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Posts: 93
Location: Des Moines IA | So the fish hits on a figure eight what do you do to set the hook?.
Keep pulling in the directing the lure was traveling?
Pull rod straight up?
Pull in opposite direction across fishes nose?
I pull in opposite direction across fishes nose to get more hooks into fish.
What do you do?
What do think is correct as a general rule? |
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| The only two I caught in the 8 came out of nowhere and just ate. I don't even know if I set the hook, just yelled a lot for the net. |
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Posts: 8806
| I usually scream something along the lines of HOLY#%@, and then fail to set the hook at all! 
I've had the best luck setting the hook towards the tail of the fish, and the worst luck setting the hook in the direction the fish was travelling. Sometimes they hit in an awkward spot and you don't have much choice, though.
I try to avoid setting the hook straight up, because you've got nowhere to go if the fish comes up with it - head out of the water + slack line = no more fish. That, and it's a good way to take a lure to the head. But when you're on your knees with the rod buried in the water, and the fish hits right beneath you, where can you go but up? |
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Posts: 1036
| The goal is to move treble hooks into the corner of the mouth. I try to set at an angle (90 degrees or so) from where the fish is moving.
Never set straight up. Had a guy in my boat last weekend who lost a nice little fish when it ate the 8 and he set the 8.5 foot rod straight up in the air with one foot of line and three feet of fish. Fish is out of the water. One of three things will happen and none of them are good 1) Hook breaks from stress 2) Line/leader breaks from stress 3) Hook rips out of fish
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Posts: 95
| No matter when the fish is, pull the rod straight back... hooks go into the corner of the mouth! ALL GOOD!! |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I keep pulling the rod in the direction the fish is moving with a quick downward snap initially when I know they have ate. Depending on the fish and where I am location wise, I will literally almost "figure 8" the hooked fish and keep it moving to try and avoid head shakes and jumps...sometimes that requires going right around a trolling motor or big motor, and that's where the 9' rods earn their money. |
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Location: MN | vegas492 - 9/5/2013 1:03 PM
Fish is out of the water. One of three things will happen and none of them are good 1) Hook breaks from stress 2) Line/leader breaks from stress
1 & 2 Should not happen. Upsize or get better quality gear if that is an issue for you.
You want to set back against the fish if possible which is easier said than done. If the fish strikes out on the turn and you are completely extended and can not set against the fish either pull the rod straight toward your body or set straight up. Both are better than setting it the way you are pulling your bait. If you forget or reactions kick in and you set the hook the way the fish is going do a second hook set as soon as possible going against the fish. Sometimes the fish will hold on long enough allowing you to get a good hook set back into it even if the initial set did not plant hooks well. Like Brian said once it is hooked let it go the direction it wants to go. You can do this by walking it around the boat or freespooling. The last thing you want to do when fighting it boatside is to pull the fish the opposite direction it is going or pull the fish out of the water. Rod tip down and ride it out. |
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Posts: 1036
| That was the point. If you set straight up, the fish is gone, one way or the other. Nothing good can happen. |
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Posts: 23
| It happened last week. The strike was in the first turn of the Figure 8. I kept the motion going until my buddy got the net. She jumped and immediately pulled the rod tip down to get her back in the water. Success with a 42"! It was a gas getting a boat side strike like that! |
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Posts: 581
| Musky Brian - 9/5/2013 1:43 PM
I keep pulling the rod in the direction the fish is moving with a quick downward snap initially when I know they have ate.
This is what I try to do as well...and seems to work best for me.
The fish turns its head as it overtakes the bait and, by continuing your forward momentum, the hooks will get set right into the fleshy corner of its mouth. The downward pull at the same time tends to keep the fish from coming to the surface immediately for head-thrashing, although that's often impossible to prevent.
I personally don't like the prospect of momentary slack line that is created as you are reversing direction of your rod, setting back toward the fish's tail, just as the fish eats the bait. Although I do know a lot of guys who swear by that technique and do well.
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Location: Contrarian Island | for me it has more to do with where the fish hits and what it's doing when it hits as anything....
sometimes it's just sheer reaction as sometimes at night I had no clue there was a fish there until wack! it hit... then it's just instinct to set whatever way I react.. also if they overtake it on the 1st turn on the outside corner all you have to do is set back as they are going away and a lot of times turning to the right...so it's easy to set back, at times at night if they hit on the straight of my oval I just keep going like Matt/Brian do, keep their head down and hold on..as more times than not when they hit they do the turning for us.. if that makes sense... I think there are many optimal ways to set the hook in the 8 but most of it has to do w where the fish hits, where you are in the 8 or oval when it hits, and how your body is positioned..
Edited by BNelson 9/5/2013 4:18 PM
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Location: MN | vegas492 - 9/5/2013 3:48 PM
That was the point. If you set straight up, the fish is gone, one way or the other. Nothing good can happen.
My point was you should not have a hook, line or leader break like you mentioned. If it does you are either using too light of gear, using cheap gear, or the gear had an issue example frayed line or leader. IMO setting up is better than setting with the momentum of the fish. With setting up at least you are driving it into the fishes mouth. Setting with it usually pulls it right out of the mouth. Back against it is best but anything is better than setting with it IMO. |
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Posts: 134
| I like to set the hook towards the tail of the fish.. |
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Posts: 581
| BNelson - 9/5/2013 4:17 PM
I think there are many optimal ways to set the hook in the 8 but most of it has to do w where the fish hits, where you are in the 8 or oval when it hits, and how your body is positioned..
Agree. I also don't think there is any hard-and-fast rule and I should qualify what I said before as it does depend on certain variables like you say....e.g., if a fish eats as you are coming up from low-to-high on an outside corner, (not uncommon), depending on your angle and the fishes angle it might be easiest/best to do a downward hookset pulling right back into it. |
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Posts: 1220
| I sort of hate to admit this, cuz everybody and his brother are always saying, " Set back against the way the fish is headed!" Well, I don't, never have, get more than half of my fish boatside, and HONESTLY don't think I have a problem! I do try to listen pretty closely to the boat-side stuff you read from Sarik and Heiting, and also try to copy tricks attributed to Bill Sandy, try not to give up to early, vary speed, do the Hang Move, all of that but I find that if I keep pulling it away, any fish that wants it will catch it. Then it's just keeping it really firm, down as best as I can depending on a really good stick, reel and line of proper strength, and walk the fish around a big circle, or the boat until the net man is in position. I really think trying to do something as slick as "setting back" especially with a big buck tail having all sorts of drag is well...a tad beyond my skill set. |
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Posts: 87
Location: Minnesota Metro | Matt DeVos - 9/5/2013 4:41 PM
BNelson - 9/5/2013 4:17 PM
I think there are many optimal ways to set the hook in the 8 but most of it has to do w where the fish hits, where you are in the 8 or oval when it hits, and how your body is positioned..
Agree. I also don't think there is any hard-and-fast rule and I should qualify what I said before as it does depend on certain variables like you say....e.g., if a fish eats as you are coming up from low-to-high on an outside corner, (not uncommon ), depending on your angle and the fishes angle it might be easiest/best to do a downward hookset pulling right back into it.
X2. I try to set back into the fish when I can, but I can't I actually just set straight up. I see a lot of people saying don't do it, but I don't try to rip the fish out of the water. I just give a real quick snap up and its hooked. I will say I keep my hooks extremely sharp and touch them up more times than I can count during a day of fishing....never had a problem with the up hook set though. |
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Posts: 95
| By pulling the rod "straight back" no matter where the fish is, the hooks almost ALWAYS go into the corner of it's mouth.... jus sayin'!! |
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Posts: 291
Location: Madison, WI | And when they juuuuuust nip that back hook on the turn? |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | Hopefully the stinger hook gets them.......hard hookset back the other direction. Unfortunately when fishing Pewaukee it's nothing but boatside hits, maybe once in a blue moon you might get something to bite away from the boat. |
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| I have to agree with Donnie. Best all around advice no matter fish position. And will not depend on your body position at point of bite. Also takes some of rod flex out of equation and I believe you will move bait more distance in fishes mouth to get a better hookset.
If you want a video to see it broke down focus on the 8 by mayhem pretty good. Although they preach more of the set towards the tail some real good info on there. Also listen to all the advice at the end of video. Tons of different opinions and advice. Good stuff.
Stay sharp
Paul |
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Posts: 1144
Location: Minnesota. | I read all this with sincere interest but in the end and knowing how I react to a given situation with a good fish so close, I'm feeling much changes with every situation so you do what you feel is best at the time.
It's good to read about each fishermans' experiences but if you're like me, heck, my knees and head go into high alert and some sort of knee-jerk (not literally) reaction takes place. And then I hope for the best...*G*
Funny how some sort of pandemonium breaks when you finally have teeth" on the end of your rod. Or maybe it's just me...*VBG*
Jeremy.
Edited by Jeremy 9/8/2013 10:10 AM
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Posts: 117
Location: Northern Illinois | When a fish hits in the figure-eight you have to pull back into the fish instead of pulling the lure out of the fishes mouth. Crank |
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Posts: 2378
| DonnieHunt37 - 9/6/2013 7:03 AM By pulling the rod "straight back" no matter where the fish is, the hooks almost ALWAYS go into the corner of it's mouth.... jus sayin'!! yep. not always easy to remember to do, but...yep
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| Matt DeVos - 9/5/2013 4:07 PM Musky Brian - 9/5/2013 1:43 PM
I keep pulling the rod in the direction the fish is moving with a quick downward snap initially when I know they have ate.
This is what I try to do as well...and seems to work best for me.
The fish turns its head as it overtakes the bait and, by continuing your forward momentum, the hooks will get set right into the fleshy corner of its mouth. The downward pull at the same time tends to keep the fish from coming to the surface immediately for head-thrashing, although that's often impossible to prevent.
This is the first season I've caught better than 50% of my fish boatside -- in fact it is close to 75%. I don't thknk I've lost a single one that bit, I mean I haven't had them throw the hook, come unpinned. I've been doing what Brian and Matt describe: as soon as I feel the drag/tug that suggests the fish has taken the bait I pull harder, same direction, downward. I keep the downward movement powering forward and try to drive the fish out and down from the boat. That fact that this has worked great for me in the past couple months doesn't prove it's the best way, but I have noticed that the fish are mostly hooked in the side/corner of mouth. When I read what Matt wrote about the fish turning its head on the hit it fit perfectly with what I've epxerienced al whole bunch of times in past few months. FWIW
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Lots of variables to have a straight answer. Best all around answer would be to pull back against the fish. But most of my fish I pull to the side more than back. I always try and pull the bait into the corner of the mouth. Never straight up and back toward the tail. Try to follow through with some of your forward motion while pulling the bait to the side of the mouth that you get the most power into.
Most fish hit and turn. If I get a fish going into the first turn its deep by the boat and I pull hard right to the side as I got the fish to eat as I was going left. Fish that eat on the second turn are out left of me and up high so I set right and down as much as I can.
I like big ovals that are deep by the boat and high on the outside. This makes hooksets less confusing than 8's. So many turns in 8's to get the fish set up for good hook sets.
Night fishing is tuff. I tend to pull back against the fish hard and then walk them quickly around the boat. Most fish chill out at night as long as they are moving forward. Hitting them straight up causes muskies to go spastic.
When in doubt pull back against them and keep them down in the water. If possible always try to set them up with turns and speed. I tend to get most fish on or just after the second turn up and away from the boat. Perfect time to hammer home the hooks into the side of the mouth and keep the rod down.
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| they mostly get hooked by themselves |
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