Losing bass on jig, Help!

• Sep 20, 2017

• #1

MCW1984

Senior Member

For the past couple of week at least 50% of the fish I hook come off before I can get them in the boat, I'm throwing a finesse jig on points and rocks using a 7'3" heavy duckett with a 7.1:1 reel and 14# fouro. Anyone know what is causing me to lose so many?

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #2

j_seph

Senior Member

Jerk harder would be my guess

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #3

MCW1984

Senior Member

Lol I would say that could be the case but I crack em pretty hard and I've tried grinding them in and letting them fight but neither seem to work, I've even tried setting the hook twice.

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #4

King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah

Fishing ? Instructor!

Maybe throw a 7'3" MH rod? On a heavy rod with a finesse jig you may be ripping a big hole in their mouth or straightening your hooks out. A little softer rod absorbs some of that shock from hook setting and the fish running or jumping.

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #5

6

61BelAir

Senior Member

Are they jumping and throwing the hooks or just coming unpinned?

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #6

S

StriperrHunterr

Senior Member

New hooks or old hooks? Check your tips and barbs. Also, are you pumping them or keeping pretty solid pressure on? If you're thwacking them like you say you are, and then pumping them like Bill Dance, yeah you're gonna lose them to the holes you put in their lips and the slack of the pump.

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #7

MCW1984

Senior Member

All the hooks are good/new and I haven't had a straight one yet. As far as a hooksets and retrieve, I hit em hard when setting then in a desperate attempt to get them in the boat I hold constant pressure on the rod and reel as fast as I can, some of the fish will ski across the top then come off but most are sub surface when the come off. The ones I do get to the boat are usually hooked pretty good but on occasion I do have one throw the jig in the net. I'll give a med/heavy a try and see if that helps.

 

• Sep 20, 2017

• #8

MCW1984

Senior Member

@61belair I have lost one or two due to them jumping but for the most part they have been going towards deep water and just coming unpinned.

 

• Sep 21, 2017

• #9

j_seph

Senior Member

MCW1984 said:

@61belair I have lost one or two due to them jumping but for the most part they have been going towards deep water and just coming unpinned.

Click to expand...

You just got a whole bunch of fish that are educated messing with you. These kind of fish turn on their sides, some even upside down so they can bit the bait from the side and backside keeping the hook away from their lips. They will hold on while others swim with them watching to see the expressions you make when they come off. The more they do this the stronger their lips get at holding onto the lead head and the better reaction they can get for their fish buddies to watch you make. All part of that evolution stuff folks try to talk about. Just wait until they figure out how to slice your line with a mussel shell!

 

• Sep 21, 2017

• #10

King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah

Fishing ? Instructor!

Another thing you can try is spreading out the brush guard before fishing the jig. A lot of guys trim the skirt and trim the guard, but if you spread it out where it flattens a little, it takes less force for the hook to come through the guard and there's more surface area to make it a little more weedless or skip a little better if you know how to skip cast

 

• Sep 21, 2017

• #11

MCW1984

Senior Member

Thanks for all the tips, I like the idea of spreading the weedguard. J_seph I almost believe that lol, it's really only spots that give me this problem, I usually don't have any trouble with a largemouth.

 

• Sep 23, 2017

• #12

King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah

Fishing ? Instructor!

Spots don't have as big a mouth as largemouth and probably don't get as good a bite on it. Try a finesse jig with a chunk trailer instead of a full size craw trailer.

 

• Sep 25, 2017

• #13

Derek Snider

Senior Member

Prob your weed guard causing your issues. On a casting jig with a lighter wire hook, a medium heavy rod is all you need and your line is spot on with 14lb Fluoro imo. Try to not drop any slack in your line on hookset. Feel the fish and reel down to him and use a longer sweeping hookset similar to what u might use with a Carolina rig. They typically won't drop the jig when you reel down to them like this despite the fact that they can now "feel you". Crawfish and bream try to get get away as well so they are used to feeling some pressure and will often times bite down harder when you reel down to them. I don't like any slack on my hookset when I'm casting a jig or any other bait at a distance.

 

• Sep 29, 2017

• #14

trentb

Senior Member

greg hackney has some great pointers on you tube about fishing a jig.

 

• Sep 29, 2017

• #15

karen936

Head Researcher, McDurdellson Enterprises, Inc.

I could send you a useles billy lure,

 

• Oct 2, 2017

• #16

MCW1984

Senior Member

Thanks for all the tips, I had much better results on my last trip after spreading the weedguard, downsizing my trailer and adding some liquid mayhem.
Karen936 I don't know what a Billy lure is

 

• Oct 3, 2017

• #17

Oak-flat Hunter

Senior Member

slow your retrieve down.

 

• Oct 6, 2017

• #18

Darkhorse

Senior Member

I sharpen all my hooks. New or old. I've gone back to mono for cranks and small stuff because it stretches more. I use only crankbait rods for all plugs and smaller jigs because even a MH crankin rod is softer due to the parabolic bend. I loosen my drag more than I used to also. All these steps have really increased the percentage of strikes actually landed.
My worm and plastics rigs all have braid. If possible on a tight line I just lift the rod tip to set the hook, due to the action of the rod and that braid doesn't stretch this is usually enough to set the hook without tearing large holes in the lips.
Even so, some days I land almost all, some days I can't land any.

 

• Oct 22, 2017

• #19

G

GaSwimnJig

Member

It could be a couple of things. 1) I would use a fast/ex fast action for bottom contact. IMO the Ducketts seem to be a bit on the slower side, but not by much. 2) I have had a lot of bad experiences with Lazer Trokar hooks. The tips seem to roll, which results in poor hook penetration. Just make sure you have quality hook and check to make sure they are still sharp.

 

• Oct 23, 2017

• #20

S

southernson1989

Member

I'd recommend switching to a medium heavy rod and try to set set the hook straight up rather than to the side.