Tip Down!

Unfortunately, I can still close my eyes and see those fish, one was one of the biggest bass I ever hooked, the other, one of the biggest walleyes.  I had fought them to the point of getting ready to put ’em in the net and then came that one last head shake.  In slow motion I can still see the fish facing me, mouths wide open, heads swinging back and forth, and my bait flying out.

“There she was. . .                  Gone!”

To this day my heart sinks every time I have a fish repeat that move.

In both of those cases the bait was relatively heavy and that weight swinging back and forth with the head-shakes is what dislodged the hooks.  So what am I supposed to do?  Fish with light baits all the time?  Certainly cannot do that, but I can, and have, upgraded hooks on those lures and all others similar to them.

I also go to great lengths, literally, with rod placement to keep pulling a bait back into a fish’s mouth instead of out of it.

If you fish for bass or other species that will jump clear of the water, that may include extreme lengths to keep the fish down, to at least keep their heads in the water. . . .

Found that video on FaceBook, Informative Fisherman.  Got a kick out of it, especially the puny little bass jumping and throwing the hook at the end.

See if you can give your fishing buddy an assist like that the next time they hook a bass.

Hope that big one does NOT throw the hook on you this weekend, GO FISH!