Need any advise I can get. Being my first season fishing from a kayak, I seem to be having trouble getting good hook sets. I had 5 come off 2' from the kayak this morning (tip of hook still in worm). when I set the hook, it feels good, but it seems the hook isn't getting into the fish. I am a little frustrated, cant seem to figure out what I am doing wrong. I did managed to land 4 bass, so my hook sets are good for those ones. what could be causing my hook sets to be inconsistent?

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:12 am

Just some ideas...don't bury hook tip back into the worm makes it a bit less weedless but may help, do a second hookset it may cost you some fish but you may also get ones you're missing! Took me a while to get the feel for hooksetting on my kayak,I keep my rods on milk crate behind me so I can't set hooks straight back over my head ,I do it side arm or diagonally.

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 10:25 am

It is definitely tough because of being so low in the water. I probably miss 50% of my fish. It depends on position also. I find if the fish is directly in front of me I can usually hook it. Off to the side or heading behind me then all bets are off! Laughing Either way you have to really let it have it! Also, be sure all slack is out of the line. If you are fishing plastics and feel a strike, reel up until you feel the fish and then let it rip!

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 10:41 am

It's tough you definitely lose more fish from a kayak. That's why I run a lot of crank baits and jerk baits from my kayak when I can. Expose the hook a bit when Texas rigging anything or try a creature bait where the hook is almost at the rear end of the lure.

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:01 am

I fish out of a kayak quite a bit and I use a spinning rod with braid and, if necessary, a leader. I get pretty decisive hooksets with this setup and I don't lose too many fish. That said, I lost a pretty good one this AM so it's never 100%!

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 1:16 pm

It was my first year fishing out of a kayak last year.... I had gizmos and gadgets sticking out of everywhere on my yak.... now, my front deck and everything in front of me is clean.... that way I can easily bring my rod tip down and crank out the slack before I set the hook. I set the hook up and to the right, keeps me from banging into the rods behind me. I primarily use braid (10 and 20 lbs test - it's thin and it doesn't seem to bother the fish at all). I don't use big thick flipping hooks and almost all of them are EWG for any kind of plastic. Medium Heavy action rods.... I haven't lost many at the boat, I keep pressure on them and let them do their fighting before I try to land them. It's just what I do, seems to work - hope it might help you out some.

Posted Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:40 pm

IMO, there is no secret to setting the hook in a kayak. perhaps the equipment you are using?! i mean, maybe you are T-rigged the worm with mono line and a heavy wire hook. the stretch in the line plus the heavy wire do not go together. this goes for flipping technique, as for cranking.. you dont really set the hook, you just put pressure and the rod and reel will drive the hooks in. bottom line is, if you are using the right equipment, fish will rarely come unhooked.

Posted Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:16 am

I use Gamagatsu EWG hooks. they stay sharp. same hook for drop shotting, texas rig, and Carolina rig. never have a problem with losing fish after the hook set.

Posted Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:06 pm

I switched from the ewg to the rb, hook up ratio is much better. Fishing both hooks with 5" yum dingers and Zero's. Thanks for all the advise guys

Posted Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:01 am

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