Bass problem

[Billy Bass]

Hi, new to forum so this is my first post. Relatively new to shore fishing but not altogether useless so hopefully I might be of some use!

Just started bass fishing for the first time this week with some great success. Fishing by night with lug and catching plenty. Only prob is that I keep losing fish, some very sizable ones at that. Seem to get the smaller fish in but the big ones always come off as soon as they get close in, in fact I am losing more than I land. As you can imagine I am tormented!

Using single paternoster, 4Oz grip lead and Kamasan 2/0 B940 Aberdeen hooks. Can only think the hooks are to blame. Thinking a 3/0 hook with bigger barbs would be better? Any tips or hook recommendations?

Also my beachcaster is old, cheap and heavy...not ideal for playing fish. Any tips for playing bass in surf??

Any help really appreciated

[Tanglerat]

There's a knack to controlling a fish in the suds and bringing it safely in, as you are finding out!

[roooster]

your only wasteing your time with the 2/0 & 3/0 hooks,you will of course catch fish on them,but for the bigger fish you should be using an 4/0 o shaughnessy type hook.
thats my personal choice anyway & iv very rarely lost any type of bass on them & you will of course catch the smaller ones too on the 4/0
regards

[lugworm]

your only wasteing your time with the 2/0 & 3/0 hooks,you will of course catch fish on them,but for the bigger fish you should be using an 4/0 o shaughnessy type hook.
thats my personal choice anyway & iv very rarely lost any type of Bass on them & you will of course catch the smaller ones too on the 4/0
regards

just as the man said, i use kamasan hooks tho just a personal thing..........bass have very big mouths and i am just wondering are u completely freein the hook point from the bait and make sure its nice and clear from the bait for a good piercing ability.........

[Razorlite]

All sound advice above,wouldn't be fishing if you landed all of them,

[Billy Bass]

Thanks lads. Suppose it must be the hooks since I am only landing the smaller ones. The barbs didn't seem to be great on the hooks I was using either. Leaving the point well clear of the worm and have no problem in hooking any of the fish. They stay on and fight like mad until the edge of the surf and then just fall off...it's sickening! It's the transition from the deeper water into the shallows that causes them to come off.

Anyway, I'll try the bigger hooks and let ye know how I get on tomorrow night. Need to land one of these big fish for my sanity!

[tex]

Practice makes perfect

[SlackLiner]

Try using a pennel setup on your snoods...

http://www.planetseafishing.com/rigs/Pennel-Rig/

Two hooks, potentially double the hook hold and better bait presentation

[red]

your only wasteing your time with the 2/0 & 3/0 hooks

my pb bass was over 8lbs and caught on a size 2 aberdeen, ive also had plenty upto 5 and 6lbs on size 1's znd 2's so you dont need huge hooks to catch big bass.

[beachbuddy]

Good call red.Always found something along the lines of a1/0- 2/0 aberdeen style hook to be perfect for fishing worm baits [2 worms]4/0 is my max in my box for bassing and this would be used with big dollops of crab or razor.A good strong smaller hook will land most fish.Its all about bait presentation smaller baits=smaller hooks,larger baits= bigger hooks.
Keep at it your hook sizes are fine,but if still dropping fish as suggested you could try the pennell set up.Just a silly thought but if your rod is overly stiff in the tip you maybe pulling the hook out of the fish that are just lip hooked,well it sounds good anyways.
Tight lines

[Al and Jordan]

all valid and good points from the lads above
another thing you should try that will increase your catch rate getting them through the surf is once you have set the hook in the fish is to let your drag off enough so that if the fish wants to run or head back to sea it can take line off the reel. it will stop the hook from getting pulled out of the fish if it is a decent fish, or is only lightly hooked. this is a great method so long as your over clean ground. about 20% of our catches would never have been landed if not for using this technique
it's a great feeling too to hear the fish strip line off the reel certinly gets the adrenalline pumping

[willie bendit]

your only wasteing your time with the 2/0 & 3/0 hooks

my pb Bass was over 8lbs and caught on a size 2 aberdeen, ive also had plenty upto 5 and 6lbs on size 1's znd 2's so you dont need huge hooks to catch big Bass.

.......spot on !

bass have hard mouths ,make sure points are well clear and check every couple of casts to make sure points are still
sharp

[eeler]

if your only using lug then id say a size 1 or 1/0 is plenty big

[Billy Bass]

Thanks a mil for all the advice. Went again last night using 4/0 hooks. Only had one take on first cast, 2lb bass that was landed successfully. The fish just weren't there, think it was too wild, very windy altogether and quite weedy.

The rod is a problem, old heavy shakespeare 25 euro job. It will be replaced as soon as I have money! Very hard to play out the fish properly with it or let him take line with any degree of control. May chance the spinning rod the next time.

One other question. Would it be worth using a pully rig? I'm using a single paternoster and find that with a 4 Oz weight, it just drags on the bottom and doesn't help matters at all. With the weight off the bottom I might have more control? A pully pennel might be the job?

Thanks for the help everyone, really enjoying this bass fishing now.

[lugworm]

Thanks a mil for all the advice. Went again last night using 4/0 hooks. Only had one take on first cast, 2lb Bass that was landed successfully. The fish just weren't there, think it was too wild, very windy altogether and quite weedy.

The rod is a problem, old heavy shakespeare 25 euro job. It will be replaced as soon as I have money! Very hard to play out the fish properly with it or let him take line with any degree of control. May chance the spinning rod the next time.

One other question. Would it be worth using a pully rig? I'm using a single paternoster and find that with a 4 Oz weight, it just drags on the bottom and doesn't help matters at all. With the weight off the bottom I might have more control? A pully pennel might be the job?

Thanks for the help everyone, really enjoying this Bass fishing now.

here this might help...............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJzOYkNtkOo

[Billy Bass]

Thanks lugworm, will give the pully rig a try next time. Prospects for the coming week don`t look great though, wind n rain everyday it seems

[Al and Jordan]

The rod is a problem, old heavy shakespeare 25 euro job. .

man i would never worry about the rod. 2 years ago i turned up at a club comp only to discover i had lifted the top and bottom section of 2 different rods .
all i had left in the car was a cheap £19.99 telescopic 9ft spinning rod and reel combo i hardly ever used.
as it turned out i came second in the comp between 15 anglers (and some of those lads were on the ulster team )
i'll admitt i did feel a bit embarrised as the lad beside me was using a century rod and 7ht set up that must have cost close to £450. and there's me taking second place with a set up that cost less than the line on that guys reel

[nicefish]

The rod is a problem, old heavy shakespeare 25 euro job. .

man i would never worry about the rod. 2 years ago i turned up at a club comp only to discover i had lifted the top and bottom section of 2 different rods .
all i had left in the car was a cheap £19.99 telescopic 9ft spinning rod and reel combo i hardly ever used.
as it turned out i came second in the comp between 15 anglers (and some of those lads were on the ulster team )
i'll admitt i did feel a bit embarrised as the lad beside me was using a century rod and 7ht set up that must have cost close to £450. and there's me taking second place with a set up that cost less than the line on that guys reel

Nice one.