Converting barra taps , nips & bites to hookups

[NAGG]

Hi Theo

The file got mentioned in post 7 ........ so we are not all Neanderthals down here
My braid scissors have a little file incorporated ...... but I don't use it as a matter of course

Seriously though ...... while I always use nice sticky hooks - a file is a good simple idea

Chris

[Steve B]

Personally I am useless at sharpening hooks....I find it more of a guarantee of a sharp hook to just replace them on the run...and sharpen the old ones properly without a plastic attached to them later

..you can sit in the shed with a beer and muck around all you like getting a great point.

cheers Steve

[TinarooTriumph]

Hi Theo

The file got mentioned in post 7 ........

Chris

True that. Well spotted... but it got 'dumbed' down by a certain few posts that followed it. No names mentioned

I'm guessing Chris you've got the Rapala Scissors? I also have a pair of these... for $5 they are great value. Not much of a file to work with, but just as good as a bulky file in your pocket. Have a cheap $2 Jarvis Walker file and its more or less looking like a piece of bombed concrete after 3 years of use and umpteen million fishing trips.

Theo

[NAGG]

True that. Well spotted... but it got 'dumbed' down by a certain few posts that followed it. No names mentioned

I'm guessing Chris you've got the Rapala Scissors? I also have a pair of these... for $5 they are great value. Not much of a file to work with, but just as good as a bulky file in your pocket. Have a cheap $2 Jarvis Walker file and its more or less looking like a piece of bombed concrete after 3 years of use and umpteen million fishing trips.

Theo

Yeh Theo ..... I usually buy a pair every couple of months - It usually only get used if i throw a lure onto a bank & hit a rock ......... but honestly though - It should be used after landing a fish

strangely ...... over the years I always carried a small sharpening stone - but not really since getting into barra....... because I'm always changing jig heads

chris

[SeekingBarradise]

I guess it all depends on what frame of mind the barra is in
Sometimes you will get 2 or 3 goes before you get the fish
Often it only 1 shot
So I got into the habit & striking at everything ( sticks , trees , weed ) - They really are a fascinating fish - but its not always just a little tap ..... Its often a hard thump which you feel through the rod ..... here they can hook themselves but at other times you just get a chaffed leader ........ Its these hits that you scratch your head & ask yourself -"How the hell did I not hook up?"

I do chuckle when you wave to someone , scratch yourself , turn around etc during the retrieve & you get it ....... That little change , pause whatever entices a strike ( I should incorporate that in every retrieve )

Chris

With regards to the last paragraph wasn't that noted by JM in his soft plastic thread just a day or so ago?

Cheers Lyndon.

[SeekingBarradise]

Its an interesting topic (strike technique) - Trevs idea has merit

However ..... from my understanding the top of the mouth is the hardest part. Then doesn't a barra turn on the inhale ....... which would suggest that a sideways strike would have a likelihood of finding the hinge. Also if you think about it - the strike would lay the hook point over toward the strike direction.

I don't know , what is right or wrong

Chris

Does the barra always turn on the inhale?

And if it doesn't what will you have to do as a reflex action without any time to think to get the best % of securely hooked fish?

Cheers Lyndon.

[SeekingBarradise]

Was it Steve B that pondered in another thread that the nips and taps on SP's could be catfish?

Slightly off topic but is there an increase in dropped fish during summer when u guys are fishing points and predominately shallower water due to the fishes tendency to jump?

Or is there no relation to shallow water and aerial displays ??

If so, what is a method (rod angle?) to minimise jumping.

Pete.

Hi Pete the fish might not like where its been hooked and jump more to dislodge hooks from certain parts of the anatomy.

Cheers Lyndon.

[NAGG]

With regards to the last paragraph wasn't that noted by JM in his soft plastic thread just a day or so ago?

Cheers Lyndon.

I've suffered from it since Awoonga in Sept last year ...... even noted in my reports

Chris

[NAGG]

Does the barra always turn on the inhale?

And if it doesn't what will you have to do as a reflex action without any time to think to get the best % of securely hooked fish?

Cheers Lyndon.

Not sure Lyndon ....... but what I have seen in tanks & in clear water at Kinchant last year ( playing with barra 3 foot under the boat) ....... I'm reasonably convinced !
If the fish hasn't turned & is swimming towards me - its a case of striking up & winding.

An interesting observation when fishing the producer at Mondy (over several trips & days) ...... virtually every fish hooked jumped from left to right shallow to deeper water.

Chris

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Without reading any of the other responses, (I will at a later date.) There are some words that come to mind on the topic. these may already be covered.

"Diversify, Stimulate, Motivate, Present and Mess".

More on that later if anyone is interested.
Rushing out the door now.
Cheers,
JM

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Nagg, Do a quick test for me before I come back in a day or two to respond.
Throw, run, or cast a lure or bare hook out about full cast length.
Now do all your best with the rod angles to shift the hook position. If you had a 40metre gaff handle, the hook point would roll with you when you turn the handle. But no way in the world is a hook or lure going to roll to the side just from moving a rod. Line is soft and supple. Your lure or hook isn't going to move to the side. What do those two blokes say, "Myth Busted"!
A barra has more control over where the lure or hook ends up during the strike!
Talk soon.
Jm

[NAGG]

Nagg, Do a quick test for me before I come back in a day or two to respond.
Throw, run, or cast a lure or bare hook out about full cast length.
Now do all your best with the rod angles to shift the hook position. If you had a 40metre gaff handle, the hook point would roll with you when you turn the handle. But no way in the world is a hook or lure going to roll to the side just from moving a rod. Line is soft and supple. Your lure or hook isn't going to move to the side. What do those two blokes say, "Myth Busted"!
A barra has more control over where the lure or hook ends up during the strike!
Talk soon.
Jm

Well Johnny

I did set up a test ..... with a lure to be pulled (struck at) between 2 tent pegs 4" apart
Over 30M ..... With the rod tip pointed at the lure - I couldn't take out the pegs in the direction struck .
So at this stage I have to agree with you!. ( more trials to be done )

Cheers

Chris

[vet]

Rods in rod holders hook fish every day and nobody strikes with them. From this observation I now hold my rod tip up high during a retrieve so when the barra strikes it bends the rod and the recoil in the rod sets the hook much faster than my reflexes ever could. Whereas if you hold your rod low during a retrieve, when the fish hits it smacks straight into drag and doesn't bend the rod at all so you have to do all the work. Also noted that if you use a slower taper rod you get better hook up, possibly because when the barra strikes the rod bends and allows the lure to be inhaled further giving it more time to find something to stick into. Have started using my crankbait for soft plastics and not the harder imx and glx rods and have noted a reduced casting distance but a better hook up rate and landing rate at present. Also using lighter 5-7kg spin rods and having better hook up rates. All this obviously only works if you hold your rod up to allow the rod to bend during the strike.
Cheers, scott.

[NAGG]

Rods in rod holders hook fish every day and nobody strikes with them. From this observation I now hold my rod tip up high during a retrieve so when the barra strikes it bends the rod and the recoil in the rod sets the hook much faster than my reflexes ever could. Whereas if you hold your rod low during a retrieve, when the fish hits it smacks straight into drag and doesn't bend the rod at all so you have to do all the work. Also noted that if you use a slower taper rod you get better hook up, possibly because when the barra strikes the rod bends and allows the lure to be inhaled further giving it more time to find something to stick into. Have started using my crankbait for soft plastics and not the harder imx and glx rods and have noted a reduced casting distance but a better hook up rate and landing rate at present. Also using lighter 5-7kg spin rods and having better hook up rates. All this obviously only works if you hold your rod up to allow the rod to bend during the strike.
Cheers, scott.

Thanks Scott

some interesting thoughts there on rod angle & blank composition ( a favorite of mine has been a Loomis spinnerbait series which is a glass graphite blend ..... Its also a little longer & more forgiving )

Cheers

Chris

[2manylures]

The rod angle relative to the retrieve direction is what allows the rod to hook the fish, the rod needs to be perpendicular to the lure or thereabouts to take the shock and do its job.

Pointing the rod directly at the lure/fish merely puts a solid pressure at point of impact on the lure especially when using tightly set drags, something has to give, i.e. hooks pull or straighten, line or rod snaps.

As a kid some 40 plus years ago using fiberglass rods we used to have to alternate rod angles perpendicular to our lures otherwise the glass blanks would take on a bent shape.

A soft plastic with single hook will have a miniscule hook up rate from a fish face smacking it as opposed to a lure running trebles, basic physics dictates what will happen which is why what Johnny Mitchell stated should have been logical from a common sense point of view without experimenting. A solid non twisting link to a hook forces twist by turning the handle. On the other hand when the line is the handle it is not solid hence will never force the lure to twist.

Why some people make simplicity more difficult than complexity is something I’ll never understand, then again I don’t chase barra so being a basic southern native and trout angler I’d really have no idea.