Nearly Skunked
 

Fished Prien Friday and casted so many times I'll probably need
new bearings in my shoulder! Didn't put the first fish in the boat
till after 4 hours fo fishing. don't know what the deal was but I
could feel the bite but when I set the hook, there was nothing
there. I even went to smaller plastics and different colors. When
I finally got hooked up, instead of using a net, I tried to Ville Platte
it in the boat and broke the tip off my favorite rod. Still bummed
about that. Anybody else have problems getting a hookset like that?

What were you throwing? May have been croaker you were feeling.

Was throwing 4" plastics. Had some good hits but just couldn't stick em'!

Lots of junk fish in there that like to nibble.

What size jig heads were you throwing? If you were throwing 1/4oz, going down to 1/8oz probably would have helped.

probably a bunch of small specks. i fished prien friday and i caught a bunch of 7-10" specks even using live shrimp i could barely get a hook set

Could have been that cuz the first fish I put in the boat was a about 10" long
and yep, I was using 1/4 oz jig heads....short shank of course! Gonna head back
as soon as I can and I'll give the 1/8 oz head a try.

Shank, There were a lot of small specs out there Friday. It was good that you thought of doing the things that you did, smaller baits, changing colors but if they are the small ones there is not a whole lot you can do. A couple of other things you may want to do. Switch to a more limber rod if the one you are using is kinda stiff and some string with some stretch will help too. We had some light bites that were not small fish at all and this is what we ended up having to do to improve our hook ups. When we were bouncing our baits off bottom, the fish would hit it on the drop as usual. Instead of setting the hook right away we were dropping our rods slowly and letting the fish have it for about 2-3 more seconds before setting the hook. We were not yanking back, just leaning back with pressure when setting the hook. We lost numerous fish trying to lift them in the boat, so we started grabbing them with our hands. (no net) Some that we got in the boat were hooked on the outside of the mouth so far that all we would do is jerk a little and the skin would break. I had 3 or 4 nice fish that I set the hook on like I normally do. My rod would bend but then there mouth would just break so had to change the way I was doing things. Hope this helps.

Thanks Chicken that sounds like good advice. gonna pick up another rod this week, a buddy of mine said to give the 7' Shrimp tail special a try. Gonna pick one up at Academy if there are any left after Black Friday! I'll probably be in Texas bowhunting this weekend but the next mild day after that I'm pretty sure I'll be back at Prien trying to rip some lips!

short it was tough friday....managed a small grand slam but nothing special...

Yea, I saw you near the bridge for a short while but I guess you headed south. I stayed and toughed it out. I'll get em next time!

yea went in the channel on the other side of the island under the bridge...

yeah in the am its cooler, that 1/8oz jig head works, slow down your retreive and if your fishing shallow water it will help keep it off the bottom, if your not sure about the bite switch your line to using a braid with a fluoro leader, or just use a good fluorocarbon line. also a med lite rod with a fast tip, the fast tip helps you fell the bite a little better too.

They were wiped out Friday bout midday.


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That figures but maybe they'll get some more in. I was working my plastics
pretty fast bumping it along the bottom. I'm pretty new at this spec fishing compared to this group but I plan to keep after em'!!!

The bite for me in prien has been on a slow almost non existent retrieve (there is one fella on here who keeps limiting by trolling if you wanna try that).... now i didnt fish prien friday. was in BL. I have managed my limit in prien the past 3 weeks by slowly bumping it with a 1/4oz.... they would never really slam it. kinda scooped it up and felt tension. keep after em... bite changes and you have to adjust.... bring along a popncork. it will bring in fish (NOT a fan myself but if its tough its tough) sounds like you scaled down in size. browse the reports... there have been alot around the prien area. I have about 3-5 spots I fish constantly.... doesnt mean the fish are always there. gotta go to know. good luck

If just the tip broke off..... why not fix it? You can buy new rod tips at Academy. Just heat up the tip of the rod and melt a little glue using a lighter [match, candle, etc.] and you will be back in business.

Wish that was the case Gerald but it broke just below the second guide. I guess I'll
have to dig up some of that old rusty money and get another one. Heck, I've spent a whole lot more on a whole lot less!!!!!!!!!!

If it was a 7 foot rod...... now it will be a 6 footer. But you will loose some of the tip "action".

Buy a low end shimano. Best warranty