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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | A few weeks ago I bought a pair of Shimano TDR 8' heavy rods and have been using them for suckers. I've missed a couple of fish but thought it was just bad luck or something (most have held on to the sucker up to the boat and on a couple I could see the hooks weren't in the mouth, just happened to grab it in the wrong place), but today my dad went out by himself and had the same musky hit on a sucker 6 times (hungry!). He is thinking the rods we got don't have enough snap do rip the hooks out of the sucker and drive them home. We are using Smitty's sucker rigs and have used them for years with success, not lift off but our hookup rate has never been this bad.
Do I just need a heavier rod (TI trolling/sucker Xtra Heavy?) or should I go back to graphite for suckers? What do you guys think?
Also I'll just mention it's definitely not a wimpy hookset, we both put our whole body weight into it, which according to the doctor is way too much. It's a good hard set. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | Ahh jeez wrong section, can this please get moved to the equipment forum? |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | I`ve used alot of different rods for suckers and all have worked,I never go wimpy on the rod.I have a st croix pgm 8ft that has a bit of flex in it since it is a sucker/trolling rod,and have done fine with it.I was thinking do you have the drag locked all the way down on the reel,if not you might be taking line out before setting the hooks into the fish,just a thought,might be having alot of bad luck but at least your getting action. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | Drag is locked down tight. I'm only half joking when I say I'm surprised my dad hasn't managed to break an arm off the adjuster yet, he really digs in when he locks the drag down.
Saturday really was a bummer, lost what would have been a PB at about 45". I'm still thinking a lot of it is just bad luck, maybe I need to rethink my hook placement, I generally don't like to blame the equipment but my dad is losing confidence in the rods.
Edited by milje 11/20/2012 6:17 PM
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | is one of the hooks bent sideways,I`ve noticed in the past that I have sometimes had the hooks angled so they would dig into the sucker on the hookset,this was when the hooks were not bent,had all 3 trebles straight up.I`ve done this when it took a bit longer to rig the sucker,wanting to get it in the water before it loses half it`s strenght.If you are on pressured waters you might not be waiting long enough and need to get on top of the fish before you set the hook,I forget this sometimes. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | Nope, not pressured water. We've seen one other boat there going every weekend since Labor day, though I did hear a guy caught a monster there last week in the middle of the week.
Just called my dad and he said he's going to try his old sucker rod and compare it to the new ones I have. The hooks are just like they come from the factory, one facing backwards that goes into the sucker the 3 barbs of the treble hook facing forward.
I looked at a few different rods, it seems that almost all rods listed as sucker rods are the same setup as what I have, 8' Heavy Mod/Fast action. |
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Posts: 624
Location: S.W. WI | I'll just add this thought.... it's not just a "heavy pull with all your weight" for a hook set. You need to have a hard snap to the set.
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | That's something I had thought about that but haven't really tried it yet. I haven't done much sucker fishing, this is the first year I've actually caught one on a sucker so I'm still experimenting. Maybe this weekend I'll give that a try. Hopefully.
Edited by milje 11/20/2012 8:13 PM
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Posts: 558
| Always make sure to set the hook the opposite way that the fish is going, sometimes you need to position the boat so you can do this correctly. My odds went up greatly when i started doing this. Make sure those hooks are sharp as a razor, i am sure you know that and i always set that hook like your trying to snap your rod in half. I use a Avio rod, it has worked well for me. Good luck and go snap some rods. |
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Posts: 410
Location: Wakefield, MI | Musky Face - 11/20/2012 8:17 PM
Always make sure to set the hook the opposite way that the fish is going, sometimes you need to position the boat so you can do this correctly. My odds went up greatly when i started doing this.
That's one I never even considered, now that I think of it though that totally makes sense. |
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Posts: 422
| I have been using those exact rods and have not had any issues at all with them not being heavy enough. |
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