# 30 missed hook sets, please help



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

So, I went catfishing with my friends and landed 1 single 4-pound channel cat and missed over THIRTY runs. Here's our setup, please feel free to give me constructive advice for next time:

4 guys sitting on the lake (drinking beers), each with 2 poles in the water. 1 big cat pole each with live 4" blue gills or 2" cut bait on a size 4 or 6 Octopus hook, another pole with chicken liver on a treble hook (pretty large hook). We'd have a 1-ounce sinker tied on a 3-way rig to help us cast out pretty far. We' d sit in our chairs talking and drinking beers, hear a bait alarm go off, run over to the pole and by the time we'd catch the pole, the fish was either gone or had stopped running. We'd wait to see if the fish was still there, set the hook, and nothing happened. Do we need to sit right in front of the poles and set the hook as soon as the fish runs with it? Should I try loosening up the drag a lot more so the fish can run without feeling resistance? Circle hooks? Smaller hooks? Carolina rig the weight so the fish can run with the line?

Sometimes we'd see the pole tip bounce & hear a slight run of the drag, but when we picked up the pole we didn't feel anything on the line. I told my friend to wait until he felt the fish before setting the hook, but it never happened lol.

Any advice? It could have been a really fun night...


----------



## Guest (Jul 14, 2010)

I feel your pain. I swear if I hooked every fish I have missed this year I would be drawing some attention. People on here should be able to help though, and I will be listening as well. Wish you better luck next time!!


----------



## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

Just because you were getting ruuns does not mean those were catfish runs...sounds like gar, or maybe turtles...Both will run with a bait and sound off your clicker.


----------



## got me hooked (Apr 10, 2010)

could have been smaller cats, which will usually mess with your bait; unlike the bigger ones who show a slow gradual bending of the rod tip. Or, like flathunter said could be gar, of which I've had plenty of them run with bait but trying to get a size 4 or 6 hook in that beak of theirs is near impossible. Try a slip sinker rig though so they don't feel the weight when the run with it.


----------



## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

i doubt it was gar not many in our lakes at least not in the lakes i fish, could of been softshells or tiny channels.


----------



## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

> 4 guys sitting on the lake (drinking beers),


There's your answer.

Actually I was going to say turtles too like Flathunter. I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. We were fishing shrimp and got several good runs. Each time swing and nothing and the bait was gone. 
I have caught several softshell turtles there in the past couple of weeks on cut shad but missed several more. Do you see a line of bubbles coming up from the bottom or any heads sticking out of the water?

Also a size 4 or 6 hook seems awful small for a 4" gill or cutbait.
I would go up to a 2/0 minimum and up to 5/0 depending on how big your bait is.


----------



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys, I forgot to mention that the very first thing we pulled in was a freaking snapping turtle...hooked in the foot. I thought it was an accident, but I guess now they do that kind of thing. I should have relocated it to the parking lot! We let it go and I bet it was messing with us all night hahaha.

Thanks again, I'll try a bigger hook with the cut bait, slip sinker rigs, and a bucket for turtle soup next weekend.

-House

(Here's a picture of the little bait ninja)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=13381593&l=aa300d5fb9&id=724215576


----------



## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

WAREHOUSE said:


> Thanks for the help guys, I forgot to mention that the very first thing we pulled in was a freaking snapping turtle...hooked in the foot. I thought it was an accident, but I guess now they do that kind of thing. I should have relocated it to the parking lot! We let it go and I bet it was messing with us all night hahaha.
> 
> Thanks again, I'll try a bigger hook with the cut bait, slip sinker rigs, and a bucket for turtle soup next weekend.
> 
> ...


That is actually a softshell turtle not a snapping turtle...and they will pestor your baits all night. My rule of thumb when fishing is if I have gar or turtle runs (or catch one) I move. Reason being is if the cats are there I will usually catch them and not the turtle or the gar.


----------



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

fishdealer04 said:


> ...My rule of thumb when fishing is if I have gar or turtle runs (or catch one) I move. Reason being is if the cats are there I will usually catch them and not the turtle or the gar.


How do you know the difference between a turtle run and a cat run? And how far do you usually move? Thanks for the reply.


----------



## negs (May 25, 2010)

it has been my experience that turtles usually do not move the rod tip except for some small taps when playing with the bait but when they go with it 9 times out of 10 you will just see the line moving either to the left or to the right in a steady motion and very rarely taking any line


----------



## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Argh.... Softshells are the worst. I don't mind Gar and even sometimes ENJOY catching snappers but softshells are horrible.


----------



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

negs said:


> it has been my experience that turtles usually do not move the rod tip except for some small taps when playing with the bait but when they go with it 9 times out of 10 you will just see the line moving either to the left or to the right in a steady motion and very rarely taking any line


Thanks for the tips negs, that is exactly what we were seeing. Something would peck at the line, move it to the side a bit, then it was gone. I think a few of the runs we missed were legit catfish, but for the most part we were just getting raped by turtles


----------



## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

I HATED them at first- could not hook up and I tried for an entire season. Finally gave up and went back to J hooks. However, I tried them again a few years back and changed the way I fished and I'll never go back to a J hook. Circles hook the fish- I just reel them in. I can honestly say that I hook 90% of the runs I get provided they are catfish. (Gars are nearly impossible to hook.) I use the 8/0 size gammy circles and I've caught flatheads under a pound on them so they're not too big believe it or not. 
The one switch you need to make is engage the spool and keep the rod in a solid holder. Let the fish hook itself and then reel it in. UFM82


----------



## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

> freaking snapping turtle...hooked in the foot





> That is actually a softshell turtle not a snapping turtle


We get bothered by softshelled (leatherback) turtles. If they get a bait they go to another.

The reason they are so often hooked in the foot is because they put a foot on your bait as they tear it apart and eat it. Those things are terrible and they will eat all your baits they can find. When I get one it dies.


----------

