Advice, dont loose fish.

[mighty]

Okay like I said in the other thread I lost several fish yesturday. I know it comes with the territory but I would like to reduce it as much as possible. I have been trying to be careful not to pull to hard, but on several instances the fish just pulled off. I am wondering if the they were not hooked good or if my drag was too tight. Maybe my hooks were not sharp enough. On that note how often should you change your hooks.

Will someone please post some info on how not to loose as many fish.

Should the drag be real loose, help

Thanx:D

[Billbob]

i dont use drags i will back reel if i have to check your hooks

[Mopar Matt]

Are you fishing with minnows or jigs? If you are using minnows try some tru-turn hooks. I have had good luck with them.

[3GIRLSDAD]

What type of set up are you fishing with? UL, jig pole, tight lining with jig, minnow under float? I seem to lose most of my fish at the boat when I am lazy and don't want to bend down to grab the net. Try to lft em up and they come off. If you are losing them during playing them in I would say to much pressure and hook is pulling out. Fine line between tight line and too much pressure. Also might be setting hook to hard, I often do this the first couple of times I catch fish after not fishing for a while, usually just lifting up on the rod tip or a light sweeping motion away from structure is all it takes, then just keep constant light pressure. Hope this helps, Some others may have better info. Good luck.

3GD

[Singlepole]

If your hook will scratch your fingernail the hook is plenty sharp. I use a dip net for every fish no matter the size, cause they don't call them PAPERMOUTHS for nothing. I can't begin to count the number of fish that has come off the hook at the top of the water, but luckly the net was there to make the save. Keeping just enough tension on the line to not give slack should help land the fish 99% of the time. Good luck and happy catching

[mattcombs]

Yep, a slight whip of the wrist and they're hooked!

Most times, crappie will hook themselves, especially if you are casting and reeling back.

[Barnacle Bill]

Open your hook gap up just a little.

[SteveJ]

Open your hook gap up just a little.

Thats why I like a bigger hook in my jigs than most.

[CrappiePappy]

you may not have been getting a good hookset (esp if the float was a ways off from the rod tip, or there was slack line between rodtip & float). Minnow/hook rigs are notorious for loosing fish ... simply because you don't know what part of the mouth the hook is going to stick into. That's one thing I have against the hook/sinker or hook/sinker/float setup. And one reason I prefer to cast jigs - I set the hook with "speed", rather than "force", when casting jigs. A fast snap of the wrist, as I raise the rod up with my forearm is how I set the hook (jig casting) ... and I rarely hook a Crappie anywhere other than the roof of the mouth (since the single hook of a jig is always pointing UP/forward). I haven't lost more than a half dozen Crappie in 20yrs of jig casting, due to the fish coming unbuttoned or the jig pulling/ripping loose (and most of those were hooked in the lip membrane). When fishing with a float, though, I usually let the fish run a little ... tighten the line (remove the slack) with the reel ... while I lift the rod until I feel weight ... THEN give the rod a quick upward snap with the wrist.

I set my drag so that I can set the hook on a solid object, and the drag slips well before the line would break. Leaving the drag real loose can allow the fish to outrun the line tension, get slack, or bury into some nearby cover -- tightening it down too far can put too much pressure on a "surprise" bite/hookset, and break your line or rip the hook free of the fish's mouth.

I don't know if, and won't say that, any of this will keep you from losing fish in the future .... sometimes they just get away :D It isn't always "operator error" that's the culprit ... sometimes it's just the fish that get "lucky"

............. luck2ya .....cp

[mighty]

I use floaters, sinkers, and hooks and cast jigs. When I lost the fish yesturday I was on the dock not too much slack in the line. I hooked it fought with it, didn't even get to see and boom fish gone, bobber comes floats back.


Part of the game