"Rich P" wrote in message
news
First off I have had terrible luck with t-rigging senkos. The bait just
slides out of their mouth for me on the hook set, and then when I do get a
hook up it seems to be a skin hook.

I think I'll fish them on offset worm hooks instead of in-line hooks when
t-rigging from now on. It seems to help with other baits. In fact I think
I'll try offset worm hooks for everything except the heaviest cover flipping
from now on.

Now here is the what I have noticed. Most senko fish seem to hit on the
initial drop. If I crank down and hit them hard I tend to hook them up
pretty good, but a lot of times I am reeling in my bait and I notice it is
heavy. I set the hook and often lose the fish somewhere on the retrieve. I
think what happened is either the fish felt the gentle pressure of a normal
retrieve and just went with the flow, or they chased the bait to take it.
In either case they are facing when I set the hook. The bait can slip out,
and they are probably traveling towards me when I set the hook thereby
reducing my hooksetting force.

If I don't feel a solid thump when I set the hook I crank down and set it
again.

I don't have much drag at any time. If the drag slips when I set the hook I
knw I got as good a hookset as I am going to get. I fish witht he drag set
so a 1.5 buck bass will strip a little drag on his hardest runs, and a 2+
will strip drag on runs. If I need more pressure to kkeeep them out of the
weeds I use my thumb and the instant they turn even a little bit I back off
the thumb pressure.

Now bear in mind my experience is limited from what some of the other
regulars can offer, but I did exactly this on saturday to boat a 5.5 for 2nd
place big fish in a Desert Bass tourney on saturday. I was tossing blind to
a deep channel. When I started to take up slack I noticed there was more
slack than I though there should be. I cranked up as much as I dared and
set the hook hard. The linedrag didn't slip, and I didn't feel a solid
thump. I cranked down (keeping pressure on her) and hit her again. I still
didn't get a solid thump, but I was afraid to try it again for fear that I
had a skin hook in her. She headed for the tulies and I applied gently
pressure with my thumb. She turned and dived under the boat. I let her run
a little and then thumbed her a bit while I unwrapped the line from around
the trolling motor. She made three or four runs back under the boat before
my son managed to get a net under here. She was hooks solidly, but was not
torn. I have to say, that I was wacky rigging, and she had the hook through
a bony plate in the roof of her mouth. I can't say since there is no camera
on the hook, but that second hookset may have been what saved that fish. I
barely felt any pressure ont he first hookset. I can't imagine it was
enough to drive that hook home through that boney plate.

Don't go thinking a second hookset needs to be done all the time. Its does
not. In fact most times a second hook set will risk tearing a big hole and
losing fish. I ONLY do it on those occassions where I am fishing plastics,
and I am not comfortable with the initial hookset.


--
Bob La Londe

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