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Big Bass - Little hook

This fish clocked in at just 1 oz. shy of 6 lb. and it fell for 1/2 a crawler on 4 lb. line with a size 12 hook. Ultralight indeed scored the biggest bass I have seen on our Annual August trip. I downsized my hook and followed this up with a 4 lb. fish that looked tiny... Small hooks equal big reward. She was released so we could catch her young in a couple of seasons.

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Albums: Ultralight Fishing
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Comment by Johnny wilkins on October 7, 2010 at 5:26pm: That would be size 12 hook - not size 1.... Why can't we edit our own posts any longer?

Comment by Johnny wilkins on October 7, 2010 at 5:25pm: Well - not only did I see it, I switched hooks and rigs and put a size 1s on my rod with a single tiny split shot and I stuck a 4 lb. smallie off the same structure. I can appreciate the skepticism, but if you strike at the right moment, you can hit every fish in the lip (well... not every fish but you - er the fish gets the point)...

If you knew my brother-in-law he is one of the most honest persons on the planet and I stake my reputation on it - no stories from me - ever.

Lastly- is it better to get your hook back at the end of the day without a bite? Is it better to use a large fish hook but not hook fish or to use a small hook and have to cut the line on a few fish when they swallow it?

Most of the time, I use a float so I see when the tiniest of movements occurs. In this case, we were straight-lining the baits on the side of the crib. As soon as these bass sucked in our leeches we were setting the hook.

Also note that we had at least 4 fish each break us off when they rushed back into the crib... in order to make an omelette - you have to loose some hooks. : )

I have time coming up from my crazy-crazy schedule where I will be working on some content. I will show you a rig that you can fish gills where you can see 90% of gill strikes in front of you - AS they happen. I also have the ultimate hook-remover tool for gills where you can also retrieve 95% of the swallowed hooks on your gills and return the fish unharmed!

I am not super smart - I just have been taught by the best Gill Angler on the Planet in my humble opinion - he is a master - Mick Thill (Thill Floats in every tackle store across North America).

Comment by John Sheehan on March 6, 2010 at 8:43am: What a great Smallie!

Comment by Johnny wilkins on March 5, 2010 at 8:12pm: I am adding a comment. I fished this crib every August for the past 7 years and because we used just a hook and a 1/2 crawler falling slowly through the water the fish came out of the crib boards and were hammering our slow-falling bait.
We have fished it with jigs even small jigs and this was by far our most productive session going with size 12 & size 14 hooks. The hooks are so light, the bait has just enough weight added to sink it slowly- 15x slower than a jig so the falling bait is spotted faster and in the tea-stained water, I believe they pick the bait up on their lateral line as it moves and falls.
Our offering best-respresented food for them I guess. Bottom-line, we have fished it and had such little success in the past. I know now- when the fishing is slow I will go to a finesse hook and taunt them with live food.