Setting the hook on longer soft plastics...

[NoZero]

So my 11yr old daughter was fishing with me this evening. - best thing ever.

- she had a HOG bite down on a 5" yum minnow (pic below). That bass got vertical before she could set the hook and as it surfaced (spitting the hook out), I could fit my fist and more in it's mouth.

I didn't let on how big I thought it actually was. hahaha.... I was so proud of her swimming that bait like a pro and getting an old, experienced Bass to chomp down!


** so the question: Do you have tips or tricks to set the hook on longer soft plastics - like a 7" fluke - where the hook is so far away from the tail?

[Wackyjig]

Long rod with a long sweep is what I do. I throw 6 and 8" magdrafts alot with the standard harness trebel and ones I've set up weedless with a belly weight hook. I also toss alot of scroungers with magnum flukes this time of year.
If the fish has eaten it and not just grabbed the tail, I bury the hook with that long sweep.

[BoatBuggy]

Was it rigged on a jig head or with a weighted swimbait hook?

If a jig head, I make sure the point of the hook is pointing up slightly and use more of a sweep hookset. If it's a weighted swimbait hook, look for ones that have a very wide gap so the plastic gets out of the way of the hook (I use the Mustad ones) and make more of an upwards hookset.

[dabassking]

Set the hook like normal. Hard and to the side. If the fish has eaten the bait, you’ll hook it. If it just has the tail, you’ll miss it every time no matter how you swing.

[Nick D]

Set the hook like normal. Hard and to the side. If the fish has eaten the bait, you’ll hook it. If it just has the tail, you’ll miss it every time no matter how you swing.

This. When I'm throwing soft swimbaits with an exposed jig hook, once I feel them have it I crack them hard.

[NoZero]

It was a weighted swimbait hook. 4/0

Thanks! This helps me know how to help her... I haven't ever fished soft plastics because I'm a spinnerbait addict, and now I'm trying to broaden my repertoire.

[Walkabout7781]

I would suggest experimenting with dyeing the head of the bait with a bit of red, pink, or chartreuse. Get the fish to hit the head and not the tail. Also would wonder if you provided her with a suitable rod and line, as well ask if she has the power and will to really set the hook hard enough.

Personally, I'd suggest Splitshotting a 4" or 5" Zoom lizard on a 6'6"M spinning rod with 15 lb braid, no leader. A 1/0 EWG or 3/0 G-Lock and a #1 round splitshot will work perfectly.

[NoZero]

^^ I love the suggestion to spike the head and not the tail!!

The rod was a 6'6" - so maybe a bit short, 12lb flouro.... She's 5'2" tall and wears a size 10 women's shoe... she's got enough umph behind her set - she'd just never really done it before - that was just her real first time to get a fish on. -- just seeking the infinite wisdom BBC to give good guidance!

[Walkabout7781]

Y'all got Rainbow Trout, so a stripe down the side will probably help, too. A club member was at home dying the tails of his Zoom lizards chartreuse, when his wife asked him why? "So the fish will see it better." "But the hook is in the head, right?" So he started dying the heads of his zoom lizards chartreuse and found it worked at least as well. Personally, I've never dyed a lizard, but would certainly be putting a pink stripe down the side of your swimbait. My feeling is that fish just react to "food colors"...what they see around them every day. From what I've read, they are not "detail oriented", which explains why they're not put off by treble hooks hanging under a jerkbait.

I probably wouldn't spool up the kid's reel with expensive fluorocarbon line...but I'd probably make it heavier lb test, for less stretch. If she's using a baitcaster, anyway. For spinning, I'd spool her up with 20 lb. braid with a leader.

[Casslaw]

I throw a lot of soft plastic swimbaits on weighted hooks and I set the hook much differently than I do with my swim jig. With a swim jig I almost always feel a hard thump: I reel and raise the rod tip straight up. I’m usually in weeds and want to get the fishes head up as fast as possible. I also use braid on my swim jig.

With a soft plastic swimbait I’m usually using a 1/4oz weighted swimbait hook, 12 or 14lb CXX, 7’3” rod with an 8:1 Daiwa SV. I swim it slowly most of the time without much action other than what the lure imparts itself. These hits are usually not as hard, and I believe bass always try to eat their prey head first so when I feel them take the swimbait I TRY to keep reeling until I feel the fish turn it’s head. Then I reel quickly and do a side sweeping hookset very hard!

I thumb my spool during the hookset, once I stop reeling, and really try to figure out which way the fish is facing. Then I will loosen the drag and try to get them in. I have always been a very hard hook setter! But they’re free so why not?

One thing I have had to really learn the last year learning swim jigs and swimbaits is to slow my hookset until that fish has turned to swim away. When I started learning these 2 techniques I was reacting too fast and pulling the lure away from them. Once I asked on here and was told to slow down until you feel them turn their head my hook up ratio has went up tremendously!

I hope your daughter catches an even bigger fish!