Losing fish

[Monty]

I am extremely good at losing fish.
Part of it is I think I have reflexes like a stone at times.

This year I am upsizing some hooks (JB mentioned this in another thread).

Today I lost a few Blues most after long fights (had them in the wash).
One thing I noted on the plug was that the through wire was bending (its 90 degrees off set than when I started today). Thinking of adding split rings here (tail hook), any thoughts on if it will help?
At no time did I go slack on these fish. They were lost on solid head shakes, in every instance there was a solid head shake and lost fish.

http://rocksimpson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014_8_31_SS.jpg

[fishinmission78]

You took the treble off the SS and put a single. That could be the cause of some. Are you crushing down your barbs? In that pic the barb looks ok but the bigger bluefish are crazy. Head shakes, jumps, dogging on the bottom structure to try to lose that hook. When the larger blues are around I have about a 50% hookup to landing ratio so dont feel bad. They are insane.

[J Barbosa]

Big bluefish are definitely tackle busters.

I suspect your drag may be too tight. Are these big bluefish pulling any drag?

[Monty]

You took the treble off the SS and put a single. That could be the cause of some. Are you crushing down your barbs? In that pic the barb looks ok but the bigger bluefish are crazy. Head shakes, jumps, dogging on the bottom structure to try to lose that hook. When the larger blues are around I have about a 50% hookup to landing ratio so dont feel bad. They are insane.
They are insane, what a blast. I like a single hook on the back of these plugs. Safer. I don't crush barbs unless I am catching blues on trebles.
Fifty percent is about it at best for me the last 2 times I have run into 30 inch+ blues.


Big bluefish are definitely tackle busters.

I suspect your drag may be too tight. Are these big bluefish pulling any drag?
Definitely pulling drag, not to tight. Good bend in rod. Handled many, many head shakes during the fights. But all 4 shook the hook on a solid head shake, felt exactly the same on all 4. Noticed the through wire changed angle. Going to add some split rings.

[J Barbosa]

Try changing the angle of the rod. The goal is to keep them from jumping. We so the same with fluke, keep their head underwater and they don't thrash which means less chance of them spitting the hook.

When on the kayak we keep the rod tip low and to the side when the blues are close to the kayak. If we raise the rod tip there is a high chance of a bluefish leaping into the kayak.

[surfstix1963]

Split rings are a matter of preference, I don't like open eye hooks so I prefer split rings.As far as the wire moving try crimping the tail loop wire some more you can get away with that on plastic plugs, on wood if it is too tight you can split the plug.When those big blues get in the wash they go crazy all you can do is keep the line tight and work the fish with the waves.We all lose some just part of the game.Keeping the treble on the back with crushed barbs will increase your catch ratio but it is still a pain in the butt to get it out without sacrificing at least part of your finger.

[DarkSkies]

I am extremely good at losing fish.
Part of it is I think I have reflexes like a stone at times.

I am not sure if it's your reflexes, or the nature of fishing for bigger bluefish.
Fishing for them in the summer at night with poppers, I dropped a good %, sometimes twice as many as I landed.
JB touched on it a bit by suggesting to keep the rod sideways.

When I fish for them from bulkheads, I seem to do better as the fighting angle (more vertical) is different.
Different things work for different people, that's what makes this world such a great place.
So you may want to experiment with the angle and stance you are using to bring them in.
That requires there to be a good steady bite like the early morning ones you've been experiencing.

IMO the medium to large blues fight much harder than a bass and are more difficult to control. :dribble::thumbsup:
With a larger bass, once I get that bass's head out of the water, it's usually short work to bring her in after that.....even if I'm fishing the rocks or jetties.

Blues, as some of ya's mentioned, are full of sustained energy. Even with colder water.,....sometimes you hook them and they feel like dead weight until you start reeling them in....and all of a sudden they behave as if someone lit their tails on fire....They will even run directly at you, if you're fishing on the flats, and not careful in controlling them...:scared:
A formidable and worthy adversary for sure...:headbang:

1. As surfstix and others said, a rear treble probably ensures a greater landing ratio....but if you're releasing them it can also put too many bloody holes in them....diminishing survivability....
Therefore....I tend to use the exact same set-up you do, on the SS, Monty.....:thumbsup:
And lose fish as well......:bucktooth:

2. I think you're doing all the right things......
As mentioned the most important thing to me is never lose focus, never give that fish even one inch of slack...if you lose focus, you will surely have a good chance of losing that bigger bluefish.....as they are champions who want to fight you to the death...:viking:

3. And they are sometimes not that aggressive towards plugs.....last night I found it very tough to get them to hit plugs....but they had no trouble chomping a 12" unweighted sluggo, exactly at the point right behind the hook..:(..The frustrating thing, is where I was fishing...they would not hit small rubber...but more than willing to chop a big sluggo...(probably had something to do with the water clarity)
So I think each trip out there....depends on how aggressive and hungry they are...when you are fishing artificials....
...

4. In my experience, they have fierce and wildly exciting head shakes, during which many seem to get off unless there is a deep hookset.










**The bright side....on a trip when you lost a bunch of fish....
You will also land a bunch too......:drool:
And that's better than a trip with little or no action at all....
(some of the trips I have been having lately)

Just sharing my experiences...
Hope this was helpful...:HappyWave:

[cowherder]

Something I was thinking about is it's a good thing many of us use braid. With mono the line stretches a lot and you would lose more fish.

[J Barbosa]

...and sometimes the fish just win!!!

18815

[dogfish]

Great cat pic JB are you a cat owner?
I agree about the hookset. Gator bluefish and bigger bass have tough mouths. You want a real solid hookset. If not sure bang them again. Yer gonna lose some no matter what its part of the game.