short line strikes

LGBASS20LB · Post by **LGBASS20LB** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 9:25 pm

One time when i was fishing, i was using my excalibur swimmin image super shallow diving minnow, and i was on the bank. I casted it out in between 2 patches of lily in open water. my lure was about 8 feet out in front of me and i got a big hit. when i set the hook, my line snapped. I know it is because of short line, but what is a good way to hook the bass on a short line like i had ????should i just firmly set it or what? I just wanna know so when it happens again whenever im in my boat and a fish follows my lure out to my boat, ill know how to hook and land my fish. Thanks for the tips and I have already introduced 3 fishing buds of mine to this site. it helps soooo much. THANKS!!

lkgfisherman · Post by **lkgfisherman** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 10:20 pm

Cole
I'd say that wasn't b/c it was so close it probally was a kink in the line or old line. It could have been to light of line also. To keep this from happening replace your line frequently i replace mine once a week some do it more and some do it less. If you can't afford to do that take ur spools and put them in a trash bag b/c uv rays hurt monofilament the most.
As far as short strikes the best thing u can do is if u see the fish don't set the hook until you feel the fish b/c alot of times you will see the fish but he hasn't hit it yet. Well that about all i know on this subject. Also make sure your hooks are sharp. Well hope this helps.

J.T.

britchie · Post by **britchie** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 10:39 pm

Cole, I hate when that happens.
When throwing topwaters, I will use a soft tip rod, that helps absorb the initial shock on the hook set.
You don't want to set the hook on a topwater fish like you would a jig or texas rigged bait. It's more like a crankbait set.
You really just hang on and let her get a good hold on the bait and then give a slight hook set.
With today's ultra sharp hook's, if you can withstand the initial blowup, the fish will hook their self.
Always use a premium line and be sure to back of your drag a little.
With the drag backed off and a soft tip rod you shouldn't have any problems with break off's do to the hook set.
Hope this helps out.

JT_BAGWELL · Post by **JT_BAGWELL** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 1:00 am

Cole,

I agree with brian. Use a nice soft tip rod, so it has a little give when you set the hook.

I honestly had something similar happen last season, except I was in a boat and using a shallow running crankbait. The rod I happened to be using was very stiff. When I set the hook it popped so loud that I thought I snapped my rod. Being the type of person that checks my line after almost every cast, I knew it wasn't because I had bad line or a bad knot. I simply set the hook so hard that it snapped my 14lb test Trilene XT like a twig.

About 20 seconds after I snapped my line, I heard the fish jump right behind me. I could hear the rattles in the crankbait as he shook his head.

I left the area for a little bit and came back about 30 minutes later. To my surprise, I looked out in front of the boat to see my lure swimming along at about 1 foot below the surface.

Unfortunately, I never could catch up to the lure. So I have no idea how big the bass was. All I know is he really liked that ugly greenish yellow colored Mann's Baby 4 minus.

JT Bagwell

6.54BASS · Post by **6.54BASS** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 2:28 am

Cole, listen to these guys, they know their stuff! Also, look at the line and knot. What type of knot do you use and are there split rings on the bait? When you tie, try to keep the knot away from the ends of the ring, they are sharp and can nick the line. Also, as far as knots are concerned, if you don't already, start using the palomar. Another tip, if it's the split ring think about changing to the oval ones, they keep the knot away from the ends automatically.

Don House · Post by **Don House** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 2:45 am

Cole, I agree with everyone else. I use a lite 6.0 or 6.6 med rod with a very light tip. I also back off the drag on my reel just alittle in case I get to rough.. I too have snapped 14 poung test line with one jerk, sounds like a gun going off...

Topwater fishing is about the hardest there is, we fish alot of buzz baits and Pop R's in Missouri, we loose alot of fish because we get to worked up on the bite. Let the fish take the bait first then sweep the rod away from you most of the time the fish will hook themself....

I have found that sweeping the rod, I get more and better hookups then a up and down hookset. Seems to keep the bait in the mouth and allways hooks on the side of the mouth.. Works for me, give it a try next time.

I fished a tournament on Old Hickory lake in TN this year and the rat was the bait of choice. That was a hard bait to get in there mouth.... Alot of misses and alot of grass coming back with the bait...

But we found after alittle time and alot of missed fish we would just hold your rod tip down, count down to three then sweep the rod and let the fish due all of the work....

So just keep trying and you will find your groove!!!!

Good Fishing

EAT SLEEP FISH

johnnie crain outdoors · Thu Jan 23, 2003 5:27 am

Cole,
first, don't blame yourself for the lost fish, it was most likely a combination of factors that caused the breakoff. These things happen to all of us and we learn from it, or at least to live with it. If a fish attacks a bait swimming away from you and you set the hook, the combination of the snap hook set, the fish moving away and adrenal build up in fish and angler will almost always result in a break off.
Whenever I fish a surface or near surface bait, I never look directly at the bait, I see it sideways and that slows my reaction speed just enough to not "over set" the hook. When a fish strikes right at my feet or close to the boat, I try to "bow" to the fish, drop the rod down just a little to offer a little forgiveness to the rod and line. This of copurse is easier said than done in the heat of battle. I am assuming you were using monofiliment line? Some superlines will snap easily on a quick hook set, some monos will stretch just enough to maybe hook the fish without a breakoff. Either way, don't worry about it, it probably won't happen again until you're only ounces away from winning the Classic. Good luck my friend.
Johnnie Crain Iowa Pro Staff

JoeM · Post by **JoeM** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 2:54 pm

Cole- Thanks for posting that question. I'm sure that you now have more insight as to why this happens and how to improve your odds of that not happening again.

To those of you who answered Cole, thanks from BassinUSA. Much obliged. Joe

LGBASS20LB · Post by **LGBASS20LB** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 7:51 pm

Yeah, i check my knot and line almost after every cast. I already use the palomar knot, it's a great knot. I appreciate all the help im getting from you at this website. I will improve my skills and catch more fish!!
Thanks, cole

dansfishntales · Post by **dansfishntales** » Mon Jan 27, 2003 6:57 am

Cole,
My answer to you is to follow all of the other guys tips, but if you want to get a feel for fish striking close to the boat, try the flipping and pitching techniques. True, it is different than what you were talking about, but these techniques will put a lot of fish in the boat, and give you a great deal of practice on fish that hit close to the boat.

Glad you like the site, and thanks for giving all of us the opportunity to pass along some answers.
Dan