ADVISE AND GUIDENCE PLEASE

[dicinu]

Ok today my son and I went to Mintor creek to have a fun filled day in the snow fishing and making memories...... well after he is still working on getting bait casting down to a science and I am fishing out rather large hole compaired to most out thier. I had 5 fish on and off I am not sure what I am doing wrong. my set up and gear i was using is gamatsko #2 red hooks barbless 2-3ft leader1/2 ounce drop shot weight leader test is 12Lbs on 50Lb braided line. attached by a swivle....

first hook on fighting was good line was tight then all of a sudden line came shooting back at me lol had the oh poop duck factor going

second hook on same thing all the way to the last one. they were big but not that big in the water.

Reel is shimmano sahara 4000fd on a okuma 9'6" drift rod.

I started to think it is the hook size I up'd it to a 1/0 and guess what same thing. and everyone was in the mouth. too new to know how to sang a fish unless it is on accident lol

drag was set but maybe too tight?

I am at a loss here any input would be great.

[fishaholictaz]

I would say you were fishing with a little small of a hook. With a 9' rod you got alot of power so a light drag isn't a bad thing...

[G-Man]

How sure are you that they were hooked in the mouth? When the fish are thick and milling about, it isn't too difficult to accidently snag one. Also with the braid and somewhat stiff rod you were using, you could have been tearing the hooks out especially if the fish were "ripe". One other thing to watch out for is when the fish is coming head first towards you, not to apply too much pressure. A quick shake of the head, especially with barbless hooks, and the whole shooting match will come right back at you. Try a rod the has a bit more give and/or switch to 15lb mono for your mainline, either or will take up a bit of the shock and slack during the fight and help keep the hook in place.

[dicinu]

Fishaholictaz I was thinking the same thing ands I adjusted to a 1/0 is that still to small?


Gman

3 of the 5 I saw the hook in the mouth as they came up the other 2 were on the drop as I cast in the water I found a sweet spot by a tipped over tree they were hanging out under it. I will change it out to a smaller line tonight as it was Pissing me off to say the least. and the fish headed towards me makes sense as the 3 I seen were swimming right at me and I was holding tight fish flip flopped and we ducked I will try smaller line I have probly 15 kinds of line in my house now from different people telling me different things out on the river.

thanks for the info both you Fish and Gman

but I am working on baby steps to land a fish this year hopefully lol

[G-Man]

So were you losing them while pulling them on shore? With barbless that's a tough trick to pull off. Your better off having someone net or tail the fish once its close to shore, that is of course if you intend on keeping the fish.

[natetreat]

Yea, when you are fishing barbless hooks like that a tight drag will give those head shakes a lot of opportunity to come out. Braid has NO stretch to it so that it would be a good idea to get that strech back with a pole with some give to it. Loosen up the drag a bit and don't let 'em jump. When they jump they get a lot more flopping and the minute your line gets slack in it that's when it throws back at you. I personally use braid more than I use mono, I like the contact I have with the bottom, but I run my drag looser. They have a mouth that can be softer when they get ripe so pulling on 'em REAL hard will rip right through sometimes.

[dicinu]

well keeping the fish was not in my game plan unless it was a good looking fish lots of ugly ones in the water unless they are supposed to be looking like camo colors.... they were about 10-15 feet from me when the line came flying back at us! but with the adives you all are giving me I will hopefully get on the right track to land a fish ugly or clean I just want one on the bank.

nate I had my line tight I mean tight I wouldn't think I would pull it out of the mouth I can't say honeslty if I had slack in the line not alot of room for the fish to go running off to. hmmm I will try my luck again and see what happens I will bring my extra reel out there as it also had 15 lbs test on it. see if that works also.


Hook sizes and brands recomandations please to all I was told to get owners brand in 1/0 thoughts on this?

[natetreat]

Sounds like you must be pulling the hook straight through their meat then. Loosen up your drag a bit and you'll probably be able to get 'em to the bank. The fight will last longer too, let 'em pull you around until they tire. Well you gotta have it tight enough to direct 'em and turn there head but they work better.

[natetreat]

I just use the cheap beau mack hooks, five dollars for fifty at outdoor emporium. They aren't as sharp as the good ones, but I go through them really fast when they are snagged up. But as long as you give 'em a good hook set they seem to work. I put more money into the hooks wit the gamagatsu hooks for winter steel, but that's jsut me.

[flinginpooh]

For chum fishing I dont recomend spending alot of money on hooks. I use 1/0 or 2/0 really dont matter visions or brads. They are really cheap hooks and for chum who cares your releasing most of them. I am like nate. Gamies or owners I use for steel kings and coho. Otherwise cheapies for chum.

[dicinu]

cool thats all for the info now I have a new game plan for the holidays and next 2 weeks after that of vacation I should be a pro by the end of my vacation lol

[spokey9]

a lot of people are having that problem down there, saturday i lost a few chromers that where in the beak because the hook flew back. when i switch to a number # 4 hook it didnt happen as often. the real problem is that the fish are so stack in there if you give it a nice stiff hook set you'll foul hook fish all day. when you feel a fish slowly lift your rod tip, if you still feel a fish then give it a really short set just to help the hook push a lil deeper. smaller hooks work better for this because they penetrate easier than the bigger ones.

[Anonymous]

I have always used small corkies and hooks (#1-5) on chum and haven't noticed a problem with hooking. Ditto when side-drifting eggs for steelies.

[Bodofish]

Yep, sounds to me like small hook and maybe a little over exuberance............. One trick you may try is twisting the hook just a bit so the point is not in line with the shank. Just off to the side.

[natetreat]

BTW are the fish anywhere close to chrome up there, as in would it be worth a drive from Lynnwood to give the salmon one last go?

[Matt]

Yep, sounds to me like small hook and maybe a little over exuberance............. One trick you may try is twisting the hook just a bit so the point is not in line with the shank. Just off to the side.

This is a good technique that is overlooked far too often when fishing barbless. That little adjustment of the hook can really offer some holding power! I usually use a size 1 or 1/0 hook for chums and run 12lb lead to a 15 lb main mono. Some days just are against you, some days you put a hurtin' on them. I wouldn't say you did anything in particular wrong, just not your day. You were hooking fish so you know you were at least doing PART of the procedure correctly!

Good luck out there.

[Anglinarcher]

I also suggest a good hook sharpener. Even expensive hooks dull on rocks, cheep hooks seldom come sharp enough, all hooks can benefit from a little TLC with s fine file.

Some of those fish get tough jaws when they leave the Salt, and if you are not getting penetration, then you can get what you talk about.

[dicinu]

Nate Spokey would probly better answer that question this is my first year fishing for salmon and I need my son to tell me all the differences in them all I know no fin good fin don't take out of the water! but most fish I seen were camo colors lol nothing chrome that I was able to see. not to say they weren't in the water but i was not able to locate them.


Bodo twisiting the hook to more of an offset I will also try this.

Matt I am getting closer to landing a fish aug sept and Oct I wasn't able to really do this well Oct I did get a nice fight with one that got caught up in some trees so I had to cut the line nothing I was able to do then.... But I feel I am getting closer thats for sure I have to out fish my son. Man my daughter already out hunts me lol son already caught a couple shakers...

Anglin: I have one from way back I used it on the hooks I replaced mine first tree snag with the ones I used to start were brand new so I didn't want to dule them with me tring o sharpen them.... but I have a Nice one and works good on most hooks.

[Anglinarcher]

Don't be afraid to do a little practice at home to learn how to sharpen hooks. Like I said, cheap hooks are seldom sharp and even expensive hooks can be dull from the package.

[fear_no_fish]

Twist the hook, like said above, drop that braid (until winter steel) find line that works for you! Everyone is different but Maxima, Suffix and Berkly are good lines.
IMO... you dont need to change your setup, whatever works works. I would just go pick up a few packs of gami's or owners and you should be fine