Losing fish on a spinning rod

[jcronebassmaster]

The last 3 weeks ive been fighting with a spinning rod a bunch and i want to see what everyone has to say. At the end of last year i switched all my spinning gear to flouro from braid with a leader. I got a lot more bites and had no trouble hooking fish on anything. Up to this point this year i wasnt having any trouble with loosing fish on a spinning rod and all of the sudden im losing fish on a dropshot, shakey head, senko, ned rig, just about everything on a spinning rod possible. The kicker is its not just one rod, its all of them. Any words of wisdom?

[karol]

are you using an overhead hookset? casting rods take a sideways sweep but it doesn't work for a spinning rod

[jcronebassmaster]

Yeah i set the hook overhead. I reel up so there is no slack and just load up on them. Its not a very hard hookset

[ECobb91]

With a drop shot I reel down on them then set the hook pretty hard. I know most people say you just have to do a reel set so you don't bend the hook but if you're using a ML rod with floro, the line will break before the hook will. And the ML will absorb a lot of the shock before the line snaps.

Everything else I set the hook hard on them. If it's a plastic, it's usually a diagonal hookset about 10-11 o clock. Finesse swimbaits and jigs are a side swing. The ned rig is the only bait I have a hard time keeping fish buttoned. Haven't figured that one out yet haha

[KMcClure]

Ned rig straight reel set. My setup - NRX 822dsr, Stradic ci4+, 15lb braid with 8lb leader. Was using 6lb fluorocarbon but stepped it up a bit because I'm fishing a ton of rocks. I don't think I've missed a ned fish yet. As long as your drag isn't super tight and your rod isn't too heavy you should hook them every time

[RFeyoMN]

You'll have to reel down more and set the hook harder. It's that simple. Not matter what, using fluoro you'll have more of a bow in the line under water.

For a jig worm(ned rig)...try using a bigger hook. All my jigworms I use a 2/0 gamakatsu hook. Might be a bit too big for a roboworm for some people, but it's almost guaranteed the fish isn't coming off. Hard hookset...don't matter which direction! All I use is a 782 Loomis...6.5ft 2 power. 8 or 10lb fluoro.

The nice thing about these presentations, the fish rarely reject them. You can reel down pretty tight on them to get a good hookset.

[snakebitmark]

Reel down, load up the tip and lift up to set the hook. I use nothing but braided line and a fluorocarbon leader. I don't lose nearly as many fish as I did with Fluorocarbon and mono filament alone. Just need to find what works for you.

[billnorman1]

Sound worried about breaking your fluoro. Go to bigger test line.

[DrewFlu33]

EDIT: Double post, somehow.

[DrewFlu33]

I think RFeyo and billnorman are onto something. It sounds like you're not driving the hook home.

I would say the hookset doesn't work the same on straight fluoro as it does on braid with a leader due to having more stretch in the system, but you say you were okay after making the switch initially and have only now started having issues. I'm guessing something is different that you're not realizing, similar to a hitter in baseball going through a slump or something like that. Do you have any way to record yourself setting the hook to see if your mechanics are off?

Did you break some fish off recently that has you second guessing your hookset?

[jcronebassmaster]

Ive got a gopro i cab set up on my windshield. I never thought about looking at that.

[jrbdad]

Changed rod for spinner baits and chatterbait this weekend. Not bits missed and no fish lost.

[Walkabout7781]

I always set the hook by moving the rod tip the opposite direction from where the fish is going, if it's swimming left or right. Seldom have a problem with that. Otherwise, I don't see that it makes a huge difference, except that you sure don't want to be dragging the line sideways through the water...if there's a big bow in line. That's why you move the rod tip opposite direction to the direction the fish is moving. Side sweep may help there, or not, the way I see it.

I'd wonder if your hooks are sharp, if they're too big, too flexible, too heavy a wire, cheap, baits too big, etc. More information might help? Have you changed hook or line brands or maybe just don't set the drag as tight as previously? Truthfully, you should use a less powerful rod with braid than with stretchier Fluorocarbon or Copolymer lines, so if you have the same rods, maybe they're too wimpy?

Another thought...if the fish is small, there isn't as much resistance to the hook point, so you move the fish more. Larger fish have more mass to resist being moved in the water, so you're more likely to break off on hookset. I like to get a little "zzzt" from the drag when I set the hook, but not "zzzzzzzt", if you see what I mean.

[TNRoostertail]

Could it be possible that the rod is losing it's backbone? I had an older All American that did this 15 years ago, it just started getting softer, it still felt good but when I took it to the local tackle shop the old man there said it felt light a med light to him. The rod in fact was a med heavy, I started testing it against my other rods and sure enough it had gotten softer. Made it my crappie rod and still have it today.