Willard, Saturday 30 July

[Tin-Can]

Decided to launch from the north marina Saturday morning. Water levels are still pretty good, 12 to 16 feet in the channel, and the marina and boat slip area is averaging 10 to 14 feet. Ran direct to the north west corner, and started trolling south along the wall. Got to the light pole with no action at all, turned east and headed for the north edge of freeway bay. Found a spot that was showing quite a lot of fish on the sonar and was ready to stop and have a coffee break anyway. Anchored out with mussel on one line and worm on the other. About 5 minutes after the lines were set, the one with the mussel took off heading towards the feed lot. Got that one turned and headed back to the boat, and maybe 20 yards off the side, and SNAP,
line came back at me like out of a slingshot. All the hook, weight, line, but no fish and no bait. [:/] Had that happen again a couple more times in other areas. Figured it was a big carp that was grabbing the mussel in it big lips and running with it, then once the bait came off, he just let go.
Anyway, pulled down a big, ugly skunk for the day. But I did get about an hours free comedy routine entertainment sitting in the north marina watching all the people with more boat than brains.[crazy]
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[albinotrout]

Forget the pop and drops, it's the run and steal....
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The first things I would check are hook sharpness. Then type of hook and size of hook. If a fish has the bait far enough inside their mouth to strip drag from the reel the chances are that you are just not getting a good hook set. Lots of potential reasons for that. But I usually start by checking the hook point.

Easy to dull a hook point after pulling free from a rock snag or two. Or even after catching a couple of fish. And if you are using a large chunk of bait you need a hook large enough to get a good bite and to not be covered by the bait. I have missed or lost fish in the past and brought in my bait only to find the hook point covered by the balled up bait.

Not saying you ain't been there before but when I start missing or losing fish I force myself to get back to basics.
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