bunker livelining mishap

[ivanputski]

Out in the kayak in CT and came upon massive schools of LARGE bunker... no bluefish around... snagged a few, and tried livelining... once with a 7/0 single bait hool, and 2 other thime with a treble through the nose... stripers in the 33" range took the bunker, and after about 5 seconds, I got anxious and tried to set the hook, and just yaked the bait right out of its mouth... Very very frustrating, esecially since I saw one with my bait in its mout about 6 feet away from me... When A bass takes a large live bunker, should I free spool it ? How much time should I give it before setting? Maybe I should be using a much larger treble than I was... or a circle? Damn I blew it... Im going back monday hoping to see bunker and bass... any help would, eh... help. Thanks!

[bigbuck28]

Once the bait is in the basses mouth you chould be able to get a got solid hook in. You can give them around 5-10 seconds and then really lay into them. You have to rip that hook threw the bait and into the basses head. You might want to try a slightly larger hook..Good luck and go get em again!!!

[teezer]

I have found that a huge hook set does not work with the treble. Just come tight and add a small hook set.

[BillyBlanks]

I have a Shimano Bait Runner which has a second drag for live lining. It lets the bunker run almost free on the secondary drag, and lets the bass run with it till you turn the handle and click into the primary drag. Caught a nice 30#er in a very similar situation to the one you just described. I let it run for about 5-10 seconds and then clicked it over and burried it in the side of his mouth. Be careful you don't wait too long or you'll gut hook him for sure.

[Gunpowder]

Originally Posted by BillyBlanks

Be careful you don't wait too long or you'll gut hook him for sure.

hopefully its a her

[BillyBlanks]

HAHA Good point.......

[stripersnipr]

I always hook them with a 6/0 Gami LB lunder the dorsal. When the bass picks him up, I take a slow five count and reel back fast. Very few drops.

[triton8273]

Always hook a live bunker directly behind the dorsal. You should be using a 9/0 gami or mustad, this will expose more of the hook instead of burying it in the bunker. The reason you are pulling the bunker right out of the bass' mouth is because you are not trying to go off of the tail beat, when you have a live bunker on your line you can feel that distinctive tail beat and you know that the bass has truly taken the entire bunker is when you no longer feel the tail beat.

And just as bigbuck had said, when that happens you have to really lay into them to get the hook out of the bunker and into their head.

Good Luck and Tight Lines,