Re: Where the hook is stuck
Spring 2001 Archive
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Re: Where the hook is stuck
From: Ken
Date: 26 Apr 2001
Time: 00:22:40
Remote Name: 207.180.0.8
Comments
The last time someone asked me this good a question was about ten years ago. It was a fresh water bass pro and he wanted to know why he was hooking his fish on the bottom lip when he was fishing with jigs. I didn't have an answer. He didn't hook all of them that way but on certain days he hooked most of them that way. The key part is on certain days; which means that on those days a high percentage of fish were doing something unusual or he was. He didn't notice anything different in his approach but on those days he did better than his competitors. Was it the fish or was it him. I think that the fish were doing something different and so was he. Perhaps the fish were picking up the jig and killing it by squeezing it in their lips and he had more sensitivity to this pickup than others and set the hook hard, which is what he did. The eye of the hook is pointed in the same direction as the bend in a jig hook so the pressure would torque the point down if pressure was up and the fishes lips were a fulcrum, sometimes, maybe, kind of, sorta. I couldn't answer it then and I still can't but I like trying. When you set a circle hook what happens. The fish is hooked in the hinge of the jaw. Is it the hook or is it the hookset. If you set an ordinary hook in the same way you get the same result. So it is not the hook it is the way you set or don't set that can be the determiner. One of the best ways to learn how to set a hook is to have a bunch of aggressive fish close at hand and try not to set the hook at all. If they are co-operative it will be a revelation to you. Most people hook one out of four fish they try ' NOT' to hook. Which by the way is the average number of fish they hook when they do try to set the hook, unless they are having a great day and the fish are helping to get the job done. When people are trying to do the opposite of what they have always tried to do amazing things happen. They find out how long a fish will hold a fly or lure in it's mouth. They find out that often the fish won't drop it when there is pressure on it but will drop it if they slack off. They find that when a fish lets go another will pick it up right away. After a while when they get over the initial shock of what the fish are actually doing down there, they begin to get good at not hooking fish on purpose and begin to excell at it. I had one fellow who didn't hook fourteen in a row at the Coast Guard House in Narragansett last December. Then the drill changes and goes like this, "O.K. now hook one in the hinge, in the top of the mouth if you can". Most people can. All it takes is a few minutes to break their routines and their ideas about how to hook fish and then to let go of their compulsion to catch everything. Once the 'catching,' trance is broken they can learn how to hook everything and they do. In answer to your question; yes where you hook a fish is important information, try that Narragansett spot. See if you can hit fifteen.
Last changed: July 04, 2001
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