here's a couple examples of hook sets while sucker fishing.
the good, the bad, the ugly mugs!
1) complete sally job.
you can see the pressure load up and then the hooks let go since i didn't hit it hard enough to bury the hooks and i set it to the side instead of straight up.
doh!
2) full body fish mover.
Cory does a good job of setting the hooks "through" the fish instead of "to" the fish. of course, the netman tries to blow it at the end...
Posted 12/13/2007 10:45 AM (#288893 - in reply to #288839) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 253
Lambeau, you mentioned that you set the hook up and not to the side. We have had a lot better succes with the fish moving away and setting the hook to the side. Going straight up puts the hooks into the hard part of the mouth where going to the side puts them in the corner. Why do you feel setting straight up is better?
Steve Ruhmann
lambeau
Posted 12/13/2007 12:43 PM (#288908 - in reply to #288893) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Going straight up puts the hooks into the hard part of the mouth where going to the side puts them in the corner. Why do you feel setting straight up is better?
good question, i'll offer my opinion and hopefully others will chime in with their thoughts and experiences as well.
first off, you can't control exactly where in the muskie's mouth the sucker is when it gets grabbed. i'm personally not comfortable waiting before hookset for the muskie to turn the sucker (as this is preparatory to swallowing it), so i'm popping them pretty quick - just get 'em moving away from you and give it the berries. we watched one muskie grab the back end of the sucker this year and could plainly see that the hooks were outside the muskie's mouth. we just watched it and laughed as there was no point in setting the hook. that happens.
but generally, the muskie grabs the sucker roughly in the middle by "t-boning" it. if your hooks are in the middle of the sucker they're probably in the muskie's mouth. that's the whole theory of "quick-set" rigs and why they work.
i place my sucker rigs so that the hooks are on the top/back of the sucker. setting the hook upwards helps to make sure that the hooks pull cleanly away from the sucker and into the muskie's mouth. with an upward hookset, even if the hook is initially in the hard roof of the mouth, a hard enough set will slide it over to the side and into softer flesh. and if i don't feel the hooks bury and catch, i'll set it again. Sorno did that this year on a fish and you could see the difference when the hook slid and buried in the side of the mouth on the second hookset.
for me, a more sideways hookset has resulted in hookpoints getting buried in the body of the sucker instead of pulling away and hooking the muskie's mouth.
the "best case scenario" for me is if possible to move the boat with the electric so that it's almost above the fish, with the fish swimming away, and then set upwards. unfortunately, the fish don't always allow this...
Posted 12/13/2007 6:08 PM (#288950 - in reply to #288839) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 476
Location: WI
my lips are sealed Rumor has it there maybe a video somewhere though......
bn
Posted 12/13/2007 7:03 PM (#288957 - in reply to #288839) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
all star? aquaman? what? I know nothing...
I tend to think going straight up and not to the side produces a more powerful hook set...sucker hooksets are a crapshoot no matter how you slice it and you will never get 100% of them...I have been doing pretty well the last few years overall batting over .500...we will all go in streaks of missing some but overall I think a good strong hookset straight up, with the fish moving away is best...I don't like to have the fish more than about 10 feet away from me when I set the hook as well...get the rod tip way down, reel up all the slack so the rod starts to load and give em heck...sometimes you get em, sometimes you don't...if you aren't at least getting half you might want to refine where you put the hooks on the sucker and re-evaluate....
Posted 12/13/2007 7:40 PM (#288966 - in reply to #288957) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Location: The Yahara Chain
The best way to get more force is to create a little slack in the line before you set, this will create much more force and the rig will come flying off of the sucker. Have your rod around 11 o'clock when you reel down and then point your rod tip directly at the fish, to create slack, and lay the wood to them.
I agree with Muskiejunkie, in that you want to set in the opposite direction that the fish is moving. This will mean a sideways hook set most of the time. I agree with BN that your % will be higher if you are closer to the fish and you are never going to get them all. When I wiff it is a clean miss, the hooks come flying out fast and just miss the fish sometimes. No sally effect where you set and you feel weight but your rig isn't free of the sucker yet, then it breaks free to late. Which is what looks like what happened in the first video.
Posted 12/13/2007 10:58 PM (#288987 - in reply to #288966) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander.
After watching that I can't wait to get back out there. Sucker fishing is so much fun. I really dread the fact that some people would like to put a stop to it. With the quick strike rigs we have today and those that are being tested I don't think banning it is needed. Single hook rigs I can understand. Muskie fishing with suckers is tradition in wisconsin and as I said a blast. Anyone watching those videos has to agree.
I can actually say most of the fish I caught on bulldawgs were hooked deeper then those caught on quick set rigs.
Posted 12/14/2007 7:43 AM (#288996 - in reply to #288987) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 341
I haven't reeled in damaged goods either using suckers.
I rank it up there with eating a nice steak and eggs Frank Sinatra style.;) I love how it get's your adrenaline pumping, especially when she rips it at dusk and you've been waiting all day for that one taker.
I gotta take a trip down to Kincaid!!
Posted 12/14/2007 12:30 PM (#289036 - in reply to #288839) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 253
I have experimented with the straight up hook set and it seemed to me that setting straight up allowed the fish to open his mouth before I could get a second set.(it also lifts the smaller fish up higher in the water column) I too set the hook at least twice and alot of the times 3 times. I also place one treble on the top in front of the dorsal and on on the bottom near the anal fin. It is interesting on some days how one location out performs the other. To keep the hooks from digging into the sucker on the hookset, I barely nip the skin. That way the hooks come free from the sucker alot easier. I get the fish to move away by leaning on them until they move, if they don't, I will try to lift them up to the surface to get them agitated enough to move away. I have even moved the boat away with the trolling motor to get an angle like when the fish moves away. The last (2) years I have been doing it this way and have been quite fortunate enough to be batting well over 50% and would guess ( mind you this is a guess) around 75%. Thanks for sharing Lambeau your thoughts, it is interesting to see how everyone else thinks. As you can tell, I love sucker fishing, it is a total adrenaline rush.
Posted 12/14/2007 6:27 PM (#289097 - in reply to #289036) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 341
I wouldn't over analyze it, to many variables come into play...it's a lot like poker for me now, sometimes the cards are there and other days I can't buy a break.
That's what makes it great though.
The second best tease in life
Posted 12/15/2007 11:36 AM (#289157 - in reply to #288839) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 4
Just making sure the fish is not swimming towards you is the most important - not sure angle is important - I read the fishes movement and react accordingly.
lambeau
Posted 12/15/2007 4:22 PM (#289179 - in reply to #288839) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
what size hooks do people prefer to use on their sucker rigs?
i've been considering down-sizing the hooks on my rigs to make them less noticeable.
Posted 12/15/2007 5:15 PM (#289183 - in reply to #288839) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin
Mike, that is what we did. Went to mostly 3x(4x max), thin, beaked Eagle Claws. 774's or standard Mustads as backup and away from monster hooks. I know some guys even run smaller. The beaks seem to have helped keep the hooks from burying in the sucker, rigging our hooks one on the bottom one slightly to side (homemade Paul Johnson rig) with one free swinging and one in the bait. Running the sucker closer to the bottom is the only time I like the hooks up on top. I don't think a steadfast rule there though.
Edited by Reef Hawg 12/15/2007 5:19 PM
bn
Posted 12/15/2007 5:50 PM (#289186 - in reply to #288839) Subject: RE: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
I use 774 3/0's on the rigs I make...seem to work pretty well...
Posted 12/16/2007 11:09 AM (#289256 - in reply to #289246) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Posts: 341
I was using smaller hooks and having great success until I ran into some mid 40 plus long and the hooks came back straightened. Back to quality 4/0 single stinger, 100lb floro, 7str choke, double safty pin system...it's butter!
Posted 12/17/2007 11:14 AM (#289374 - in reply to #289256) Subject: Re: VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Location: The Yahara Chain
muskycore - 12/16/2007 11:09 AM
I was using smaller hooks and having great success until I ran into some mid 40 plus long and the hooks came back straightened.
Sounds like a hook quality not hook size issue. I use a 4x VMC hook. The 2/0 or 3/0 of my hook will not straighten out. The Eagle Claw 774 that BN uses is also 4x, it won't straighten out.
VIDEO: sucker fishing hook-sets
Rumor has it there maybe a video somewhere though......