Fish Coming Unbutton

[findingem]

How dare these fish come unbutton during my five to ten seconds of pleasure. Guys I don’t know how you all feel about this issue, but I’m at a lost. It does not happen all the time, but when it does it will happens four to five times in a day. My tools are the same from one day to the next. A Texas Rig with a heavy rod and 15 to 17 pound test line, ¼ ounce bullet weight, and a Gamakatsu 4/0 hook. I make sure that I keep pressure on line and tip down while reeling. Sometimes I will reel up five or six times before it happens(POOF). I would hate to find out that I’m just down there turning over rocks and brush piles. How do these fish keep wiggling their way off. What can I do to fix the issue. Any advise.

[zx150]

How hard do you set the hook? I set real hard and I still lose a few every now and then.

[bereabasser]

Same thing cost me a real good check last year in the Dale Hollow BFl,lost 4 really nice fish flippin,had them on long enough to tell my boater to get the net then they just came unbuttoned

[skinny]

What can I do to fix the issue.

all i can tell you is that it happens to evevyone. (its called fishing) look at it as payback for all the fish that you have landed in the past.

[smuckey41]

skinny is right it happens to all of us it is a part of fishin, i know it realy bites but you just keep fishin and get em next time.

[dpage70]

What brand of rod is it, as asked above how hard are you setting the hook, are you fishing open water or in grass or brush, long casts or normal, light bites or hard thumps, in the wind or calm water? If the action of the rod is like a broomstick then you're using to stiff of a rod for open water fishing with that kind of hook and you're probably tearing a hole in their mouth on the hookset which will make it easy to for the fish to throw it. Also if it's a widegap hook you may try a round bend. If it's a light bite, you may need to give them a 5 count or so to take in the bait. You might be setting the hook before they get it in good and just getting a skin hook on the lip or something which will make it easy to throw. It also seems to help to change to a round bend hook from a wide gap in this situation if that's not what you're normally using. If you look at a round bend compared to a wide gap the point of the hook on a wide gap points exactly in line with the the eye where the round bend is still parallel and just a little bit above the eye which exposes the point more. If you're making long casts, the rod may not be long enough. Hooksets are more about how much line you can move through water than how stiff the rod is. The action is more for moving fish than hooksets (unless you're fishing IN cover like grass or brush). If it's happening in wind then you need to use more weight so you can keep you're line tighter on the bait and keep the loop from being so bad between the tip and your bait. A longer rod also helps here because it takes up more line on the hookset. Like said above it happens to everyone, the thing is YOU have to make the right adjustments to KEEP it from happening (once could just be a fluke but twice is a pattern).

[smuckey41]

What brand of rod is it, as asked above how hard are you setting the hook, are you fishing open water or in grass or brush, long casts or normal, light bites or hard thumps, in the wind or calm water? If the action of the rod is like a broomstick then you're using to stiff of a rod for open water fishing with that kind of hook and you're probably tearing a hole in their mouth on the hookset which will make it easy to for the fish to throw it. Also if it's a widegap hook you may try a round bend. If it's a light bite, you may need to give them a 5 count or so to take in the bait. You might be setting the hook before they get it in good and just getting a skin hook on the lip or something which will make it easy to throw. It also seems to help to change to a round bend hook from a wide gap in this situation if that's not what you're normally using. If you look at a round bend compared to a wide gap the point of the hook on a wide gap points exactly in line with the the eye where the round bend is still parallel and just a little bit above the eye which exposes the point more. If you're making long casts, the rod may not be long enough. Hooksets are more about how much line you can move through water than how stiff the rod is. The action is more for moving fish than hooksets (unless you're fishing IN cover like grass or brush). If it's happening in wind then you need to use more weight so you can keep you're line tighter on the bait and keep the loop from being so bad between the tip and your bait. A longer rod also helps here because it takes up more line on the hookset. Like said above it happens to everyone, the thing is YOU have to make the right adjustments to KEEP it from happening (once could just be a fluke but twice is a pattern).

never thought of it like that good post. i will pay more attenchin next time that happens

[slowride]

one thing i've learned is i used to bully every fish in and when it gets to the boat it still has energy to jump and get off, now i keep pressure, tip down and work him in slower and sometimes go around the boat once or twice. It's made a world of a difference.

[findingem]

dpage70,
The rod that I'm using is the Bass Pro Extreme heavy 7 ft. I like the part of your answer that I may be ripping the bait from the fishes mouth. I do have a pretty hard hook set. The type of cover that I'm fishing is points and bluff walls. Thanks for the in depth answer.