Swinging for the fences?

[lund1]

Lund2 and Lund3 with friends have had an excellent spring on the water. I expect they will post a summary at some point. Of course the bite predictably slows WAY down when I get on the boat....
There’s been much discussion in our household regarding hook setting techniques. We are exclusively using J hooks on all planers and floats....I would say the serious swirl to boat landing ratio could use improvement.
I’m conflicted on technique....my brain wants to drop the tip and offer some degree of free line to allow the stripe to eat....yet I also understand that slack line is deal killer....currently we are maintaining some level of tension, hoping the fish has eaten the bait then crossing her eyes with a good sweep of the rod. This is when the stripe is “blowing up “ on the bait.
When the board just gets buried we lift and strike immediately.
The topic of this thread is “how do you set the hook”?....I’m guessing there’s as many techniques as there are fisherman but I’m looking for the basic philosophy of when and how.
My memory of Yams old wolf camera footage ( those were the days...) suggests the stripe hits the bait hard, turns it and swallows....what should we be doing meanwhile?!

[johnr]

A lot of it depends on how the fish eats it.

If the fish grabs it and starts moving the board backward, or under, I’m burying the hook. No hesitation, all slack line should be gone already, just grab the rod swing for the fence.

If I miss the opportunity for a hook set on a good pullback, where the fish drops it before I can get to it, I will just freespool it until the fish decides to come back. Then I swing for the fence. This is the scenario where most missed and poorly hooked fish happen.

As long as the fish is following/chasing/blowing up the bait, I do not change boat speed or remove the rod from the holder. Only once I feel that the bait has been killed or I’ve missed the opportunity of a good pullback, will I free spool it. Kinda like a last ditch effort.

If they are gonna eat it, they just eat it and that goes for using even the mongo-est of mongos.

And always swing for the fence. There is a ton of extra line that needs to be taken up to get a good hook set when using planers.

[Live Bait JunkEE]

Or you could just use circle hooks AND most of the time they are on the stinger treble anyways. Treble hooks do not need a set hook. If you fish regularly and take note of treble catches VS the J hook really set in the mouth - I bet you would recognize that the treble is doing the work 8 out 10 times or more. unless you are using dollar bills or smaller no, no stinger necessary. The circle takes all the guess work out of it for any confusion.. But it is also fun to give it a good yank if that is your thing.

[coheasion]

"But it is also fun to give it a good yank if that is your thing." - Live Bait JunkEE April 2020

This quote should be used when trying to talk your significant other into going fishing with you, but I'm not sure I suggest it as a motto on the next Mafia hoodie or bumper sticker.


But on a serious note - this is why I use J hooks - more fun to mee to get a hook-up that way.