Loosing Fish

[Fish Hound]

Has anyone had trouble with the brainded lines pulling the spoons, lures, etc. out of the fishes mouth? Went to Erie yesterday and was trolling stinger spoons. Forgot to bring the net. Got one walleye about 14/15inches to the boat and when I went to lift him in the spoon seemed to just tear out. One other one also fulled off in site, didn't give him any slack.

[Stan]

Thats a major problem with the braided or "super lines" You get tons of sensitivity, but there is a price to be paid. Monofiliment acts as a shock absorber, absorbing tension, and as a result, the hooks do not tear out as eassily. No stretch lines, although great for detecting strikes, give a direct transfer of energy from the rod tip to the fishes mouth. the weakest link in the system?, the fishes mouth.
I switched to no stretch line for trolling about three years ago. One of the first things I noticed were the number of lost fish, most near the boat. Another thing noticed on the landed fish, were the holes in the lips of the fish. My rods previously used for trolling with mono had to be replaced with rods with a softer action as well as longer length. Set your drag on your reels looser, so that most fish will pull some drag, this will help too. An above all, slow down and bring them in very slowly. Its a real change in fishing style, but the combination works.
Take Care

[dan(or)]

i agree wth Stan, totally changed the way I play and land fish. much softer rods, much less rod sweep to set the hook, little drag, really go slow and enjoy the battle, and I did switch to triple grip trebles on cranks.

dan
out in oregon land out where the walleyes grow bigger and we release them!

[SUPERTROLLER]

Fish Hound, Stan and Dan really nailed this one pretty much on the head already but I'd like to add my two cents worth. I would recommend these tips. Do not pump the rod or re-set the hook at all when fighting fish. It will just tear a bigger hole where the hook penetrated. I also keep my drags as loose as possible and play the fish out allowing them to fight against the rod. The fish isn't going to break the line so just let them tire themselves out. It will make netting them at the boat much easier too because they won't have much left in the tank for that "one last run". Good luck and don't give up on the Fireline because the advantages to No-stretch lines outweigh the negatives, IMHO.

[Chuck Pederson MN]

I have to agree with everyone but also also I use a Beckman telescoping net that is over 8ft long when expanded. This helps when trolling multiple lines and you don't want to stop to reel in a fish. Gets them in quicker and I'm sure has boated many fish I may have lost with a short net. They are around $90. at Scheels and I think they are available at cabelas but I did'nt see them in the catalog. Good fishing.

[ezmarc]

This is one of those Chevy vs. Ford things, but I went back to mono because I saw too many big fish come off with a heart stopping head shake 20-25 feet behind the boat plus they took too long to bring in with that light drag, personally I'd rather lose a couple of hookups than to lose a fish I can see.

[AquaMan]

Put a snubber down by the lure side. The saltwater guys now about this thing better. But the jist of it is simply placing a small rubber "dog bone" on the line down by your lure. The line goes in a hole at one end of the snubber then you wrap the line abound it a few times and then run the tag end of the line out the hole at the other end. They make bigger ones for boat dock lines too. That or use a mono leader.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[SUPERTROLLER]

I agree with your reasoning. If you are on a body of water where there are going to be many, many hook-ups, then the few misses from using mono can be acceptable. The lake where my local tournament series is run is one of those lakes that you might only get a couple of bites. I can't afford to miss my chances and if I do hook one I've got to play them carefully to the net. I agree with your thinking though, "Use what works for you".

[cisco]

We use snubbers all the time on Lake Michigan with wire line rigs and with Dipseys. With salmon, the problem is the terrific shock when a big king smashes a lure -- the snubber saves fish and loss of tackle.

With walleyes it's a whole other ball game. I can't say I've experienced any greater loss of fish with superlines than with mono. But, I keep hooks sharp and rarely try cross-their-eyes hooksets. The challenge for me in walleye fishing is to find them and provoke them into striking -- the fight and catch is not why I seek 'eyes.

[Fish Hound]

Thanks to all. If I hadn't forgotten the net I would have had the one. I think you guys have helped alot since I did have a tight drag and I am use to setting the hook. To bad it doesn't shake off the sheephead.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Even if you could shake'm off they would come back and hit it again before you could get the lure out of the water! BAAAAAAA!!