29 replies to this topic

[BassassassinMI]

I wait till I fell weight. Then I slam it as hard as I can with out breaking the line!

[Catt]

The lightest bite you will ever feel will from the biggest bass you will ever catch!

[Bass23]

NCbassmaster4life said it perfectly. Watch your line. If ole bucketmouth hit your lure then he has it and isn't hanging around. Your line will start moving away. Reel the slack,set the hook and have fun. It takes practice. Gets real fun if you jig fish.

[WRB]

So, I am new with Texas Rig worm fishing. My problem is everytime i feel a tap or two taps on my line I get excited and set the hook (upward motion) right away . Because i didnt want the fish to spit out the lure. At a result I always ended up missing the fish . So what is the right technique for setting the hook on bass? Do you wait to feel the full weight of the fish then set hook?

This must be the most repeated question on this site. Try searching the site for dozens of threads that have discussions on this exact topic.
You can't hook set too fast using underwater lure presentations. If you detect a strike, set the hook before the bass detects you and spits out you soft plastic worm or creature.
Tom
PS; exception; spotted bass and smallmouth sometimes pick up a crawdad soft plastic by the claws, then you wait a moment.

[WookieeJedi]

The lightest bite you will ever feel will from the biggest bass you will ever catch!

Got a 7+ last year, and could have sworn it was moss hung up on the wacky rig. Then it went to the left, just a little.

[hatrix]

The lightest bite you will ever feel will from the biggest bass you will ever catch!

X2 There mouth is so big you don't feel when they grab the worm or jig.

I lean forward a bit then reel in a couple times and stand back up.

[BassfisherMass]

Yeah, I think its the small bass or other bait fish that hit my lures, cause the tap is very light. I also have other people told me when ever i feel different on the line or rod. Point the rod down reel in the slack and set the hook. But after doing all of that im afraid that the bass spit the lure out already. So i just set the hook at every tap i feel.

yes for sure!

[Michael DiNardo]

Catt gave the key to this whole situation: bass don't have arms. When you feel the bump take the slack out and SET the hook. Don't "pull" the rod high overhead, Set the hook hard by rotating your hips and keeping your rod parallel to the water. It should look almost like you are swinging a baseball bat backwards. At least that is how I can best describe it.

Mike

[justin apfel]

When you're texas rigging (Or fishing any soft plastic), depending on the size of the worm, you want to go with owner hooks. I just recently switched to Owner and I definitely have noticed a big difference than anything else (besides Trokar which is around $10 for 3 hooks). For a 6 inch worm I would go with a 3/0 or 4/0 hook. I used to only use 2/0 hooks for 6 inch worms, but now I believe they are a little too small.
Also just because you are not hooking these fish does not necessarily mean they are small bass. Bass, big or small, will take lures slowly and they won't always get the whole lure in their mouth right away. Watch your line and give it 2 to 3 seconds and then set the hook. And in the summer or on hot days in the spring you may want to wait a second longer because they aren't going to be as aggressive at this time as they are in 70 degree water. The biggest thing is to not get as excited and just be calm and wait a second longer than you do, it will increase your hookup ratio tremendously. And another thing to think about is how you set the hook, straight up is the best way...to the side is not as effective.

[Red Earth]

if youre slowly trying to feel the weight of the bass before setting the hook then youre going to miss a lot of fish. if you THINK you have a bite, SET THE HOOK!!! it wont cost you nothing but a swing...

[streamwalker]

no matter what im fishing for bass,cat blue gill carp anything i always wait till i feel the fish pull i guess i just know how it feels by now but once i feel it pull i yank and set the hook. i rarely dont hook a bass now really only when im using a buzz bait without a trailer hook

[Catt]

Seriously guys y'all need to do a search on Youtube for Glen Lau, he has 24 videos of bass striking lures of various type.

After y'all have watched them report back here and tell how many bass slowly picked up the lures one bite at a time.

If y'all have never heard of Glen Lau I highly suggest y'all get your hands on a copy of Big Mouth and Big Mouth Forever!

[redboat]

(besides Trokar which is around $10 for 3 hooks

They're a little less than that around here - around $1.25 a hook - but still expensive. I thought they were too pricey also but bought a pack just to see what all the fuss was about. One thing I noticed is, the Trokars don't seem to rust like some of the others. Since I throw out probably 3/4 of my hooks because they're rusty that makes the Trokars work out to be less expensive for me.

You might want to order some Trokars from this outfit - $7 for 5 to 7 hooks, depending on size: http://www.basspro.c...10205306/137951

Not to say Owners are bad - I've used them also; they are good.

[justin apfel]

They're a little less than that around here - around $1.25 a hook - but still expensive. I thought they were too pricey also but bought a pack just to see what all the fuss was about. One thing I noticed is, the Trokars don't seem to rust like some of the others. Since I throw out probably 3/4 of my hooks because they're rusty that makes the Trokars work out to be less expensive for me.

You might want to order some Trokars from this outfit - $7 for 5 to 7 hooks, depending on size: http://www.basspro.c...10205306/137951

Not to say Owners are bad - I've used them also; they are good.

Yeah I've heard good things about them and I was just at bass pro yesterday and I looked at them. They are actually only around $7 for a pack of 5 3/0's. But I decided just to stick with my owners haha. I'll try them eventually.

[acajun2]

I have the same problem. For some reason, I have the best luck with a wacky worm set up. I catch more bass with this rig than I do with a Texas or Carolina Rig.
http://www.ehow.com/...wacky-worm.html