Lesson Learned

[IL.bassin36]

I learned a very hard to swallow lesson at a tourney yesterday. If you have a fish hooked on a rat-l-trap and you have to choose between letting him go down an get in the weeds vs. keeping him up an chance him jumping--- TAKE THE WEEDS!!! If he gets in the weeds, he might have a chance to pull off--If he gets in the air, hes got a REAL good chance at throwing that thing. Of course, I landed my 3 short fish but the one good fish I hooked > He was between 4-5 lbs :'( Lesson learned

[big_mouth]

should of would of could of..........thats the story of my life

[sabass]

when fighting the fish, try to anticipate the jump, as soon as you see that fish come outta the water, do everything in your power to make the line tighter at that very instant, the tighter the line, the harder for him to throw it. I know under some conditions thats easier said than done, but hopefully it will help ya save a fish or two.

[jglassguy]

I usually hold my rod tip down in the water and keep a tight line.
and...dont be to hard on your self... bass throw crankbaits pretty dern easy, esp those cheap trebs that come on ratLtraps
Just keep practising on every fish whether they jump or not and keep in mind if bass catching was easy every tom dick n harry would be sucessfull at it..main thing is your out there trying 8)

[madmarty]

I also hold my rod tip low to keep a bass from coming unbuttoned when fishing with a crankbait or any other lure with trebles. But it happens to everyone sometime or another. More fish are lost on a crankbait than any other lure.

[profishermenkid16]

Rattle traps are good fish catching baits, but you must learn to boat the fish with them. A long flexible rod is easier to keep pressure on the fish keeping the line tight so its more difficult for the fish to throw the bait.Also upgrade the hooks to a excaliber or VMC vanadian cone cut hooks. I hope this helps, P N J

[dave_in_fl]

If you do everything perfect from good hooks to limber rod and proper technique, your ratio of hooked to landed fish goes up but you still lose fish. You can do it all right but the physics sometimes get in the way of getting the fish in the boat.

[madmarty]

Yeah I learned to use a limber rod the hard way. I lost several 3lb. and up bass because of fishing a crankbait with too stiff a rod.

[sabass]

WOW, THAT FISH JUMPED 4.5 FEET TONIGHT! Caught a nice 3.5-4 pounder tonight, anticipated the jump as soon as he took off in another direction away from me, yet the line wasn't getting tighter, could tell he was about to leap. As soon as I saw that head break the water I tugged a little and that fish was every bit of 4 feet outta the water, maybe even 5. Looked like a mullet coming outta the water. Good fight.

[zman]

Normally you can anticipate the jump, but I got to say that smallies can fool you. I can for whatever reason remember just 1 particular smallie that did a move on me last year that was unreal, I thought it was gonna dive and try and use the jagged rocks, and on a dime it turned, shot straight up and cleared a real 3 feet out of the water. I was lucky and the hook stayed in, but that fish just sticks in my mind right now - I could have lost it and even if I did I would have still enjoyed that fish more than any other that day.

[sabass]

from the little expirence I've had with smallies, it seems as if their fight is a little more erratic and less predictable like you mention.

I caught a small LM one time and the direction he swam after taking the bait put a BIG clump of grass between me and him. Problem with this grass is it was outta the water, but thick, and about 25-30 feet long if I were to pull him straight through, lucky for me, he turned a couple seconds before I was gonna start dragging him through, and leaped up over the grass line that was between him and I into a patch of water that gave me direct access to him. It was as if we were working together for the common good. Since he cooperated so well with the perfectly timed and perfectly placed jump, I made sure to get him back in the water ASAP. Gotta love the lucky jumps.

[Bassin_Dude]

well thats why its called fishin, not catchin.

[macgyver]

We all lose fish, but it's probably 100 times worse in a tourney :P Keep whacking em, you'll get them to the boat. Wish you would have caught that one, since now you'll be due in the tourney this weekend, that you're fishing against me in

Lizards

[n2b]

well the best advice i can give you is dont make the fish jump more than he has to. set the hook, and from then on keep the rod in the water. Not all the way in the water just the tip and im pritty sure that fish will not jump it has always worked for me.

[OKie]

That really sucks. I hate when i lose a bass. i want to fish tornaments so bad but i cant find any around me!

[sabass]

i'd love to fish a tournament as well, but they won't let me enter my 9 foot jon boat, guess they're scared I'll catch all the fish.

[jason]

from experience the first thing u should do is change the hooks on rattletraps, because they just plain stink.

[bearpaw]

In the event a fish coming up right at the boat, help him in. Just swing the rod up and he'll just keep coming.
Note: Don't force the fish up, just wait till he decides to come up.
Otherwise do as earlier commented, put your rod in the water.

[jglassguy]

mr big said:
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well the best advice i can give you is dont make the fish jump more than he has to. set the hook, and from then on keep the rod in the water. Not all the way in the water just the tip and im pritty sure that fish will not jump it has always worked for me.

I tend to believe that normally keeping your rod tip above your head gets the most leverage on setting the hook and bringing them in..when you get in the habit of always keeping the rod tip down i tend to believe that on a crankbait and if the fish turns, you'll have a greater chance of loosing it "mr big"