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| I am looking for info on how to hook and land a musky. This past weekend I had two good bites in two days and I feel like if I had a better idea of what I was doing I could have landed both fish.
Musky #1 : Fish bit my lure (which was a fly with one 4/0 hook) and I played it for about 30 seconds before it came off (and I am guessing I either didnt have a good hookset to begin with or I had too much pressure on the fish. This fish bit fairly close to the boat and I only had like 20 feet of line out. What is the strategy as far as playing a fish when you have so little line out?
Musky #2 : Fish bit my Marbou inline spinner/bucktail about 30 feet from the boat and I attempted to set the hook but the Musky came loose almost immediately. I am guessing that I either didnt set the hook hard enough, my rod wasnt stiff enough in the tip to get a good hookset or my hooks werent sharp enough (since then I have been sharpening hooks often!) What is the proper way to set the hook and play the fish?
I am experienced in fishing for other species but Musky seem like they are totally different than any fish I have ever encountered. Your help is appreciated! Thanks.
Brian
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Posts: 336
Location: Wheeling, IL. | Could be a couple of things contributed to this.
A - Did you sharpen your hooks?
B - set to the side, not up, that way you set into the cheek not the roof.
C - Muskie gods are not on your side that day!
Bob |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Great topic.
I'd add....
1. Set once like Mehsikomer and Pearson to avoid generating slack. Simply load up your rod with some authority and keep the rod loaded.
2. Use as large a gap hook as the lure wil allow.
3. Use as soft a rod tip as you can.
4. If using long rods and no-stretch line.... back off on your drag to the point that it will slip when you set the hook hard.
5. Once your pinned.... never let the fish change directions after you have the side of the fish with hooks facing you.
6. Keep your line angle as parallel to the hook shaft as possible. A high line angle... can leverage the hook free. Do whatever it takes to always be pulling against the hook gap (see #5 above).
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 line angle.jpg (13KB - 118 downloads)
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| I agree, you need to avoid slack line...no need to do a giant hook set...Ben |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Jason, thank you so very much for the really good advice. I need to do #4, and 5 and 6 never occured to me but make perfect sense. Thank you for extending my learning curve. m |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | From the stage at countless seminars over the years:
Don't try to set the hook with your arms, you will simply raise the rod tip position, and raise/pivot the line in an arc, not really setting the hook at all. Make sure you set from a tight line position, NO slack, and simply cock your wrist the way it's built to. When I'm done with a set my rod handle is at my waist, where it belongs to do what Mr. long has suggested. Raise your arms, and the fish gets away more times than not because you cannot control the direction of the rod tip to the fish waving your arms about in the air.
The rod blank, wrapped and set with guides, sets the hook, not your strength. A 90# lady who understands the technique can and will set the hook harder than a linebacker waving his arms about.
One MUST flex that blank, and flex it the way the spine is loaded, straight up, and with the wrist. That will transfer energy from the rod blank through your line to the hook point, and get you the maximum hook point bury. I learned this technique from the MASTER, Shag Shahid. He taught me the method, and a stage 'trick' to demo the concept. I can literally flip a metal kitchen chair completely over in the air with a hook set from a Medium Heavy spinning rod and 17# monofilament. Ask Shep.
If you have never heard of Shag do a Google search on the name. He was one of the best trick casters and tackle handling instructors in the World. he worked for Lew's for years; I met him on the show circuit back when I was an Instructor in the Indiana Bass Institute days. THAT was awhile ago. He also was a celeb at the Merc Nationals a few years.
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Posts: 2024
| Jason,
I'm trying to visualize this "keep line angle parallel to hook shaft" concept and having a tough time (maybe it's cuz I'm super tired). Are you suggesting to kinda drop the rod tip to the side and lead the fish where you want it to go, almost pulling it around? Isn't it inevitable that the line will at somepoint be perpendicular to the hook shaft if the fish dives or bull dogs? Is the butt of your rod still lodged into your side for leverage, just the rod tip lowered toward the water? Thanks.
I'll add my .02 cents for what it's worth. Generally, you get so wrapped up in the moment it's hard to give the fish two or three quick hits, so one is usually all you can do. If you want to add another, make sure the fish is headed away from you and DO NOT give it slack. From the position you're in, just raise your rod tip quickly. I wouldn't load up and cross her eyes again, you risk tearing the hooks out, but a quick jab might push the hook deeper and bury the barb better. Once you're fighting the fish, watch your line. If it looks like she's coming up, bury the rod tip and pull the opposite direction to force her head down back into the water to prevent a jump. I like to put my reel into freespool versus relying on the drag. |
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| I always set the hook with the rod moving parallel to the water's surface. When I fish jigs, whether bass, walleyes or muskies, then I set upward, but that is the only time, but that's because the lure is normally close to the boat and near the bottom.
Otherwise, it's a quarter body turn to put a full flex in the rod, and keeping that flex is the important part. Yanking with your arms or wrists might work ok for fishing cranks for bass or walleyes, but even then.....it's super-lines and a rod with good flex.
Why do you think that you see guys with their rod tips low and the rod pointing straight at the lure? Because from that position you are in the optimum position to set the hook. One move, and the line is moving and the rod is bending. Hookup!
You're talking flyrods. I've done some steelhead fishing, and even then I keep the rod moving above the waters surface as I follow the fly, but when I set on a fish, all I have to do is tighten the line in the opposite direction that the fish is moving. Think about it. If a fish sucks in your streamer and turns his head to your right, your first move should be a powerful sweep to your left to drive the hook into the exposed corner of it's mouth. Straight up...you hit bone. Sweep in the same direction, you move line and nothing more. Sweep in the opposite direction that he is moving, and the leader slides through the gap in the corner of his mouth, followed by the fly....hookup! |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Steve, is there a vidoe on this site that shows your stage presentation?
It sure would help me better visualize what you're saying, although I think I get it.
This thread is extremely helpful to me, thanks so much. m |
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