salmon hookup advice

[tjozz]

Been given conflicting info on how hard to set a hook on a king off dipsys or riggers.

How are you guys doing it. Lost a lot of fish today ... Don't like that.

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[indian]

Uh, correct me if I'm wrong here but, They hook themselfs, your yanking the hook out of their mouths buddy.

[W.W.IV.]

I'm with you Indian.

[MadPerry]

No hook setting motion on my boat either. When a rigger pops, we reel it in real quick while still in the holder and lift up and back. Read this tip somewhere on this site.

[tjozz]

That's what we were doing but they weren't stayin on. Had a few people tell us to lift the rod and set hook hard. Since the two methods are totally diff I figure some one was full of sh** . So I guess it was just a bad day.

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[rocketman]

Something which is critical, but often overlooked, is your release. I fished with a friend who used off shore releases, which were old & worn. We had several hits, but few hookups, & even fewer that made it into the net. I changed to a Scotty Power Pro release, set on the heavy setting, & set deep into the release, so deep, that it was very difficult to release it manually. And when combined with sticky sharp hooks, it's not necessary to set the hook, as it's already set once released. The extra resistance sets the hook deep. Similarly on my dipseys. I do not use a snubber, & set the dipsey a little tighter than normal, so an extra tug is necessary to trip the dipsey, which in turn gives a good hook set. My hooks are resharpenned after every fish, & have found my success rates using these simple changes results in a lot more fish in the boat. Prior to changing releases with my buddy, we were 1 for 6. After we changed releases on both riggers, we went 6 for 7. Might be worth a try.

[Blind Squirrel]

Like the others said SHARP hooks,even then you will still drop a few

[ifishy]

i'm with rocketman there is a lot to be said for the release tighten it up a bit and your hookups will increase.

[Fishtails]

Ditto to what Rocket said. Also, remember that in the fall your percentage will often times go way down because a chinook's mouth becomes very hard and bony. Setting the hook as you mention is a common practice among some on rigger rods in the fall when the kings are staging...it's done to drive the hook into that hard mouth. On copper and dispey's you would not want to do practice any type of hook set because there is no stretch with wire...just rigger rods, and that is because of the line stretch associated with mono.

I have fished with some very seasoned veterans who swear by setting the hook on stagers....so i guess you just need to do what works for you.

[Richard]

Sharpen the hooks and tighten the release. I am with the majority. No hook set needed.

[fast and silver]

set the hook, males are showing teeth and hooking there jaw, dont set it like a bass master more like a controlled pull to drive the hooks deeper into the jaw bone, your drag is more likely to loose more fish, its got to be smooth and alow the fish to take drag if not you will pull the hooks out and bend more hooks, which sounds exactly what you are doing, also most of these fish are slashing at these baits, not taking them as deeply into there mouths as they were earlier in the summer, your releases no matter how tight will never drive those hooks into there mouth enough for you land them

[Second Nature]

set release so that they trip at 10lbs of pull and sharpen the hooks regularly. as far as the hook set most will be done by the tension on the release but salmon this time of year have harder mouths than normal so i give it a little pop after reeling in the slack as fast as i can. we very rarely lose fish that hit the riggers. as far as dipseys go lose the snubbers and beef up your leader. the biggest thing is getting to the rods that fire as fast as possible and start the tension quick

[off track]

No set for us either, the initial hit sets it perfectly fine. Also like said this time a year the mouths are hard, be sure to have razor sharp hooks

[Yankee Troller]

Never set the hook on a wire diver rod, but on our riggers and coppers this time of year we like to give them a little whack! They have hard tough mouths, so you will lose a few each day, and it's normal. On our wires we keep the drag a little tighter than normal to help sink the hook on the initial strike.

[jonboat]

I keep my hooks sharp and during the spring/summer, let them set the hook themselves, but this time of year, be it from the boat or wading the river, I've found that if I don't give them a good whack, I used to lose 80% of my hookups when I tried letting them hook themselves during the fall - no break-offs or straightened hooks. They just come unbuttoned on a good head shake or change of direction. Their mouths get really stinking bony. Once I started giving them a good whack or two, I started landing 80% instead of losing 80%.

The other reason I like to give them a whack, is to get them running. That puts tension on them and helps keep the hook in place too.

I carry a small, jewelers file with me and touch up my hooks often, just a couple strokes of the file - definitely helps too. In the river, I've switched to Owner Cutting Point hooks - that has also helped a bunch since they are sticky sharp right out of the package.