Posted
by MikeM on
Soft-jerk bait question
I like fishing soft-jerks
alot, mainly 5" fin-S-fish and have always had trouble losing fish. I use
a wide gap Gammy hook which has plenty of clearence.
Upon the hook-set I usually try to give multiple sets.
Does anyone have any recommendation to "cut my losses"
? Im thinking about using a treble trailer on the main hook but will
this significantly alter the erratic action of this great reaction bait ?
thanks in advance
MikeM
Posted
by joe p on
If your not skin hooking ( push the point out of the top and skin hook it back ), try
doing so, this might help you out.
Other than that, I use the same hook and I dont have problems hooking fish. Set
the hook hard just like a t-rigged worm. Wait a couple of seconds before you
swing kust to make sure the fish has the bait in its mouth...
I know a couple of guys who attach a treble hook swinging on the main hook. And
it works too. But this rig is best only in open water. Not on weed flats or
heavy cover where you'll get hung up a lot...
Excellent bait...I use Flukes...
Joe
Posted
by earthworm77 on
Skin hook and one solid hookset with steady pressure. I like multiple sets but that puts slack in the line and is likely the reason you are dropping fish.
__________________
Micro Munch Tackle
If you need it, I will build it and they will come.
Posted
by Gregg on
How the bait on the ones you lose? bunched up? When things go right the bait rides up the line, when it goes wrong you find the bait bent in half on your hook. Maybe a softer bait is what you need....just thinking out load.
__________________
Gregg
Posted
by DuaneDR on
Make a change
I've thrown enough Super Flukes/Case
Salty Sinkin Shads: (best one!) to fill up my house 
and I agree
totally with whats been posted so far.
My river smallies are a sucker for soft jerks. In the years of fishing these
baits almost exclusively, I learned a few things about the hook up ratios and
how and where the Bass hit the lures by watching them year after year. They DONT
always hit the hook!!
Now, Bass dont always hit a soft jerk to EAT it! Once you realize that and
understand why, it becomes easier. Bass like to "rub" a jerkbait more
often than eat it! This rub feels like a bite to the angler, but most of the
time the fish uses a part of its body to smack the lure due to aggrivation for
one reason or a
another. Or the bass will grab the jerk with its mouth wither in the
tail, or on its side, kinda like tasteing it but having it BARELY in its mouth
The best hook I have found to use with these baits is the Gamakatsu offset
shank Worm 5/0 round bend style. These I HAND sharpen-reason??-due
to the hooks large diameter, the factory sharpening job lacks a little here and
there. Its not bad! dont get
me wrong here, but when I buy a pack of 25 and start sharpening them at home,
the difference is 10 FOLD in hook up ratios on the water vs the factory sharp
hook.
Here's what I'd like you to do.....if the soft jerk bite is "on" and
your hook up ratio is poor, try going to a suspending jerkbait like the Team
Daiwa, or the Lucky Craft Flash Minnow. These run about the same depths and
will increase your hook ups 100%!! and you dont have
to fight the soft jerk sliding around on your hook either-its a WIN WIN. Those
trebles will CATCH those rubs the fish do in many cases.
When you do have to go soft, try that hook change away from the wide gap and
see what happens. The hook described above REALLLLLY works much better for ME.
Dont forget to sharpen them!! it makes a
difference!!!!!
DR
__________________
So far today, God, I've done alright. I havent gossiped, havent lost my temper,
haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over-indulgent.
I'm very thankful for that.
But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed. And from then on, I'm
going to need a lot more help.
Amen.
DR
Posted
by Mark G on
Great reply, DR! Thaks for the tips. Gotta try that with soft jerks next
time...
Mark
Posted
by skeeter195 on
I used to skin hook soft
jerks, but I now fish it tex-posed. The open hook very rarely hangs up in brush
or weeds, even around slop. When fished slow like it
is supposed to be fished, you can finesse the bait through any cover out there.
The open hook has increased my hook-up ratio a bunch.
I will sometimes use a trailer or treble when fishing open water for smallies.
I fish it faster in this case and do not see a big difference in the action.
Posted
by MikeM on
Thanks for all your help.
I will try the flukes and already have some "jerks" rigged with a
treble trailer as I fish a lot of open water. However, I can't see how the
great random action/movement would not be affected.
MikeM
Posted
by basseracci on
Weww!!!
I'm glad Duane said it first....
I also use a Worm hook and I don't go smaller than a 4/0...I use the Gammy worm hooks that Duane mentioned as a back up hook...
My primary hook is a VMC Round Bend worm hook...The hook goes way back into the
belly and skins nicely through the dorsal much more evenly than the
O'shaugnessy bend hooks such as the Gammies...
Another great hook is made by X-Point...Also a good strong round bend worm
hook...Neither of these are not light wire hooks...In fact, I can't find a
light wire Round Bend worm hook on the market...I would really like to find
one... I don't know if that's a consideration for your fishing Mike...The hooks
i mentioned are strong semi-thick hooks...
Also, I use a sweep hook-set as I would with many of my topwaters and jerks...I
don't have any hook-up problems to speak of...I never throw a multiple hook-set
for the reasons already mentioned, except maybe when I get caught off my guard
and the fish is swimming toward me...Then maybe i'll hit him again...
tight lines...
Mark
Posted
by Flippin' on
Mike,
What size and action rod do you use? If you're not using a fast action rod with
some back bone, that could also be part of the problem. You are using quality
hooks, so that's not the trouble...
Line stretch can also make for poor hook penetration when you set up on a fish.
An easy way to check is to have a friend hold the bend of your hook with two
fingers and stand about 15-20 feet away. Try to pull the hook out of his grasp
with a hook set...
If the rod and line are good, I'm not sure what else it could be. Hope you get
it figured out either way...
Brendan
Posted
by skeeter195 on
Whoa, hold the bend of
the hook between your fingers!?? I don't know about that. It sounds like a good
test, but to have a bare hook flying around just sounds way to dangerous. I
could picture the hook lodging way into the holders hand or chin or worse if
something goes wrong. Just my opinion
Mike
Posted
by mac on
hooking
You may also try texposing, mashing the barb, gapping the hook a liittle and kirbing.
Posted
by Flippin' on
Skeeter,
Yes, care must be taken and an exposed hook is not the way to go. (I should
have included that detail). A wine cork on the point of the hook will help keep
the impaling down to a minimum...
Then again, I've seen Pros give demos where they had people in the audience try
and were not able to get the hook to come free...
Mike, if you are going to try it... be careful... and have your friend hold the
hook way out in front of their body... Thumb and pointer fingures only!
BC
Posted
by basseracci on
Mike,
have Mark G or Vic hold the hook with their lips...Use your saltwater rod, then
set the hook and call the DEC for an official weight for the records...lol
Mark
Posted
by Fish-Eye on
I've been pretty
successful using 2/0 Slug-Go hooks (made by
I never thought about it, but I really like the suggestion of sharpening the
new hooks.
This might be a dumb question, but what's the proper way of doing this?
My favorite color is silver rainbow.
Other then the traditional white, what other colors are
"hot"?
Thanks, Fish-Eye
Posted
by MikeM on
Fish Eye,
I am fishing pretty clear water so I go as natural as possible, I usually use
MikeM
Posted
by Steve_IA on
Does anyone use an un-weighted texas-rigged Mizmo tube as a jerkbait (I will guess EW has)?
Posted
by DuaneDR on
You guys
a good!! MORE stuff I agree with!
Rod-med action fast, if I were a mono user, I'd go MH Fast min 6.6' length:
longer rod-more pulling power
Line BRAIDED or SUPERLINE ONLY for me-this promotes hookups at LONG range casts
as if he was right beside the boat
Sharpening hooks...I use a special tool that I bought JUST for larger diameter
hooks. Its called "The Razors Edge Hook
Sharpener"
I like the shovel point this tool creates on large wire hooks. It creates the
sharpest hook point I have ever seen-factorys dont compare because the point
GRABS when its touched and wont let go, the more you
try and drag the point over your fingernail the HARDER it digs in. They'er
about $30, but I wont do without mine ever. Keep in mind, this is NOT a tool
for the boat, this is a tool to use while sitting at home watching the boob
tube with "awwwwwwwww Sonnnnnnnnn!" on TV 
When I buy large
diameter hooks, I set down at home and sharpen every one before the 25 pack
goes into the tackle box.
One more thing, the more you sharpen with this Razors edge tool, the BETTER you
get at it and the sharper the hooks become!
On the water, a simple .99 cents stone works best for me, I keep one attached
to a screw driver right beside me for touch ups 100% of the time.
Razors
Egde Tool
DR
__________________
So far today, God, I've done alright. I havent gossiped, havent lost my temper,
haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over-indulgent.
I'm very thankful for that.
But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed. And from then on, I'm
going to need a lot more help.
Amen.
DR
Posted
by joe p on
setup
6-7 MH Falcon Lowrider (
Clark Wendlant Special)
Shimano Scorpion
P-line Floroclear 15 lb
4/0 EWG Gammys for the Super Fluke
All great advice mentioned above......Keep it up, boys...
Joe
Powered by: vBulletin Version 2.3.0
Copyright © Jelsoft Enterprises Limited 2000 - 2002.