Thread: jig head and hook size

Originally Posted by DrNip

Are you saying you only fish with rod at 45 degree angle to the water and never with the rod horizontal to the surface?

Correct.
I work small and large lures better at a rod angle to the surface. Plus when a tick is felt up the line, I can lower or raise the rod a bit -depending on the strike- and before the next more powerful rod tip jerk away from the fish to embed the point further. With the jig hook point at an upward angle in the fish's mouth, unlike the hook position during the retrieve, I can feel which direction to set the hook and how powerful the hook set - something I can't do with a horizontal-to-the-surface set using small gap hooks typical of small jigs.

When it comes to treble hooks or the much larger hooks used with bass lures, playing the fish and hook set is still never horizontal to the surface though at a smaller rod angle to it. Playing a fish with rod action horizontal to the surface assumes the hook is deeply embedded, which it may be, but in my experience loses more fish. In fact once the hook is in solid, I hook set again and play the fish at an opposite angle away-from-midline, which I feel confuses the fish headed towards me. This is done a few times initially and especially for small bass that like to jump.