Pond Trip 5/21, Question on Hook Sets

Steve826 05/21/2008 - 17:05 Trip Reports Impoundments Roll Your Own Me and my dad hit a local pond after school today for an hour. Dad got the only hit of the day, which was a largemouth that looked like it was in the 12-15 inch range. It hit a 3.5 inch Strike King Bleeding Tube in Pearl Pepper dragged across the bottom. Dad was not able to land the fish, as soon as he felt the strike and set the hook, which he did pretty hard, his line snapped and the fish thrashed away on the top of the water, allowing us enough time to take a quick look. He was using 8 pound test. No other strikes after that. Now, my question is. How hard should we be setting the hook? I read that a bass has a hard jaw and requires a hard hook set. Is this true? Should we be putting a lot of muscle in our hook sets or should it just be a tug? He thinks he lost the fish due to a bad knot because a hard hookset probably wouldnt break 8 pound test. If someone could give me tips on setting the hook correctly, please let me know.

Steve

Thanks for the info. This wee

Steve826 05/21/2008 - 21:10 Thanks for the info. This weekend the whole family, plus my uncle and aunt, are headed to Cunningham Falls Lake to fish for a while and then have a cookout. I'll be sure to post a report afterward.

Thanks again,
Steve

Steve, I agree with your da

jackson 05/21/2008 - 17:34 Steve, I agree with your dad that it was probably a bad knot. The knot is typically the weakest link between you and the fish. I've never snapped my line from setting the hook. You do not need to cross the fishes eyes to set a hook, just bring the line tight a usually a good snap of the wrist is all it takes. But this all dependent on having a sharp hook and rod with enough backbone to drive the hook home. Practice makes perfect in knot tying. Over the years I've found that the palomar knot is just about the easiest and one of the strongest knots you can use. With all knots make sure you wet the knot down before you tighten. I hope this helps. It also is benificial to spool up with fresh premium monofiliment such as Triene XT or equal. Good Luck, Jackson!!

I Agree with Jackson & Your Dad

muskalungee 05/21/2008 - 19:53 I would imagine it was a knot problem for sure, although there are a lot of line variables that can cause degradation and effect your knot strength:

Age
Sunlight exposure
Water (yeah, really)
Nicks and cuts from rocks, etc
Not wetting your line when tying your knot (the heat from the friction can damage your line)

There are probably more that others can add, those are just the ones that I can come up with off the top of my head. Muskalungeeeeeeee! -Mike