I managed to beat the typical problem..spooky fish in gin-clear water. Lost two solid fish due to bad hook sets. One grabbed a swarming hornet at SIXTY FEET and jumped off 20 feet later.  The other was up shallow, you know...like 35 feet. I got to see the three pound-ish LMB before he spit it at the surface and gave me a tail wave on the way back down.

How does one get a good hook set on light line into a fish that deep!?

 

Ive never fished for them that deep. Ive always managed to find smallies cruising up on the surface in the backs of coves and around humps.

Ive hooked them with jigs before on braid in about 40 feet of water in some trees by the big cliff though.

One grabbed a swarming hornet at SIXTY FEET and jumped off 20 feet later.

if you moved him 20 feet, it sounds like he may have shook it off. was there any slack during the fight?

braid, good quality hooks and a good backbone on a rod should help with hooksets

One grabbed a swarming hornet at SIXTY FEET and jumped off 20 feet later.

if you moved him 20 feet, it sounds like he may have shook it off. was there any slack during the fight?

braid, good quality hooks and a good backbone on a rod should help with hooksets

I lost him at a transition point where I realized he was coming back at me from the direction he'd been pulling. So yeah, didn't have as much pressure on him.

Rod was probably good (St Croix Premier 7MF) but 12 pound mono didn't help. We were sight seeing the wall/cliff that Jacob mentioned with the kids, and just happened to see some big balls and arcs on the graph so started jigging on them with whatever was handy.

I would think braid on a clear lake like Jocassee would scare them off. Fluoro leader?

I would think braid on a clear lake like Jocassee would scare them off. Fluoro leader?