Which do You prefer?

[DJD]

I don't know the perfect method but I pull up and back firmly but not crazy. I would consider the action of the rod and the line weight as you find your style of hooksetting.

[MarkW]

The smallmouth Guru Stephen Headrick talked about hook sets in his video. He made it real clear to set the hook straight up towards your head. He said to never sweep one way or the other. Straight up. He said all of his clients that set the hook sideways, misses fish.
I'm no expert, but he is, and I tend to believe those who know more then me.

[thebassman30]

I have heard about his recommendation and it's probably based on the way he recommends you fish it. Also, maybe his jigs hook up better for some reason when you set it straight up.

I don't use his jigs, fish them where and the way he recommends. I could see where physics and the caming action of the small hook would be optimized when you sweep upward....looks good on paper. I'm just telling you from fishing this thing for the last 10+ years with and without his system, I've had better success just gently applying pressure at the exact 180˚ angle the fish takes it down....sometimes that is straight up, but most times it's not. Plus, the fish I catch on it aren't typically on bluff walls and I use it as more of a follow up bait anyway so what do I really know....lol.

I think that boat position has more to do with catching fish on the fly than anything...my opinion...good luck.

[WacoWildcat]

I guess the idea there is to get the hook in the top part mouth. This is the hardest/thickest part of the mouth on a bass, which is the ideal target for obvious reasons. I think you're best chance to do that is setting the hook straight up. A sideways hookset will sometimes get the hook towards the side of the mouth which is the thiner. I'm not an expert by any means with the fnf but I do apply this concept when fishing other baits.