Am I Doing Something Wrong?

[Rogervang]

St-36 are good hooks. An 8lber with braid will  Definitely bend it. St-41 are also solid hooks. I've used them with all my baits with success. This season Im Playing with some st-56. Heard a lot of good things about it. Well see how it goes with them.

[SumoNinja]

Yea I'm thinking to go to the 56 with bigger baits that are around 8-10"  and 41 on smaller ones. I'll get some 41 to put on this bait 

[zsneezes]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 10:34 AM, pbaker said:

i used to use big game a lot and then switched to fluorocarbon and noticed how much stretch big game had.. maybe just not burying the hooks enough with big game.. idk just an idea.. 

This made a difference for me as well.  Lost two good fish at the beginning of the year with Big Game, then I switched to Flouro and have no complaints.

[SumoNinja]

What brand flouro do you guys use. I use 12 lb seaguar inviz x flouro on my spinning gear and I love the line. But its expensive 

[pbaker]

I use seaguar invizx. I have never had a problem with it. I run 25lb when throwing anything from my 250 to my tiny klash. 

NICE FISH!!!!!! CONGRATS!!! 

[SumoNinja]

Thanks pbaker

I might have to get me a spool of seaguar to use as a leader. Or maybe just switching to straight flouro.....

Edited May 14, 2018 by SumoNinja

[danthefisherman]

I had the same reservations about the 41 based on what I would hear people say but haven't had any issues since trying them. Also have a few 3x and they are BEEFY hooks! I was saving them for if I ever run into 20+ striper as well haha

[JoshPerkins802]

I prefer straight flouro. Seagsur InVizX all the way! 

[BASS_SWINGER]

On 5/10/2018 at 6:48 PM, carlsbadbassin89 said:

Keep rod tip down and underwater if possible to avoid the jump?

Couldn’t agree more keep that rod down!!! I don’t know if your in the boat or whatever but I’ve even gone to the point to bury the rod in the water to keep them from jumping mainly off my float tube but just make sure they don’t have a chance to come up and winch them in fast as you can

[SumoNinja]

I was on tube for two of the ones I lost, and a rocky shore on other 2 I lost 

The one I landed was on shore as you can see in the pics

[brushhawg1]

Nice job man!

[drewmoniz]

Congrats on the PB. Interesting turn of events lol

[ATBass]

I had the same issue fishing a rat around the same size as that strong bass. Im not too familiar with the 806 dobyns (never held/fished one) but If I were you, I would try using a bigger hook (for that setup, Id recommend a 2x hook) but I personally dont like how the ST 41s (or whatever theyre called) point inward. For me, my rat is wide and bulky, so I tried the ST 56's and I love em. Im fishing a 4 oz rat with an 8'3 rod on 25lb big game;when i get bit, I crack em and grind. it feels so dialed with those heavy hooks. Hardly ever lose fish on that rat anymore, and when I do its always a small one on a long cast, cus i wont be able to keep tension. Every good fish is absolutely pinned. Im not saying to use ST 56's, but more so find what hooks work on your gear, and also keep in mind how the hooks will affect the sink rate of your bait and possibly how it runs in the water. Once you have everything dialed, you should be able to grind most your fish to the boat without any issues. I'm no expert on this subject but its something I've recently been giving thought and from personal experience, this thought process has given me a bit of an advantage on those fish. Hope this helps

[tblando]

On 5/14/2018 at 12:07 AM, SumoNinja said:

I've never tried those but I initially shied away from the cutting points. My thoughts were that they'd make a bigger hole in the fish's mouth and increase chances of spitting a bait.

But I really wouldn't know unless I try them. I was even thinking to go to the 3x hooks because we do have a lot of stripers in the 20+ lb range and I've seen them bend the 2/0 st 36 hooks  

Congrats on the PB! Owner ST-56 are strong as hell. I put them on all my hard baits. I know people say they are too thick and/or they are too heavy but I disagree with both. I wouldn’t give up on mono for trebled baits— Big game is junk imo. Try Original P-line Mono 25#. I’ve been using it for years and have never snapped or broke the line. And my home lake is covered in zebra mussels. In my experience with braid the non-stretch in the line rips the trebles out of their mouth— mono’s stretch allows the hooks to be driven in and the head shakes to be absorbed into the line and keep them pinned. But you definitely need a good hard sweeping hookset with the mono depending on how much line you have out. And the Dobyns 806 is perfect for small trebled Swimbaits. I couldn’t tell you the last time I lost a fish with the below combo.... Dobyns 806, P-line 25# and ST-56’s. Good luck. 

[SumoNinja]

Thanks guys, that was really good info.

I will try out the st 41 and 56 and see how both work out