I've had this happen before. If you inspect the tail of your worm you may find bite marks at the end, or even halfway up. This tells me that it was probably small fish grabbing the tail and running with it. Seting the hook is useless in this case, because the hook is not in the mouth. Of course I have no way of verifying this but it's the only thing that makes sense to me........

I know I have had small LM hold on all the way to the boat before releasing too.

That actually makes a lot of sense matt.  I would have to say that at least half the time I would set the hook.  I would think I had the fish hooked good, they would swim with it and then let go. Hrmm.. kind of disappointing to think what I would've caught with the proper equipment.  Well, payday is soon.. so I guess I can really justify investing into a nice setup.  Thanks for the help.

It is possible that bluegill are hitting the worm. However - you should probably be using a larger hook with a 7 inch worm. I personally have used 4/0 Mustad Elites with 5" Senkos with a lot of success (haven't lost a fish yet after the hookset). Perhaps you should try a 4/0 or even a 5/0.

Before investing a large amount of $$$ on a better setup, you may want to first try using a braided line as well. Monofilament has stretch, which is the last thing you need if you're using a short rod, as you have reduced leverage as is when setting the hook. Braid doesn't stretch, and may help you set the hook better. IMO, Try some 20 or 30# power pro first.

Lastly, this goes back to your rod - it's short. This means less leverage when setting the hook, so you may have to set the hook a bit harder and bring your rod tip back more than you currently are. Try this first as well.

I'm a firm believer in the fact that most of the time, it's the Indian and not the arrow.

They make spinning rods in light, medium light, medium, medium heavy and i believe heavy, but i'm not sure on the last one. I have used light and medium, i have yet to try my medium light i just got the other day, but i've stuck 5 lb 22" largemouths with a 5'6" light shakespeare rod i found in the garage. It's all about hookset and your tackle. My quantum accurist pt is on a 6'6" medium action baitcasting rod. If you want to get into baitcasters, it's really not that hard to learn and it's so much smoother. You feel like you have a tiny winch in your hands and it's a more balanced feel. I use spinning stuff most of the time because i trek through the woods to a few spots and bringing a 1 piece 6'6" rod is just not on my list of fun, so i throw the spinning stuff in a backpack. How are you rigging your worms exactly? Pics? I use #10 spiderwire supermono xxx but i used to use #12 big game. I now have #8 spiderwire super mono xxx, i'll see how this stuff holds up. I think your line should be fine.

Drew_Pearland wrote on Jul 28^th, 2010 at 10:59am:



Spinning rods for the most part still have a lot more flex to them than baitcasters.  A lot of it also depends on the quality of the rod.

If your just tucking the barb back into the worm you may want to run the barb all the way through the worm and then skin hook the barb to the backside. Less rubber to go through.

"Locked" came really close to one of my favorite setups...... until he got to the rod length.

Tendinitis can play havoc on you when using a baitcasting rig.  They also aren't much good with lighter line.   I have used a spinning rod for a lot of my worm fishing the last few years.

6'6" Medium Fast Action, 8lb Trilene XL, Gammy 2/0 EWG, with assorted weights.  This outfit fishes T-Rigged 7" power worms, 5" craw worms, and 5" grubs.

Adding a foot of rod length would help a lot.