Northwest Fishing Reports

Ok, so when fishing weightless Senkos I always watch my line, but I'm still not much good at detecting strikes. I fish in really heavy lily pads and milfoil from shore. So, I notice that my line will disappear below the surface and creates the little V, then it will stop, and go again. No tick off to the side, just a pause and go. It could be hitting weeds, not sure. Whats the deal? I know swings are free but half the damn time I end up ducking my lure as it is flying at my face.

Also, I have been not converting many strikes I do feel into landed fish lately. I dont know if I'm poorly rigging my Senko or setting too hard, too short, wrong angle. I'm a mess. I think I could be skinning my hook tip too deep and causing the energy from my hooksets to drive the tip deeper into the bait instead of out and through. I use 3/0 gamakatsu offset EWG, 12 lb p-line copolymer, and a 7' medium spinning rod. Oh, also I'm broke as hell right now so new equipment is out of the question. I was thinking about trying straight shank worm hooks and texas rigging them without the tip exposed


Also, thanks for the tips on the Texas-rig. I fished it the other day, felt some bites but landed none. To get to know what I'm feeling this is what happened. I was twitching my rig and pulling it in slowly. It felt like it was hung up so I back reeled for $hits and giggles, then when I pulled on the line to twitch it felt light for a few seconds, then like it was hung up again. I think when I felt it go light I should have set the hook.

be sure to let your senko drop on a slack line. i like to leave slack line after every time i move the senko, that way if a fish picks it up they can't feel the pressure from the rod. sometimes if it is windy this isn't possible but i always do so if i can. i would stick with the EWG hooks a try rigging them "tex skin" (it's called "tex skin on top" on this page).

and if i was to guess why you are missing fish, i would say either 1.) senko is to big and/or 2.) fish are to small. and next time if you see your line moving away from you, be sure to let the fish take it for a few seconds.

you also shouldnt have to set the hook so hard that its coming flying back at you. a good sharp wire ewg will go through with a snap-set of the wrist.

fishnislife wrote:Stick with EWG hooks like CK14 suggests.

another hook besides the EWG (that i like more) is the G-Lock. it's pretty much the same as an EWG but has a little dip in the hook point (hard to explain, you'll see if you find them). i love them for " tex pose" or 'tex skin". i like the little dip for poking the point of the hook back into the bait.

really it sounds like your worst problem is that you're thinking too much. just work the bait in a way that you have confidence in, focus on your technique, not catching fish, and the bites will come. all you need for a hookset is just snapping the rod tip back a few feet. after my hookset, i pause for a second to feel the fish before i start with the fight. that way if you missed or it was a false bite, you can just let your rod tip back down and your bait will only have moved a couple feet.

Thanks guys. It seems like I have fallen off lately and have been over-thinking things. CK14 I have seen that article many times and that is what I try to do, just what you recommend. I think at times I may bury the tip too deep. I recently rewatched the rigging videos on Yamamoto's Insideline.

CK14's advice is right on. The only other thing I would add is practice, practice, practice. Even if you feel that another technique might work better, discipline yourself to sticking with the worm until you gain more confidence. In the long run, a plastic worm will outfish every other lure any time, any place.

Keep watching the videos. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth a billion.

Good luck and keep at it!

bpm2000 wrote:you also shouldnt have to set the hook so hard that its coming flying back at you. a good sharp wire ewg will go through with a snap-set of the wrist.

i beg to differ

:king:

ive seen alot of fish lost due to a poor hookset. it all depends where and what you are fishing. mono has alot of stretch, especially when you have alot of line out. so you have to compensate for that. there might also be alot of vegetation where you are fishing, so you have to rip through that to get a good hookset.

my drag releases everytime i set the hook. one time i sent a bass about 10ft in the air and over the boat. as of late all the hooksets i remember, were fish that didnt make it to the boat.

the only times where i let the hook do the work, is when trebles are on the lure.

like everyone said above, quality hooks should be purchased.

If you are using a spinning reel, another good way to detect bites is, with the hand you are holding your pole with, put your index finger on the line. This way you can feel the smallest of nibbles. This is used mostly for crappie jigging but I use it for everything.

I supposed I shouldve mentioned I am using braids and fluoros mostly now. I agree with the mono stretch needing to be compensated for, as well as vegetation. I still think in general people set the hook too hard however ;)

T Dot wrote:

bpm2000 wrote:you also shouldnt have to set the hook so hard that its coming flying back at you. a good sharp wire ewg will go through with a snap-set of the wrist.

i beg to differ

:king:

ive seen alot of fish lost due to a poor hookset. it all depends where and what you are fishing. mono has alot of stretch, especially when you have alot of line out. so you have to compensate for that. there might also be alot of vegetation where you are fishing, so you have to rip through that to get a good hookset.

my drag releases everytime i set the hook. one time i sent a bass about 10ft in the air and over the boat. as of late all the hooksets i remember, were fish that didnt make it to the boat.

the only times where i let the hook do the work, is when trebles are on the lure.

like everyone said above, quality hooks should be purchased.

[quote="bpm2000"]I supposed I shouldve mentioned I am using braids and fluoros mostly now. I agree with the mono stretch needing to be compensated for, as well as vegetation. I still think in general people set the hook too hard however ]

ive heard on plenty of occasions, that unless your reel screams, its not set hard enough. i see everyone swing for the fences.

:king:

i for one always set the hook like im swinging for the fences

I find myself fishing to fast with senko type lures. I have started counting to ten be for I move the line. This seems to work well with the slack line.