Newby Help

[MarkG]

Originally Posted by mdo

Alright so when you are pulling a "lindy rig" using a foam floater hook (gum drop) with a 1/3 - 1/2 crawler, you feel a bite, release the line and give the fish a 10 count real in the slack and nothing is there but your worm is still on the hook.
The hooks size is a 1/0.
Should I be using a stinger hook, I have fished 3 times this week and have had this happen every time except one that hook a tiny catfish.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

Is some of the crawler being bit off? If coming back with the same amount,and missing none,you may not even be feeling a fish. May just be a momentary snag or bump of the bottom. For a newbie,and even an experienced guy,can sometimes be hard to tell the difference. BUT...Don't ever assume it's not a fish,it could be, so don't get frustrated, take everyones suggestions on how to play it. Just keep pluggin away,and when you start catching fish,the more you catch, the better you will be at telling fish hits from bottom snags.

My own opinion is this time of year, would probably be fishing vertical using jig and minnow rather than a lindy and crawler ,but I'm up north,I see you are in OK.

[mdo]

Thanks again to everyone. Down here our surface water temp is already 64. So much for having a winter or spring today it was 88!!

[REW]

Downsize your hook to a size 4 or 6 for crawlers. Then a size 4 or 2 for minnows.

Use a very soft rod. Just let the rod sweep back as far as you can reach and then sweep forward setting the hook. If there is nothing on the line that you can feel, then just go back to fishing without reeling in the line.

A good fisherman will set the hook if he feels ANYTHING. This could be a rock, snag or weed. Better to set the hook, than lose a fish.

By the way, really no reason to use a foam floater. If you are getting mud and junk on your hook, let out line until you feel the bottom, then reel up a crank or so. Just a plain hook with a colored bead in front of the hook is normally all that is necessary.

If you are fishing a lot of areas where you are fishing with weeds that are a few inches in length, you might try a Phelps floater or similar. This hook has just enough flotation, adds a bit of color to stay out of the weeds.



Take care
REW

[Rapscallion]

I use the point rod back/sweeping hook set too but you can also tempt a missed fish to hit again by giving some slack line back, give it a couple of seconds and reset the hook. If they didn't feel the hook on the first strike they will often come back and hit it again. This technique accounts for a lot of hookups especially when drifting weight forward spinners.

[mdo]

Hey guys just wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU for the tips. Went out this morning using a lindy type rig with a half crawler. Missed the first bite, nailed the second bite (got broke off), and successfully landed the 3rd bite.

Thanks again. Now to figure out how to get more than 3 bites :-)