Can someone help and explain the proper hook set technique to me? I'm a bit confused.
I've been fishing for a couple of years, but nothing special just bottom fishing a worm. Normally, I wait until I see the tap on the rod tip. At the first tap, I pick up the rod and wait for the second tap, then pull back and set the hook.
I've been getting more into fishing with crank baits, soft plastics, bass, walleye, etc and watching YouTube video where people are like, "oh he just took it" reel slowly, then do a huge hook set.
Question:
How do they know when the fish "just took it" I try to watch the rod tip in the videos but it doesn't seem like it moved?
How do you properly set the hook? Is the wait for the tapping like I've been doing (catch a lot of small fish when I do this?), or a reel reel reel then set the hook?
When you feel the first tap (or whatever it is to know that a fish is interested) are you supposed to stop and wait, or do you start reeling faster like a bait fish trying to get away?
Thanks in advice!
EDIT: If it matters, fishing freshwater in Southern Ontario Canada, generally harbours and slow moving rivers. Have a spinner setup and a bait caster setup that I switch between.
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by CrackerJackJack
Proper hook set. I've been pretty much doing what you do for about 70 yrs and somehow it just seems to work. Something I've noticed in fishing and shooting, wait long enough and someone will come up with a better way to do everything that's better than the way that has always worked for you!
Try watching your line right where it enters the water. Any movement will indicate a fish.
Able Man
Loc: North Coast (Cleveland, Ohio)
If I'm just fishing "deep", off the side of the boat, I'll usually "drape" the line over my index finger, to feel when anything down there is interested in my bait. ... Couple small bumps, followed by a "serious tug", I set the hook during that "serious tug"...
When casting and retrieving any kind of artificial lures, it depends on the particular lure. Generally speaking, when I feel something even "bump" my lure, I'm giving it a "bit of a jerk", to see if I can reel him in.
I love to fish topwater bass, early and late in the day, you'll KNOW when to "set the hook" while doing that.
When I bottom fish, I set my line taut with the drag set low so the fish can run with it. I put my rod in a holder when I'm bank fishing and I put a light bobber with a paper clip on the line between 2 eyelets and let it hang a little bit. If that bobber jiggles just a little bit, I leave it alone. On the other hand, if that bobber either drops fast or goes flying off the line, I set the hook fast. That's what has worked for me for the last 60 years.
maddog10e wrote:
When I bottom fish, I set my line taut with the drag set low so the fish can run with it. I put my rod in a holder when I'm bank fishing and I put a light bobber with a paper clip on the line between 2 eyelets and let it hang a little bit. If that bobber jiggles just a little bit, I leave it alone. On the other hand, if that bobber either drops fast or goes flying off the line, I set the hook fast. That's what has worked for me for the last 60 years.
And I have to say again, if it works, don't fix it!
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