On 10/31/2025 at 10:00 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Pay attention. Watch your line and be quick on your hooksets. You can't give them time to eat it or any of that nonsense that some folks like to do. As soon as you think you're bit, swing on them and get them moving. If they hang up, lean on them at first for several seconds and see if they'll pop loose. If they don't, remove almost all the pressure so the fish can back up on it's own and try to swim out. As soon as you feel the fish move, lean on it again. A lot of the time, you'll pop them loose doing this. 

Perfect description. 

On 10/31/2025 at 10:09 AM, BradH said:

Lay your thumb on the spool on the hook set and until you get things going the right way.

This is dead on, especially for moving baits.  If you're running a moving bait along or through some thick stuff or even a fat log the fish is going to be moving fast when it hits your lure.  Sweep the rod to set the hook, thumb the spool, and HOLD.  Don't rip it out of their mouth or snap your knot, just hold for a 2 or 3 count and you'll feel the fish give you the first couple of hard shakes and then you'll feel the head turn.  Now reel a little and you've got them several feet away from the garbage and you can start your fight with them.  

I use 30# PowerPro on a Lew's LFS 7.something:1reel with a very tight drag and a Flacon Bucoo pitching stick. I use Gamakatsu superline hooks and set them very hard to turn the bass and get it moving up. I fish from a kayak when I'm not in my buddy's jon boat. The kayak is light so I drag it to the laydown pretty quickly. If the bass gets pinned or wrapped, I keep the pressure on until I can reach for it. Sometimes they will break off branches and get free. Try to target the deep end of the laydown first. Fish there have a tendency to instictively try to head for deep water, away from the tree. You'll still lose some. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. When the water cools, I also rig my frog rod with a jig or T rig. It has 60# braid.