Loosing fish on Zara Spook Juniors ??

[shawnrd81]

It could be your rod for me anyhting with trebles I like a softer tip with 17lb mono line.

[mhall]

It could be your rod for me anyhting with trebles I like a softer tip with 17lb mono line.

Good thought but I thought of that already and went to medium actions with a soft tip, didn't seem to make a difference.

[Col Forbin]

I love the acrobatic/air show of smallies, but I've gotten to where I like landing them more. If I see a fish (hooked on any thing with trebles) coming toward the top to jump, I will stick at least half of my rod straight down in the water, it will help keep them down. If you can keep the pressure tight and keep them under water, your chance are much, much better. If your getting them hooked that often you are doing much better than me - I have a ton of short strikes, and have to follow up with a fluke or senko. But Spooks and Sammies are by far my favorite way to catch fish - especially smallies.

[mhall]

I love the acrobatic/air show of smallies, but I've gotten to where I like landing them more. If I see a fish (hooked on any thing with trebles) coming toward the top to jump, I will stick at least half of my rod straight down in the water, it will help keep them down. If you can keep the pressure tight and keep them under water, your chance are much, much better. If your getting them hooked that often you are doing much better than me - I have a ton of short strikes, and have to follow up with a fluke or senko. But Spooks and Sammies are by far my favorite way to catch fish - especially smallies.

I do this to and still seem to loose them here lately. Col if you are getting short strikes they are seeing the bait to well, speed it up when this happens and they will usually nail it. Also color changes can play a key role here on short strikes or fish that won't commit.

[Bonefish]

There are so many variables to this problem. Some of these are...do you use a soft tip or a stiff tip rod, are you setting the hook hard enough, are the fish serious about taking the lure, do you hold your rod tip high or low, and how about the time of day and reflecting light throught the water at feeding time, sharpness and types of hooks, and maybe the type of speed and jerk being used. All I know is it has happened to me on certain days. I have watched my patner have no problem setting the hook, and I would be using the same bait and missing everyone.

I think it is a combination of all these things, and I have to agree it is hard to figure out. I think sometimes a bass wants to kill or stun their prey before they actually take the bait into their mouth. When they do this, it hard to get a full hook set. The lure retrieve speed could make a difference to allow time for the fish take the lure. Through the years I have used a stiff-tip rod for top water so I can set the hook hard and then when the fish wants to come to the surface keep the rod tip in the water and pull down. I usually do not loose many fish that way.

This technique started when I was 12 years old one evening coming home after fish a farm pond down the road from my home. It was almost dark and I was holding my rod in my left hand and throwing rocks with my right when I clipped a foot off the tip of my rod. I put a new tip on and kept fishing with it. I noticed I could control bass much better and started pulling down as they wanted to jump and caught more fish with this rod using this technique. I have had a lot of people questioned me on this through the years, but all I know it works. However, I like the fight and the air-time so I don't worry about loosing fish like I once did. Now, if I had Elwood's 12 pound SM at Dale on line, and it threw the lure, now that would make me cry, go home and get under the covers.