hooks?

[dan z]

lastnight I went cattin and was using a EWG big river 10/0 hook on a fairly large bait, I had a good run and it pulled out what did I do wrong, just wonder if the hook up with bigger hooks is tougher than using a smaller hook..

[DTro]

This question comes up all the time, and I don’t think the size of the hook will help a whole lot with missed fish. It’s mostly due to a few factors:

Bait not in the fish’s mouth

Fish too small

Wrong kind of fish (gar, sheephead, turtle, etc)

Hook doubles back and the point is driven back into the bait.

If it makes you feel any better, I always say, “ohhh, that was a BIG one ”

A lot of times you can read the initial bite to get a feel what is going on down there. That is what makes me love that “thump” we all know so well. When that happens, I have full confidence that a flathead has just sucked in the bait and the hook is in its mouth. More times than not, a battle shortly thereafter ensues.

[bobbymalone]

I would just chalk it up to sh-- happens.

[CFHunter]

I would totally agree with dtro on that. I like to think they are pretty small fish when they take the bait and the hook isn't in their mouth. I can usually feel the bait rip off of the hook when it is tightening up. If its big there is gonna be a nice tug more often than not and your hook is gonna get buried in its mouth. Feel out the run, the tip of the rod and the clicker on your reel can tell a lot about the bite.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I don't think your hook size affected anything, but I would go a little smaller...those big river hooks are huge.

And Darren nailed it...it's a few different factors and it's probably usually because they didn't have the bait in their mouth completely.

[pureinsanity]

I use and 8/0 Circle hook and have caught fish large and small. However the once I have caught take it and run fast. So I am thinking when that happens they engulf the bait...

[LOTWSvirgin]

Is this hook to big?? Dont know the size

[Gordie]

I totally agree with DTRO on this I had this very thing happen over the weekend and tried differnt hooks as I could feel the hook pop out of the fishes mouth everytime and my thoughs were small flats or channels they would hit and peel line like its no tomarrow and stillo felt it rip out . I had 7 awsome clicker runs in an hours time and each time it just wasnt there I had 4 rods set up with differnt hooks and tried each one with no luck when I would reel in there was almost always no bait so i thought bait wasnt althe way in the mouth. just one of those things that happens.

[CFHunter]

Thats a fishsandwich/0 hook. I wouldn't bother using that big of a hook, looks like it would just kill the bait (depending on the size of the bait). I use 7/0 and 6/0, and I prefer to use 6/0 unless my bait is large.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

I run nothing under a 8/0 for flats and rarely anything over a 7/0 for channels

[MinnesnowtaWild]

9/0 or 10/0 octopus hooks have been the key to hooking up for me this year (Flatheads that is...with Bullies as bait).

[bgreen82]

do you guys who also use suckers instead of bullies downsize your hooks when using them. ive always basically used 6/0 for both baits on flatties. i guess i just worry that when i use suckers and i have a large hook on, i may lose a nice channel with it.