Shaky Head Misses

[Hatty]

Went out shaky head fishing today and got one good fish, but had two others shake the hook out when jumping out of the water... question is what type of line and what type of hook does everyone recommend.

I currently use Spot Remover Pro hooks 1/8 oz and Trilene Maxx 6 lb test...  do you think I may be missing fish because of line or hook or both or one or none?

[Ellesar]

I would think it had more to do with slack in the lline when they jump

[Raul]

The first thing I would check would be the hook sharpness.

The second thing I would check would be your hook setting technique.

If the hook is razor sharp with a flick of the wrist you generate more than enough energy to drive in the hook. If the hook is razor sharp you don 't even need to set the hook with a tight line, the fish impales itself on the hook just by the pressure of the hook against the tissue.

[Siebert Outdoors]

need to have the very tip of the hook point out of the plastic. if its barried you could just be pulling it out of the fishes mouth.  

[Oscar O.]

also when fighting the fish you could try to not let them jump. when you see or feel the fish going up to jump, get your rod tip down (even into the water) and apply some force. this should help keep the fish from leaping and shaking the hook out. but as said before, check the sharpness of your hook, a dull hook will leave a lot of fish in the water, and not in the boat (or on shore sometimes for me).

[Sam]

To stop a fish from jumping, put rod tip into the water.  

[CWB]

All good answers. Start with sharp hook. Most are plenty sharp out of the package but test them on your thumbnail. If they penetrate without too much pressure, they are good to go. If not, touch them up.

A sharp hook makes a smaller hole in the fishes mouth therefore staying put better. Also, as everyone else said, keep rod tip low and fight the fish at right angles to where he wants to go. Sometimes no matter what they will throw the hook but you should be able to improve your odds.

[roadwarrior]

I suspect a lot of "misses", aren't! Bass sometimes simply bite the tail,

especially smaller fish. You're going to miss most of these since the hook

never comes into play.

8-)

[Catt]

Some times trying to force a fish not to jump is worse then letting em jump

Some misses were because you were slow setting the hook

Drop the rod, reel the slack, sit the hookmissedI've done my part Some times misses are just that

[Tin]

This is common with the Spot Remover. The peg or screw will pop out of the worm on a hard hookset causing the worm to bunch up around the point of the hook. So now you are going through the worm twice and the fishes jaw. And with 6 pound line you cant set it hard enough to do it without breaking the line imo.

What has really helped my hookups is just simply applying pressure when the fish has it and reeling up quickly. I believe the worm stretches more and doesn't come off the peg or screw. So as it stretches the hook pops out and will stick. It has been working for me anyway. I use a 6'7" Medium action spinning Carrot with 8 pound Seaguar Invisx or Trilene 100% most of the time.