Ouch, Karma bus hurts

[ChezJfrey]

Hooked another steelhead at lunch today...and lost it, so that makes me 1 for 5 in the last 7 days or so.

I remember giving Rippin' a hard time last summer about his hooked/banked ratio and I guess karma's caught up to me

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I lost this one (and probably the last one) because upon closer review, my small jig was rendered barbless somehow...probably from the pliers I used when releasing that native a few days ago. Slightly different game when fighting barbless and I was at a disadvantage since I didn't realize it. <sigh> Just another thing to check for when I do a leader check.

 

[bran_man]

I almost swore of jigs for life 2 years ago when I lost 8 in a row all on jigs (12 in a row lost total) lol. Those fresh and strong summers can just be tricky sometimes.don't give up man!

 

[ChezJfrey]

I almost swore of jigs for life 2 years ago when I lost 8 in a row all on jigs (12 in a row lost total) lol. Those fresh and strong summers can just be tricky sometimes.don't give up man!

Yeah, tell me about it...I just started with jigs this winter and hooked a few winters without issue. But, the summers are doing a number for sure with all the aerial flips and such. Never had this issue on summers with my big ol' size 1/0 hooks on the spoons, but those small jigs are getting me burned...the last 2 were some hot and decent sized fish and I'm aching to know what they sized out to! But alas, I'm only left to wonder

 

[plumb2fish]

A few years ago in the high water I was using 8lb leaders and had 15 fish break me off before I was upset enough to switch to 10...upon switching, my hook up ratio went down, but my landing ratio went to about 80%....

 

[Bgunder]

I lost all four of the first steelhead I hooked, the biggest bummer for me was the one I hooked and lost at my feet which had bent out my gamakatsu hook half way It was my first real fight with a steelhead and it was a super hot summer that I swear spent more time in the air then in the water. Of course a guy watching me fight it told me after I lost it that it looked to be at least a 12pound fish which made it hurt that much more that I didn't land it.Oh well such is life

 

[OnTheDrop]

Thats rough! Atleast your getting into fish though.. Seems like you catch your fair share so as long as your getting some tugs it should be all good, eh?

If i'm using store bought jigs I use Wooly Buggers 1/8-1/16 pretty much exclusively and have only lost 2-3 out of what seems like 100's.. Some other solid ones are the first bites by Mark Anderson. Some real good quality!

Tight Lines!

 

[rippin fish lips]

I remember giving Rippin' a hard time last summer about his hooked/banked ratio and I guess karma's caught up to me

:tongue::yay:

You will get the next one Brotha! These fish are tricky this year for sure. I'm about to get crazy and start filling the boat tube up and paddling over to some islands that have some good water in them. Maybe i should drop down to 8lb instead of 10 since its giving me a hard time since my first.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

You will not lose more fish with smaller hooks if your rod matches the type of hooks and jig size you are using. If anything smaller hooks will stay hooked in fish better than larger hooks (thinner wire has less to work out of skin). If you are bending or breaking hooks then your rod is to stiff. A rod that works well with big spinners and spoons (large hooks) probably isn't a rod you want to float fish jigs with. Sometimes summers can just kick your butt! Nothing you can do about it really.

 

[ChezJfrey]

You will not lose more fish with smaller hooks if your rod matches the type of hooks and jig size you are using. If anything smaller hooks will stay hooked in fish better than larger hooks (thinner wire has less to work out of skin). If you are bending or breaking hooks then your rod is to stiff. A rod that works well with big spinners and spoons (large hooks) probably isn't a rod you want to float fish jigs with. Sometimes summers can just kick your butt! Nothing you can do about it really.

Yeah, I wasn't blaming the small jig hook as my float rod is long and rather soft so it protects light leaders/small hooks rather well. But rather me not realizing the barb was broken off and I think the head shakes when it jumps makes it relatively easy for the weight of the jig to help yank the hook right out if it happens to be facing the direction of the mouth shake...if I had known it was barbless, I might have tried keeping the tip down more to mitigate jumping and perhaps do a better job of keeping constant tension by reeling like a noobie at all times of play

Probably still would have lost it in any case, LOL