For all waders

Ok I will give u some wading 101 advice. When fun fishing I don't even take a trolling motor from around march 20 to end of April. So I may qualify for these questions;). Leave the net at the house. 90% of the veteran waders u see will not be carrying one. It's an art to landing fish while wading and that's the first thing I try and teach my newbie friends when we go out. I'm not so sure the hook is your problem because I use all different kinds of hooks and heads and rarely loose a fish. Unless I am trying to hide a fish from an oncoming scout and sometimes I loose them on purpose. When u set the hook(assuming the rod is in your right hand) keep the rod bent by pulling the fish up near the surface. Once the fish is close to the top of the water u need to swim him over to your left. At the same time be working your hands up the rod. Once u make it half way up the rod u will be able to ski the fish right to to your lap. Take your free hand and pin the fish up against your groin area or stomach depending on water level. Once u have him pinned u can drop the pole and use both hands to get a better grasp on the fish to put him on the stringer. In really shallow water I bend down and take a knee when landing fish so I will have something to pin him against. U will get the hang of it after a few tries. I do this with two poles most all the time. As far as socks go. I don't even wear any. I think your boot may be too big. Good luck. I hope this helps.

Another thing I forgot to mention that I see a lot of new waders do. Never pull the fish strait to u with your rod pointing strait at the fish. It pulls the hook right out of its mouth. That's why I was telling u to swim him to your left. Keep your rod tip up. Same goes for fishing out of the boat. Never give them any slack. I hope u get it figured out. It's my favorite thing to do.

What's up Jerkn!!!

Do a search on sickle hooks here. Lots of info on them. Scottv sells em...As does Donald @ Crappielogic....several others. Its just a hook that's bent in a way that prevents the fish from getting off easy just as long u keep pressure on him. Give u more leverage. Maybe someone else can explain it better.

bird down, thank you. Thank is some shonuff advice right there. I do believe I shall this technique you mention. I'll have to kinda reverse it since I hold my pole in the left hand, but it should work the same. Thanks again.

I've been wading for years and I do carry a net...for big fish. I too capture them next to my body and get a hand OVER the fish behind the gills and only then do I remove the hook. So I grip the fish from the top of his back...not in the lip. For a bigger one, I'll net him, string him and then remove the hook. Another thing I do that works really well is, at the strike I set the hook somewhat and as the rod bends I pull it to one side to get him out of the cover/area and let him pull my string off to the side of the spot he struck. This way I can usually catch several fish off the same object without spooking the lot. I don't move my feet at all...just play the fish out to the side and get ready to go right back in. It works for me.

Birddown's way does work well in deep water but like he said you have to take a knee in shallow water.Most of the time i just pull out some slack.As far nets, rarely ever use them pole fishing.Put some heavy line on that reel and bring em on in.

I have out about 4 ft of line on a 9ft very limber jig pole. I set the hook by pulling the line, keeps me out of the limbs, lets me retreat, let out the slack, and bring the fish to my net. Use a net every time, keeps fins and hooks out of my finger, hold the fish in the net til I get a stringer in it. Love sickle hooks, but never lose many fish at all using wal mart specials as long as pressure is regulated correctly. I use 10 lb hi vis braid, very sensitive, wont break pulling a wrapped fish out of cover. Not saying my way is the right way, but it works for me

Bonehead Braid is very good for this

I just make sure I have my floaties and im good to go :)

Thank you fellows again. I made some improvements today, and managed to bring home two. Considering the number of fishermen out today, I'm surprised I got these two.