Interesting article on hooksets

[pro reel]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

Ok guys, I'm sorta confused now. lol.

I read somewhere else (maybe here), that when you set the hook with a jig, drop slack in your line, and set on the slack line. It said the sudden jerk, rather then the sudden consistent pressure (like you'd see when most us guys set the hook), quickly sticks the hook into em, rather then pulling to hook in em.

I can't remember the exact reasoning they had for it, but it seemed very convincing at the time.

Now I'm reading this and it's saying just kinda lean into em, and pull the hook in em... that is if I'm understanding this stuff right.. am I? lol

Sam, It really is going to depend on what bait you are using. With the vast majority of baits, you will want or need to set the hook with as much force as is possible. The do that, you will find that if you drop a little slack in your line and then jerk the line tight, you will get more force. But please don't believe me or anyone else here. Anytime you read any the stuff we post, you should examine it and see if you can confirm it or disprove it for yourself somehow before you accept it as fact or probablility. To do that, take a bait like a spinner bait, one you can hold without the hook point being against your skin, have someone set about the right distance away from you that would expect to be average distance and then have them set the hook while you hold the bait. Try it both ways. You will see that there is a lot more force with the slack line snatch. Now, what the pro said in the video may be absolutly true for the bait he was fishing. If it had a very thin wire hook, it would be likely that setting the hook hard would be causeing him to miss fish but that the fish could hook themselves by just swimming against a tight line. In that instance, he is relying on the fish to hold the bait long enough for that to happen. He must be using some good scented bait because most of the time the bass I catch will spit the bait out if I don't cross thier eyes pretty darn quick. Another instance where a hard hook set is wrong would be of you were using circle hooks. Circle hooks are designed to slide to the corner of a fish's mouth and hook there without a hard hookset. I have used thin wire hooks and I have used circle hooks. I found that if you remeber to never jerk to set the hook, they will work. I am not good at that. I taught myself to drop a little slack in the line and then cross thier eyes. Thats how I do it and I don't have time to think about doing it differently with a thin hook or a circle hook. Therefore I just don't use thin hooks or circle hooks anymore.

[Tavery5]

I sit here thinking about this discussion and it is driving me crazy with all the variables that come into play during a hookset. I mean you have to consider rod power and action, line stretch, distance/depth, type of hook, rod length and probably many more that I am not even considering.

The fact that we catch as many fish as we do is a real testament to us as anglers and the equipment that we use. An educated angler can put a setup together with the proper rod/reel, line, and bait combination and make it a catching machine, other less experienced may struggle at first without the knowledge that is usually gained by word of mouth or through on the water experience.

I am sure none of us agree with everything that is said in allot of these discussions, but how nice is it to have a place where you can trow your opinion out there and see if it holds water. Next to being on the water, I don't know how anyone could gain more valuable knowledge about fishing that to participate in these type of discussions.

[lilmule]

All kinds of variables including temp,and water desity.
I once dropped a nichol it must have hit the water perfect as floated,yes a nichol ive done it with a dime on purpose(hard to do) but never by accident with a nichol.
Id have bet 10 k water tension or density wouldnt support it,and if hadnt a seen it wouldnt believe it possible,let alone dropped.Break water tension by touching it sinks accordingly.
Guess that why its called fishing not catching.
Bottom line if what your doing aint cutting it try something else,and if it is working why change.

[Crankbait]

Originally Posted by Tavery5

I'm sorry but I wanted to add a little more about hook flex and how I proved this to myself. One summer I had the best luck ever fishing a tube bait made by Lake Fork Tackle, called the Tube Craw. This was my go to plastic bait and I had allot of confidence in it. Only problem was, I was not getting a good hookup ratio. I had thought that the bait was not collapsing well and it was the reason I had fish coming unbuttoned. I spoke with a respected friend of mine about my issue and he is the one who first told me about hook flex and the negative attributes associated with it. I then found a tube jig head with a stiffer hook and my hookups greatly improved.

As with anything, prove it to yourself.

I have to agree with Tav on this one. A while back I was using mike’s ikey head jig. I was on fish but was missing crazy fish. I was looking at the hook and noticed how much flex there was. Finally I broke the hook. I didn’t put another one on went to a wide gap and started sticking em. Good read.

[kennethdaysale]

This is from a Mike Mclelland article on jig fishing, might seem to contradict some of the above posts? Maybe not?
"5"> Rob Russow

Having a good fishing rod is a critical part of fishing a football jig, when detecting bites and keeping bass hooked are both critically important. “The thing I’ve learned over the years about fishing a football head is the more you jerk, the more fish you lose,” McClelland said. “The head of a football jig is so big, you want to just pull into the fish. The rod I use has a nice parabolic bend with good backbone, so you just wind until you get to the pressure point and then the backbone will drive the hook home.”

[ETXbassassassin]

Hello all! New to the forum. but not to fishing. I've been lurking in the cattails; some of your might have heard my Red Eye shad entering the water . Reading and learning from all of your postings and shared knowledge and find it both useful and priceless. I have been watching jig hooksets and thought to myself that there is some serious over-kill going on. I don't have much experience with the jig, but when I do tie one on and get bit I have NEVER set the hook like Denny Brauer does. I have used the technique described in the linked posting and have had success with it the little I have used it. Fish on and tight lines to all.

[merc1997]

Originally Posted by kennethdaysale

This is from a Mike Mclelland article on jig fishing, might seem to contradict some of the above posts? Maybe not?
"5"> Rob Russow

Having a good fishing rod is a critical part of fishing a football jig, when detecting bites and keeping bass hooked are both critically important. “The thing I’ve learned over the years about fishing a football head is the more you jerk, the more fish you lose,” McClelland said. “The head of a football jig is so big, you want to just pull into the fish. The rod I use has a nice parabolic bend with good backbone, so you just wind until you get to the pressure point and then the backbone will drive the hook home.”

the type of hookset is not causing anyone to miss fish on any jig. it is more to do with the weedguard being on the centerline. using a pull type set might help the hooking with a jig that is going to be forced onto its side coming out of the mouth by the weedguard. the end result is that the design on the jig needs to be fixed.