trouble setting hook

[waterwolff]

Coming off a perplexing weekend of fishing.I was having a hard time at setting the hook seems I was to fast on the draw or to slow more than one time I would have a fish on for ten feet or so and than it would spit the hook. I was using #4 gamakatsus octopus hooks with medium rainbows and shiners hooked just back of the dorsal. Do you think I didn't have enough hook there. I should note that these fish were on my rattle wheel lines. Would a circle hook be better on the rattle wheels. Another thing was the fishes preference of color early in the evening they were taking a blood red hook and later at night they were taking a blue hook. stopped tonight at gander mountain to see if they had a wider gapped hook or a Aberdeen hook in different colors but no luck. Any in-sights on this would be appreciated
Mike

[WallEYES]

WATERWOLF
Try bending your hook out more for a wider gap and tail hook your live bait so the front of the hook is facing towards the head of the minnow/live bait. Prognosis= many more fish put on the ice. All it takes is a small pliers to lenghthen the gap just a tad....hope this helps you out.

[Steve Foss]

Walleyes on rattle reels probably feel resistance when running with the minnow. I don't think your problem is with your hook style, but with the rattle reel.

Rattle reels work well for people who want to drink beer and shoot the, well, you know.

But if you're serious about catching fish other than pout, use a bobber weighted so that it's almost under water, so any bite will pull it down and fish won't feel the weight.

Sure, you can catch aggressive fish on th rattle reel, because aggressive fish don't mind a little resistance, but by and large you'll do better with a heavily weighted bobber.

Good luck.

[Fish Toys]

If you are going to use a bobber for getting neutral buoyancy I would use the Ice Buster Bobbers. Trim them so they are just right and have no resistance.
http://fishingminnesota.com/icebust/ice-buster-bobber.html
It sure is worth a try.
Merry Christmas & Happy Fishing
“FISH”

------------------
http://www.icesaws.com/

[waterwolff]

Guys thanks for the reply I generally use the rattle wheels at nite when sleeping in the permanent. The other night the fish were coming through at a rate of four an hour and I don't think they were feeling the line I just couldn't get my hook to set. I will definitely try hooking my minnows as Walleyes suggested though.stfcatfish your reply was partly right I do like to shoot the bull but I haven't had a drink in a long time. And while jigging, I do have my set line bobber weighted just so
Thanks to all and to all a good night.
Mike

[tdk]

I use a rattle reel a lot in my permanent shack. The weekend we put the shack out it out fished my jigging rod 2 to 1. I was using golden shiners and just jigging it once in while. I jigged the other pole almost constantly trying different jigs. One thing that did help hookups on my rattle reels was switching to old fly line with a mono leader (about 3'). It doesn't tangle up and it's easier to handle than mono line. I used a braided backer on the rattle reel. I also use foam bobbers on the fly line( the type with tooth pick stops) so I can squeeze the ice off of them. I picked up this method from some people that had a cabin on the LOW. Sometimes the fish seem to like the slower style.