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Some good advice being given here.
Here is my two cents:
Zim,
Not knowing what kind of outfit your using I can only speculate what might be happening and causing dropped hook-ups. First off you need a rod with lots of hook setting power. Lots of surf sticks don’t have the power to drive big riggie hooks home. For example -When I use my live eel stick for casting rigged eels I lose power on the set. My live eel hooks are still large in size but much thinner in diameter than the hooks I use on riggies. Needless to say the hooks must be very sharp – I stay away from stainless because it does not hold a point well.
I’ve used Siwash 9510s (tinned) and the Mustad 9174s and not had much problem. The hooks on the riggie perform two functions: one of which is facilitate landing heavy fish and the other is to act as a keel to keep your eel from spinning. The larger the eel the heavier/larger your hooks should be. The larger your hooks the heavier tackle you need.
Big heavy strong hooks have a larger diameter and require more torque to drive home – if the tip of your stick is soft you might have setting problems hence dropped fish. Another aspect is making sure your hooks stay strait and in line with the eel – reinforce and stabilize the rear hook by sewing it at the hook eye and at bend of the hook where it comes out of the eel. Do the same with the forward hook. This will also help keep the eel from folding upon itself during the take. Ever lose a fish because the hook went back through the eel before sticking the bass with only the point? It’s very hard to drive a hook barb through the eel AND into a bass hence you’ll drop most of those hook-ups.
Another thing you may want to try is dropping the rear hook one size down – example 9/0 forward, use 8/0 rear. Good luck.
DZ
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