Power vs. Speed

[coachpurdy]

Which is the most essential in a hookset, speed or power? weigh in

[BigBassin144]

Speed or power as in swinging the rod? If so,I don't think I've ever seen powerful and SLOW hookset.

BB

[CiK]

Semantics aside........depends on the situation.

Flipping and pitching I am trying to cross their eyes.

Shakey Head (or similar) I am a little easier on them.

Mostly depends on the hook size and type.

[IowaBasser]

When setting the hook, I have to occassionally duck for cover when a sunfish comes flying at me.

Hook-sets depend on the situations... In cover (weeds, stumps, etc.) I'm trying for a powerful hook-set. I want to pull them away from the cover or at least get their head turned towards me. When steady retrieving cranks and spinnerbaits I figure the fish already have the hooks in their mouth and I tend to just give more of a sweeping pull than a sudden jerk. Finesse fishing light jigs and plastics I go for quick hook-sets; a lot of times the fish "feel" the bait by lightly picking it up; I snap my rod-tip up before they can spit it out - usually followed by a sweeping pull to make sure the barb is buried.

Here's another way to think about it. Typically you match your line to fishing conditions: heavy line for cover and frogs, etc.; Light lines for drop-shots and shakeyheads. I figure my hook-set should similarly match my line-weight. Heavy line = powerful hooksets. Light line = quick hooksets.

[nofearengineer]

An Engineer's take:

Since "speed" equals distance divided by time,

and power equals force times distance divided by time...

what you're essentially asking is, "Which is more important, no force or some force?"

Of course, that makes no sense.

What I think you're asking is "short, sharp hook set just to pierce the fish's mouth or long, rod-straining hook set to man-handle the fish."

The answer to that would be, depends on the application. In heavy cover, you might want to turn the fish as quickly as possible and keep it from wrapping you up in weeds and wood. (Or you might just be one of those who think it's cool to abuse the fish for no good reason other than to impress your buddies.) In that case, you would want to use a lot of force, and do it for a long time.

Otherwise, you would want to let the hooks' barbs, the rod flex, and your reel's drag do their job, and simply use a quick hook set.

[coachpurdy]

I agree that different situations call for different types of hooksets. However a couple of things have gotten me to wondering about speed vs. power. Let me explain.

1. A guy once told me that speed is the most important thing in a hookset. He showed me a technique where you push down wiht your right hand at the bottom of the handle (for right hand users) while pulling up wiht your left. The technique didn't feel comfortable to me so I never use it when setting the hook.

2. I have a fishing buddy that "rocks the boat" when he sets the hook. He is a big guy and puts his weight into it, but alot of it seems unecessary to me.

I believe that with good hooks a quick hookset is better that throwing your wieght into the hookset so to speek. Thats what I was thinking of when I said power. Besides when fishing cover where you have to turn the fish, hook penetration is what you are trying to achieve. And you don't have to "muscle it" to get it.
Just wondering what everyone thought.

[Lvitch]

Woo daves had a video on worm hook sets that was kinda similar to this. A slower hookset didn't work as well. I'll try n find a link. Imo I try and always keep the speed the same. I use owners, gammy's and triple grips so the hooks are sharp and set easy. Power depends on the size of the hook and the cover I'm fishing. A 6/0 swimbait or flipping hook gets more power behind it than say a set of Trebles on a jerkbait.

[bamabassman]

i also agree with bryce on his take as well as others. different hooksets for different baits.

[Bassboss]

My hook sets are always hard. It's just something that's deep in my DNA I think, lol! No matter what I do mental prep myself for setting the hook with a crankbait, I always seem to cross their eyes. Can't help myself! lol

When I'm fishing frogs and stuff though, I especially set up hard on 'em though.

With finesse stuff, I'm still always setting the hook on the hard side, but I've learned to tone it down a bit.

[Jrob78]

Originally Posted by Lvitch

Woo daves had a video on worm hook sets that was kinda similar to this. A slower hookset didn't work as well. I'll try n find a link. Imo I try and always keep the speed the same. I use owners, gammy's and triple grips so the hooks are sharp and set easy. Power depends on the size of the hook and the cover I'm fishing. A 6/0 swimbait or flipping hook gets more power behind it than say a set of Trebles on a jerkbait.

I saw that too, it was on Bass Pro's. The hook point never even penetrated the worm when he pulled it slowly, the worm broke completely in half behind the hook. When he jerked it fast, the hook point popped through the worm.

With a treble hook, a little added pressure is all you really need, assuming your hooks are sharp. When fishing a large worm hook, you need to give it a nice hard hook set. Your line, rod, bait, type of hook as well as how tight your drag is set will all factor into how hard or softly you should set the hook.


I found the video. The hook set part is at about the 2:00 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cp0EmS50NM

[IowaBasser]

I also feel that bigger fish have tougher mouths and require a harder hook-set ...especially if you hit a bony spot in their mouth with the point of the hook. I've been guilty of setting the hook too lightly on larger fish. I fall into this trap sometimes when I'm catching a lot of 12 incher's. After successfully catching a dozen 12 incher's with a soft hook-set I become complacent. I hook all of the smaller fish no problem, then use the same hook-set on a 3 or 4 pounder. Sometimes I think the bigger fish clamp down on my bait and my hook-set doesn't even pull the hook out of his grasp - let alone bury the barb. After a couple of seconds the fish realizes something is wrong and simply opens his mouth and spits the lure.

...of course as everyfisherman knows, if the fish got away it must have been a lunker!

[IowaBasser]

Originally Posted by IowaBasser

Typically you match your line to fishing conditions: heavy line for cover and frogs, etc.; Light lines for drop-shots and shakeyheads. I figure my hook-set should similarly match my line-weight. Heavy line = powerful hooksets. Light line = quick hooksets.

One more thought on this subject... I think sometimes I set the hook too softly when using lighter line. I grew up fishing trout in crystal clear water with 6 pound (and once even 4 pound) mono and have always been very conscience about the amount of pressure I put on my line. I still use light line and have lost my share of fish because I didn't set the hook hard enough. I'm slowly moving to heavier line, but old habits are hard to break.

[lilmule]

I just fished a draw T with a guy that flipped,he set the hook on a bass 15 ft back in the buck brush and trees as lake was out of its bank and it landed ten ft other side of the boat,two were keeper 15 in-16in fish..He was using an 8 ft experimental rod,30 pd line,AND HES A BIG FELLA.
I have a hard time trying to duplicate that as dont weigh near as much,I set the hook fairly hard on worms ,jigs but nothing like that.
Crankbaits its not even noticable,topwater frogs fish is going one way 20 mph and im going the other hard as i can,as fishing in heavy cover.