losing fish - shore fishing

[nevercatchmuch]

hi all,
first, the good news: I've caught 4 beautiful little rainbows since ice off during 3 trips out this year so far.
bad news: I was out today and had 15+ bites and didn't land a single one! I was using powerbait on new, small hooks on a pickering rig. I have no idea what was going wrong.... This has never happened to me before this badly. Best guess is finicky fish were going for the worms right next to me!
Any ideas?

[DarkAisling]

Sharpen your hooks. Offsetting the point is supposed to help, too.

It could also be you've suddenly developed a crummy hookset . . . my hookset has gone down the toilet lately! I guess I've become distracted (staring at the water, the trees, talking to whoever I'm with) . . . and I can't land a thing as a result.

[on the rise]

Where were you fishing? It could be the bites were the newly stocked fish (6"-8") and the hooks are too big. I was out at Dewitts and started using size 8 hooks on the P rig, but after numerous hits and no fish, changed to size 14, nothing but little ones (newly stocked fish).
No keepers, but loads of fun.

[nevercatchmuch]

shelly: the are brand spanking new hooks but weren't offset, so I'll try that.

I was out at dickson trout pond.not sure if it was stocked recently or not. people seemed to be catching and keeping little fish sticks. but a few guys had bigger ones.

[DarkAisling]

You should still sharpen a lot of new hooks. I know that seems silly, but it's true (I swear!).

Also, the hooks on a lot of pickerel rigs are pretty crummy. You might find that replacing the hooks that comes with them is beneficial.

[walleyechaser]

What size hooks were you using, I have found If they are getting away, it could be as simple as putting on smaller hooks

[luckyme]

hi all,
first, the good news: I've caught 4 beautiful little rainbows since ice off during 3 trips out this year so far.
bad news: I was out today and had 15+ bites and didn't land a single one! I was using powerbait on new, small hooks on a pickering rig. I have no idea what was going wrong.... This has never happened to me before this badly. Best guess is finicky fish were going for the worms right next to me!
Any ideas?

i was in dewitt's last friday,same thing.started with size 8 hooks and down to 10,sliped bobber.i had a better luck in crossfield the next day.

[Vega21]

I had the oppostie lol. Went out to Morinville last night caught 3 nice trouts drunker then an irishmen on St.Pattys day....Fishing drunk is the best way to catch fish.

[fish-man]

If the fish won't get hooked, chances are that either the bait or the hook- or both- are too big, and it's not biting agressively enough to get the hook in its mouth.

[dmckay]

I've been out to Crossfield a few times and was having the same problem. Every cast I was getting hit, but couldn't land a thing. Went to a smaller hook and landed a few. Another thing I noticed is whenever I would try and set the hook, they would get away. With the smaller stocked fish, I started just reeling them in as soon as I had a good hit, and thats when I got them to shore.

[Cal]

I find I have better luck hooking trout using worms. They seem to have a harder time stealing a well hooked worm than most other baits including powerbait and therefor I often have an easyer time hooking them. Thread the worm on like you would a jig then loop the tail around and hook it again one or two times. I used to fish Mound Red alot (as in I ate trout every day for one summer) and this was the only way I could hook them concistantly, in other waters (possibly less plentifull food and the trout were hungryer?) I did not have trouble hooking them on a fly under a bobber or a lure.

Also if you are loosing fish after you have already hook them going to a lighter rod can help. Sometimes smallish trout dont put much of a bend in a medum weight rod and they have an easyer time getting slack and spitting the hook. Using a light action rod can actualy make it easyer to land them as the greater bend makes it harder for them to spit the hook.

[Need More Fish'n time]

Where were you fishing? It could be the bites were the newly stocked fish (6"-8") and the hooks are too big. I was out at Dewitts and started using size 8 hooks on the P rig, but after numerous hits and no fish, changed to size 14, nothing but little ones (newly stocked fish).
No keepers, but loads of fun.

EXACTLY! It sounds like newly stocked fish and the hook is too big. I had this same "problem" yesterday at Chickakoo Lake. I've never fished much for trout and thought I'd try a freshly stocked pond. I was using small Mepps spinners an Len T spoons... loads of bites and no landings. I usually hunt pike, goldeye, sauger & walleye... I thought what am I doing wrong... I felt that I had lost all hook setting technique. I switched to a microscopic spoon with a tiny treble hook and landed a ton of 4-6" fish. I felt guilty even with C&R because these guys were so small. I can't believe there were a couple of guys with large buckets there to catch for keeps! It's sad that they don't make some of those pot-hole lakes C&R only.

[McDeth]

This is a common problem with trout when using too stiff of a rod. You need a rod with a very moderate action to keep pressure on a small hook, in a small mouth, in a fish with more heart and fight than a brazilian kickboxer. A fast action rod is generally too stiff for trout and will pull the hook right out of their mouth 90 percent of the time. Think of a fly rod when you are buying a spinning rod for trout, thats the kind of action you are looking for!

[nevercatchmuch]

thanks all, some great ideas here.

what kind of rod and reel do you guys prefer for long casting/shore fishing for trout?