I had a tournament today and all I caught was short fish and catfish. I had a few quality hits but my hook sets just were not up to par. Is there a way to tell if it is me or my line? I am using Seaguar Red Label and fishing a jig. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What point are you setting the hook? Heres my trick to jigs. Cut 3-4 strands in the weedguard way down to make it easier to set the hook. DO NOT PULL THEM OUT or you risk all of them falling out. 

Hit the gym. In all seriousness maube your rusty from the long winter, and you hve to get your reaction time back?

Step back and lay it to them. Put your back into it. Don't take it easy on them with a jig.

tighten down ur drag more

Why exactly do you think your hookset was an issue? About the only time I feel like the hooset was a problem is if I get caught in a bad position to set the hook or something happens during the hookset like I lose my grip on the reel. You don't have to try to stretch the fish out with you hookset for it to be effective. 

Probably just a timing issue, some days ya on...some days ya aint!

Timing probably is my issue. Also any tips on how to set it when they are swimming toward the boat? I try to take up the slack but do not want to put enough pressure on that I pull the hook out of the fish's mouth.

Every hook set is the same!

Every bite is different!

Every fight is different!

If they are running straight at the boat I set straight up. If they are running left or right I set in the opposite direction.

Hit the gym. In all seriousness maube your rusty from the long winter, and you hve to get your reaction time back?

Very good point, I have a small lake I call it the tune up lake. Lots of smaller fish, eager to eat. Allows me to sharpen my line detection & hook setting techniques. It turns on early around here.

I always wait until i feel atleast 2 small taps, sometimes even 3 if theyre weak.

More hookups, but also more "foul" hooks (aka swallowed)

Was patrolling a rocky bank for about 2 hours for smallies and out of 9 sets, 7 were successful, with 2 gutters. Both lived, atleast for now.

 

I always wait until i feel atleast 2 small taps, sometimes even 3 if theyre weak.

 

this is wrong. you need to set the hook at the first tap or sign of a bite.  it's hard enough to feel big fish b//c they inhale/exhale the lure so fast.  Shaw Grigsby said there are 3 taps you'll feel with a bite: 

1st tap= the bass inhaling the lure

2nd tap=the bass spitting it out

3rd tap= is shaw tapping you on your on shoulder asking 'why you didn't set the hook!?'

this is wrong. you need to set the hook at the first tap or sign of a bite.  it's hard enough to feel big fish b//c they inhale/exhale the lure so fast.  Shaw Grigsby said there are 3 taps you'll feel with a bite: 

1st tap= the bass inhaling the lure

2nd tap=the bass spitting it out

3rd tap= is shaw tapping you on your on shoulder asking 'why you didn't set the hook!?'

It may sound wrong, but when your dragging lizards on the bottom ive come to learn real quick the first tap is almost always a tail strike and setting it then is just a lost fish.

Listening to a pro is probably the stupidest thing one could do if personal experience shows otherwise.

Now with hardbaits, sure slam that hook. But anything that is slow presentation, you need to have patience with.

It may sound wrong, but when your dragging lizards on the bottom ive come to learn real quick the first tap is almost always a tail strike and setting it then is just a lost fish.

Listening to a pro is probably the stupidest thing one could do if personal experience shows otherwise.

Now with hardbaits, sure slam that hook. But anything that is slow presentation, you need to have patience with.

Goto youtube & search for Glen Lau's videos Bigmouth & Bigmouth Forever.

Please watch both videos noting how many times a bass bites a lure by the tail & report back here with the results.

Thank you very much, have a nice day

Goto youtube & search for Glen Lau's videos Bigmouth & Bigmouth Forever.

Please watch both videos noting how many times a bass bites a lure by the tail & report back here with the results.

Thank you very much, have a nice day

Just from this year alone i already have 12 tailless lizards.

From the past 3 years, ive probably melted down over 200.

Why dont you people stop quoting someone else and do some information gathering on your own with experience.

This should be interesting.

Just from this year alone i already have 12 tailless lizards.

From the past 3 years, ive probably melted down over 200.

Why dont you people stop quoting someone else and do some information gathering on your own with experience.

Dude I've drug lizards, worms, craws, creatures, & critters across hundreds of miles of lake, marsh, swamp, creek, bayou, & river bottoms across 1/2 of this country for the last 50+ years.

If you are loosing tails it is more than likely Bream!

Thanks for all your help guys. I ended up taking line off to respool for next weekend and found that it was all kinked up and stretched out. 

It must have been my timing and line stretch, mostly timing though. I will see if it gets any better this weekend.

Dude I've drug lizards, worms, craws, creatures, & critters across hundreds of miles of lake, marsh, swamp, creek, bayou, & river bottoms across 1/2 of this country for the last 50+ years.

If you are loosing tails it is more than likely Bream!

Not Bream, i sight fish a lot. They constantly snap the tail then attack the head. Couldnt tell you why but the only time i havent witnessed this trend is in 45 or below water

One thing that wasn't asked was what rod power you were using? Jigs usually have pretty stout hooks and you'll need at least a medium heavy to get the hook to penetrate properly.

 

 

I had a friend who thought it was fun to fight bass on an ultra light combo. One day though he lost 5 or 6 fish in a row. I asked him to show me his setup and he had a pretty heavy gauge hook so he was never getting a good hookset into the fish, just not enough power in that rod for that type of hook

Spotted bass will slap at a jig before eating it some times.  But I have never had a largemouth double tap it and be there.

Just from this year alone i already have 12 tailless lizards.

From the past 3 years, ive probably melted down over 200.

Why dont you people stop quoting someone else and do some information gathering on your own with experience.

youre probably getting the tails bit off by bluegills, theyre notorious for that. and myself, id have a hard time questioning catt's experience, not saying he is always right, but he is one of the more knowledgeable and respected members here. just like frog fishing, some people say when the bass hits the frog, count to 3 before setting the hook, i set the hook as soon as the frog disappears. i figure by the time i count to 3 the fish will have spit the bait. when you feel a bite, you set the hook. only time i would wait is if i can physically see the bass doesnt have the hook in his mouth...perhaps you should learn to distinguish a bluegill bite from a bass bite, because more than likely thats whats taking the tails off youre lizards, they do it to worms too

Not Bream, i sight fish a lot. They constantly snap the tail then attack the head. Couldnt tell you why but the only time i havent witnessed this trend is in 45 or below water

i also do a lot of clear water sight fishing and ive rarely ever seen a bass bite the tail off a lizard or worm. if theyre short striking your lizards try changing colors and see how they react...

There have been times I set hook & came with nothing but the front of the plastic, everything from the hook back was gone.

I've also missed fish, reeled in, looked at the tail & saw teeth marks.

Both would lead one to think the bass were hitting short but upon closer examination one would see tiny little groves in the lead weight

As we all know, not all bites are bass.  I had plenty of practice this past weekend in the Everglades, with over 50 rock bass, several mudfish, Oscars, 5 blue gill, and only 3 black bass.  I can pretty much tell by the initial bite if it is a bass or baitfish.  Bass will strike and hold, gar rip violently, Rock Bass and Bluegill machine gun little hits, mudfish solid bites but almost immediate head shakes.

 

The question is why has the bass bite almost gone  nonexistent after months of prolific action.  I believe it is the explosion of baitfish dumped into the canals on the east side of the glades from the rapidly dropping water levels in the flats.  Add to this an explosion of tadpoles by the billions.  These bass are just stuffed!  Its like a Thanksgiving Feast every day, three times a day, in the glades right now.  This is especially evident on the east side where the water is the lowest.  This could also explain the unusually dirty water from the draining of the flats.  As soon as the feast subsides the real explosion of bass fishing will begin east of the river.