish.

I admit that I have little experience with bass.  I haven't fished for bass in over 30 years.  But, the films I saw show that all fish behave the same.  Maybe the timing changes a bit from one fish to another.  Pike have a tendancy to run longer with the bait clamped in their mouths.  Maybe it's due to the fact that they often eat much larger prey and it takes longer to kill.  Luckily, pike are easily hooked in the side of their mouths as they move away.

Landlocked salmon clamp down the hardest of all the fish I have caught.  I have often stripped the material off the shank of my streamers when striking back.....and still not hook the fish.  I now use only metal tinsel on my streamers and I put a couple of coats of clear varnish or epoxy on the tinsel so the hook shank will not catch on their teeth.  This also has helped in hooking more pike when fly fishing for pike.

Those fat chunky lures with large lips surely put up a lot of resistance when a bass clamps down hard on them....a lot more than a slim lure with a small lip.

What do you think of my findings?  Any other opinions?

[justtrying]

not bad for an old man!  .....just kidding! ...good job