Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

I have been doing a lot of snakehead and bass fishing lately with the Booyah Pad Crasher. I get a lot of hits but barely get any of them to the boat. sometimes i just completely miss on the hook set, but most of the time the fish just come off about halfway to the boat. i use a 6'6" medium/heavy BPS CarbonLite rod, Shimano Caenan, and 30 pound Power Pro. do you think it is my equipment, lure, or just me? and what can I do to stop this?! Thanks

I think it's just fishing! IMHO. Good luck with those Snakeheads. I hear they're a lot of fun. I hope to get a few some day!

Make sure your hooks are sharp. I've noticed on the "bargan lures", the hook's aren't much of a bargain. Like Jetty said, too much or not enough pressure could be a reason.

jettypark28 wrote:with braid there is no give and when you
apply too much pressure with the fish fighting you will end up tearing the hook out
of his mouth...

My guess it's this one. I had that problem when I switched to using braided line. I found out that with braid, I have to keep the drag a bit lighter on hard fighting fish because without any stretch in the line, they will actually tear the hook right through thier mouth.....so try lightening up on the drag just a bit and see if that doesn't help! Good luck buddy!! (But remember, if you never lose any fish....then you are not fishing!! )

Try waiting a second or two than set the hook. Sometimes your just pulling the frog out of its mouth when its not completely in.

I use nothing but braid and spinning gear for both inshore fishing as well as freshwater. Once I get used to braid I believe my hook up ratio is way better than with mono, I don't like fishing with an elastic band.
I've made a number of trips to Coral Springs looking to catch a snakehead. I've seen a few swimming but have yet to have a strike, I'm using mostly frogs, I hear that's the ticket. I just want 1..........lol.

thanks a lot everyone for all the tips. i went out yesterday and loosened up on my drag a little bit and my catch ratio definitely went up!