Hi! all. I lost 2fish both well over 10lbs. in past 3weeks! I sight fished both and got bit,set hook(MBR844,14lbs)for 3times,fish dives,jump,both times hook came off with jump.I'm using 2/0 jigheaded gamakatsu.and I set hook really hard.when fish trys to jump I dip my tip in water,what else can I do? I was thinking awitching to flipping stik with 20lbs.and hold it up when they jump.any idea? thanks!in advance

I lost a bunch of big ones this year too, 4 over 10 including one that was around 13. It hurts! Three of them got off on the jump. There are two keys. One is to use heavy gear. 20lb test on a flipping stick for conventional, or if you are using spinning, use 14 to 20lb test with an oversize reel. The other is to texas rig your bait and don't peg the sinker. If you can stick the fish on a 5/0 round bend gammie worm hook with a texas rig, your odds go way way up of landing the fish. With sight fish, you can usually find something on a texas rig that the fish will bite. So use your regular stuff, and then when you think the fish is going to bite, switch to texas rig.

What weight jighead are you using? The problem with using the exposed jigheads like that is that the fish can get leverage on the bait with that big leadhead. A fish that big has alot of power when it shakes its head, and it gets those heavier heads swinging side to side. This makes it real easy for that hook to come out of their mouths.

Try using a texas rigged bait like a brushawg or grub or something like that. That way when the fish jumps, the sinker will come up the line and the fish will not be able to get any leverage on that bait when it shakes its head.

Just my 2 cents
hope it helps

Cam

I used 1/2and 3/4 heads.too heavy?

yes and no :)

I know Rob can back me on this one, but there are times when they wont hit a thing unless its swimming up to their bed. This is a perfect application for the jigheads, but you can use the Texas rig just as effectively. I would bet 10 to 1 that the reason those fish got off was the jighead.

I know the swimmy swimbait usually seems like the best approach, but I am convinced that doing it with a texas rigged setup is a better mouse trap for sure.......

Thers still a few bed fish out there, like Rob Said, get them fired up with the jighead and whatever bait you aree useing on it. When that fish is ready to go and starts nipping at the jighead, switch up to a texas rig and whack em!!!!

I wish I could hook a 10lb sight fish:):)

Cam

Yeah, I get nervous about hooking them on the swimbait sometimes, but the way I sight fish with that bait, and on certain fish, it really needs to have the leadhead on it to give it some movement through the water. Especially if the fish is deep, or off the bed, or any other number of instances. I do try to get em on texas rig whenever possible, but the weird thing is that on the fish which I was forced to use the leadheaded swimbait I haven't lost one. I've only lost the ones where I should've been using texas rig, but didn't... Kind of weird, I'm sure my streak will come crashing down... x(
-Brian

Generally too heavy than they need to be, unless you're fishing some real deep beds or you wanna whack the fish real good. Like the other fellas said, the heavier the jig, the better chance the fish has of throwing it out of it's face. However, I will tell you that I've had excellent success with the Lure Logic jigs as far not losing fish goes. They've got a real light wire gammie hook that penetrates really well. I really like sight fishing with the heaviest, fastest falling jig possible, but as you've discovered you lose a lot of fish with heavy jigs like that. I don't think I've lost a single sight fish on the 3/4oz lure logic. But I don't think you can do any better than texas rig for landing fish. You're obviously getting them to bite with the jig you're using, so I'd say stay with that until the fish is all riled up and about to bite, then switch to a texas rig.
-Brian

I completely concur with all of the responses! These guys KNOW!

My only thought that I would bring to the topic with regards to Texas rigging is to be careful with EWG hooks. Some guys swear by them, and that is FINE! I won't even go there, It is just my personal preference to stay away from them. Go nuts if you like em'!

I'm with Swimbait on the Round Bend Gammies (5/0) I use this hook when throwing 5-inch Senko's and my hook up ratio/catch went way up!
Spool up heavy (20lb) and "Fork-Lift" Em'.

I think any decent fish, especially a big one, will thrash around and tear a big hole in there lip with an EWG. This has happened to me more times than I can count, and just when it feels like you "Stuck-Em' Good!... They break water and your EWG comes flying back at you @ 100 miles per hour.

To quote Swimbait on EWG Jigs. "I have a drawer full of them that I will sell you cheap!"

I also LOVE the Sugoi Hook by GYCB. In Fact, that is primarily what I fish with. I just got some 5/0's and MAN! THOSE SUCKER'S ARE SHARP!
The G-lock is also an excellent hook, but does have a pretty wide gap.
Owner's are also fantastic, and I use a variety of those as well.

The Sugoi Hook is made special for Yamamoto by Gamakatsu. I'm confident that if you T-rig with THAT hook, you'll land those "Farley's"!! BWW carries some of them, or you can order on line.

Best of Luck, and God Bless all of you for your knowledge.


Late!


"ROD"

Definitely. I lost all 4 of those fish on 3/4 and 1/2oz heads. 1/4oz isn't bad, but like Cammy said, those big bass get so much leverage when they jump, and the idea of sticking your rod in the water all of a sudden looks pretty dumb when you have your rod 6' under water and the fish still jumps 2' straight up. A broomstick with 100lb couldn't stop a big bass from jumping if it's far enough away from you :) Stopping 5 and 6lbers is do-able. Stopping 10+ fish isn't. There's a big element to landing big bass which is simply "hold on and pray". That's what gives me the shakes!!!

Ha ha,you are right!swim,what was I thinkin' dipin' tip w/10's! I should've learned that when I lost first one! Thanks again! so,I should keep my tip up when they jump?

What to do when they head for the roof? Sheesh. I have caught some decent numbers of big bass but I don't claim to have any kind of foolproof system. By best advice is to try to slow the fish as it's about to break the surface. Sometimes if I lean way back with my rod out to my side and parallel with the water, I can get the fish to roll over on it's side and make a sloppy jump. If they are mushing around on top, they tend to stay on. It's when you hook them and they go straight up, you are done. The flying headshake is also nice x( That's where they get going one direction, jump and then shake their head while clearing a couple feet of water before coming back down 2 or 3 feet from where they started.

Man this post is bringing back bad memories!

>A broomstick with 100lb couldn't stop a big bass from jumping if it's far enough away from you

They don't gotta be that far away ;( Remember that one I lost at dixon? This fish was probably right at 10lbs, maybe 9, she's about 15ft away from the boat on a bed. I hook her and she starts a slow kick straight up. 20lb P-Line and a flippin stick in the water up to the handle couldn't stop her from jumping. She stayed on the first time, but did the same exact thing again and got off that time. That was when I switched to lure logic jigs for sight fishing... Aw man, that gave me some bad flashbacks. New topic, new topic! :o
-Brian

Atleast you guys didnt lose em in the middle of a tournament with a 15 lb limit already in the boat, with three rats waiting to be culled.

Ummm...twice.

Ouch.........I unfortunately can relate to that one all too well.

But you didnt lose that 8+ in the night tournament. On a buzzbait to boot!!! Nice job on that one for sure. Was that you throwing the buzzbait in Barona about 10:00 or so? I heard someone coming down the bank throwing a buzzbait and they got slammed off one of the little points in Barona. I heard the fish thrash the surface and then the buzzbait went flying.

I got a 6 out of that same spot on a frog!!! I never even heard the fish at all, just went to twitch the frog, and it was swimming away:)

Hope to see you in that new boat next year!

Later
Cam

Naw...I didnt lose any big ones on Saturday. I got the 8.2 on a texas rig on 15 lb Max, so she didn't have a chance. It was a quick battle. Naw, wasn't me in Barona. We stayed out around grassy, south east shoreline, and north bay for the night. Never ventured to the other side of the lake.

Only fish I lost was on a frog back on the mats in Grassy, and it didn't look too big. Although I thought the 8 was a 4 lber when she jumped the first time.

The fish I was talking about was from last years ECFO, and then this year at the 2nd ABA at Vee. At the ECFO it was a pig that hit a super spook and got it in the side of the head, shook it with ease :(. Then this year I had a monster on 4 lb test on a drop shot and she shook it with ease on the first leap.

You got most of your fish on frogs? You finished in 10th didn't ya? Nice job.

Are you going to Mead? ECFO?

Yeah I hope to get the boat soon, still undecided about what I want, and whether or not I should get used or just finance and retrade every couple years.

Lata

Well, its looking like I am going to take a position in sales at 3:16 lures (makers of the Mission fish). This is going to free up alot of fishing time so I plan on doing the ECFO this year for sure. Got 2nd in it 2 years ago, but couldnt fish it last year cause of the 'ol 9 to 5 at Shimano.

As far as Mead goes, I know I will be out there for at least on of the punishment sessions. (ABA or WON) I am really going to be concentrating on my Federation fish-off at the Delta on the 25th and 26th of Oct. If I am on fish at the Delta, you will see me for sure at Mead. If I am struggling up north, then I will be up there the weekends before that tourney.

I cant beleive I managed to fish 6 tournament circuits this year and not 1 tournament conflicted with another. Its been a fun year, thats for sure.

Oh yeah, as for the last night tournament, we had a terrible night. We did end up in 10th, but we only caught 5 fish all night. We had a few big blow-ups on the big baits, but they all missed the bait cause I never felt one of them. I have the El Cajon Night tourney this weekend, sounds like Grassy might be a good place to start. I have been going to the other end of the lake every night tourney. Last year, it was great. This year, it has let me down 3 times now. Gotta stir it up next time.

And to get back on the topic of hooking the big ones, we all know there going to jump. I dont hook too many over 10, but I think as long as you keep the line tight and keep pulling on their head, it doesnt really matter if you have the rod up or down. Its the point where the fish shakes her head and creates slack line, the head of the lure or hook follows closely behind and is allowad a little "free movement" due to even 1 inch of slack. I usually try to pull their heads down before they get up, but when they jump, I seem to just keep pulling the rod in the same direction I was the whole time. I hate it when you have to change the angle of your rod to the fish and you can feel the lure shift in the fishes mouth. That almost has the same effect as you changing direction of the hook with your hands and taking it out after you caught her. Theres been enough advice on this topic, so I know this isnt much help over what has been said.

Keep your cool when you hook her, let her do her thing, but be ready for anything and try not to change the angle of the rod to the fish. Thats about all I can think of on that:)

Is it 5 yet!!!!

Cam

Obviously we have a lot of hard core sight fisherman telling it like it truly is. One thing that stands out is how familiar most of the guy's baits are. Sight fishing is my one true vices in life and like all of you, have lost plenty, including a 14 lber that shook under water and the bait came out. I prefer the texas rigged approach too. I don't seem to loose too many at all when using a 2/0 Owner riggin hook texas rigged with a 1/4 oz weight. But when I find a toad, I go to the big stuff which is a large bait (still gotta keep it a secret because the big girls absolutely hate it) It requires a 1/2 oz straight jig head with a long shank. The trick though that has helped is that I add a trailer hook just like on a spinnerbait. You've all seen some toad kind of "gum or lip" the bait, then never really enhale it. This is when the stinger hook comes in handy. Of course, when it comes to the fight, I use 30 and 50 pound test Power Pro braid on an 8-flippin stick with the reel drag locked down. Sometimes I even had to thumb the spool to boss the fish. A really good sight fishing friend of mine told me one time after I farmed a ten on the jump (with my rod tip in the water) that you know how we laugh at those back east guys on TV and how they raise the rod really high on the jump, guess what, it does work if you do like Rob said and leverage the fish against the flow of it's momentum. If she is heading one way and is coming up to shake, lock down and yank her head back the opposite direction (another benefit of a heavy stick with braided line). The 15 I caught a few months ago busted water at least four times but with the drag locked down and after some nervous bossing around she went for the deep run trick which wears them out even faster. The bottom line is that we all do things a little alike and a little different. What most of us do is because of what we have experienced and learned from...the hard way. One thing that immediately comes to mind that might help is to try and stiffle those nerves when you see her finally smack the bait. Seems like the fish I have farmed were the ones I set the hook the instant it disappeared. Now I try to wait another second to make sure she has it and set with boat rocking force not once, but twice sometimes to get that hook to cut through. Damn, now I want to sight fishing...lol.

Thanks a lot! to all that serious big bass hunters for answering my question.I went out yesterday after I read some replys but I didn't see any big one. So I will keep all in my mind for next year and will post pic.of nice fish. again...Thank you all!

If it makes you feel any better about the two tens, I lost a 12 and a 14 in the same hour one day. The 14 I had five hours into her.