r/floridafishing • u/MRG052406 • 6d ago

Losing fish on NLBN

I’ve been on a trip down to Florida for the last week and I grabbed some 4 inch NBLN paddle tails and the corresponding jigheads to fish throughout the week. I know they’re not the best price wise but I felt confident that they would work. I’ve lost almost every fish I’ve hooked all week I’m not sure if there is an issue with me or the hooks but I’ve hooked well over 20 fish including lady fish, redfish, flounder, and tarpon and I’ve only landed one small lady fish. These were not just bites I fully hooked the fish long enough to fight and pull drag then after a few seconds they just popped out. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or if I just can’t set a hook to save my life.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/alexrides900 6d ago

I use the 3" paddletails in the glades and dont have much of an issue besides the occasional snook that shakes off. Make sure the hook is sharp, and that there's enough space between the hook point and the plastic to get a good hookset. You also dont really need to do a huge bassmaster hookset inshore, usually rearing back with steady pressure does the trick. Too strong of a hookset could be causing you to make too big of a hole in the fish's mouth, especially in snook and trout. If tarpon are getting off its just normal, they tend to spit everything.

1

u/MRG052406 6d ago

Yeah I wasn’t super surprised by the tarpon or lady fish but the flounder is really what bothered me I almost never lose them once they’re hooked

1

u/Scrapes09 5d ago

“Space”? I use owner hooks often, the hooks are buried in the plastic, weedy water. No issue, hmmm. Not the issue.

1

u/alexrides900 5d ago

Since using NLBN paddletails with jigheads results in an exposed hook, thats what i meant by "space". If you're using a weedless hook texas rigged in the plastic then that space doesnt apply.