HIT THE HOCKING RIVER

[slimdaddy]

well hit the hocking saturday nite and what a big skunking never ever got a bite but last sunday I was there had 2 runs lost 1 and the other broke my line dont whether I had a bad spot in it or what but 30# test broke they both felt like good fish but the 1 that broke my line I just engaged my reel and he was pulling down hard and the line snapped never even set the hook yet oh well better luck next time

[Smoothkip]

Sorry to hear of the good one ya lost Slim! Hope ya have better luck next time buddy!

[luckeywade]

bummer

[Seanstone]

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Sometimes drags get tightened or loosened during the ride back and forth, so its always good to check them. Lines get weak spots from everything ranging from sunlight to sinkers beating against it. I have two methods for checking lines one I call the feel method. You can only do this with mono and fluorocarbon, you simply pinch the line between your forefingers and feel for anything thats not smooth. Cut the line above the bad spot and retie. The other method can only be done under certain lighting conditions. I shine my red headlamp light through my line and look for cracks in my line caused by too much tension from casting heavy weights and or snagging. Once again only with mono. Cut and retie.

With the fall bite rapidly approaching its best to take all necessary precautions. We spend countless hours in search of these fish, so its best to take a few minutes to give our selfs the greatest odds of landing the fish of a lifetime.

Don't mean to preach, just trying to be helpful. Hope it comes off that way. Best of luck to all.

[slimdaddy]

yea I do the feel check also but there is alot of rip rap and concrete fro m where a building fell in the river years ago so who knows couldve got cut on that somehow but oh well Ill be back lol

[Smoothkip]

Good info Sean! I myself try to retie my rigs before every trip, but at times I get lazy. Good thing I haven't. Had to pay the price of losing a monster due to a faulty rig!

[Seanstone]

Sometimes the best spots are riddled with obstacles and snags. I think there are a few lines that you can get to float on the water, mostly braided and superlines (which cut easily near rocks and wood), but there might be some others that float as well. You might even look into using a float above your bottom rig to keep your line above the snags. You might be able to lay the float flat with your sinker on bottom and use the tension of your clicker to keep your line tight. It might be more hassle than its worth though.

I have only lost a few fish due to line failure in my entire life. One occurred when fishing for bait, in which the tackle was too light to pull the fish out of the snags. The other was due to using braided line without the proper knowledge. Other than that various other times due to bad knots. Each time I felt sick to my stomach, I could have cried, literally. So I know how it feels to lose one.

[booshwacka]

I was wondering how that hocking river was...im headed to school at hocking college to hopefully work for the DNR


I guess i need to get out and scout out some spots to fish. Any good smallmouth in the river?

[slimdaddy]

yes there is alot of good smallies in the hocking also some big flatheads my pb of 56.5 # came out of the hocking and it goes right past the college

[booshwacka]

Yea i seen that...runs right down beside town

Im sure you boys got all the biguns outta those easy spots...

I get out there and try my luck...learning a new river for flats will take sometime.

I do love catchin smallies though.

Thanks for the good word