Losing Fish In The Wash With Treble Hooks

[LuPork]

Hi All, thank you for your time.

I surf fish in NY and usually chunk fish finders with clam or sand turtles (sand fleas/crabs).

I recently picked up a few Daiwa SP minnows online and had some good luck hooking up (small/medium sized blues) but so many fish were lost just before we got them to the sand in the final wave.

 

Dad was fishing with: 8ft Okuma Longitude w/ Penn Battle I 4000, 25lb braid

I was fishing with: 10ft Penn Prevail w/ Penn Battle II 5000, 25lb braid

The lures were 7", Sinking, colors: Bone and Blurple

 

I am wondering if they were getting loose because of the treble hooks, since I've never really lost fish using circles.

Does anyone know why we were losing fish or suggestions/best practices to keep them on?

I loved fishing with lures. It was lots of fun. Thank you!

 

[sytheteacher]

Try setting the hook...

[Jimichanga]

Happens all the time with them little blues. They got that super fast headshake.

Kinda makes it easier if they self release.

[MEF]

Like Jimi said, small blues it’s inevitable you will lose some because they twist and turn and shake so much. especially with treble hooks. little bluefish are also slashing at the bait instead of getting the whole thing in their mouth a lot of times i feel like so you don’t get as good of a hook purchase. I just look at it as I don’t have to unhook a toothy thrashing fish with trebles in its face!

[sandworm]

35 mins ago, Jimichanga said:

Happens all the time with them little blues. They got that super fast headshake.

Kinda makes it easier if they self release.

those smaller fish would go ballistic just to shake the lure off all the time.

[Saltfruit]

Maybe throw some metals with single hooks?

 

They should hit those just as readily, + those last longer than SP's against blues.
 

[BillZ]

Best practice, regardless of fish size or how you're catching them is to be sure to have that last wave help you, time the landing to have the fish get washed up on the beach with that wave, if your timing is off & youre fighting it past the back wash you risk losing it almost every time....

[C.Robin]

Keep the line tight until the fish is landed. A lot of people let some pressure off in the wash.

[Mr. Sophistication]

When I'm landing a fish on the beach, I time it so I use the power of the wave to push the fish past the last trough. If I'm with another person, I'll have them standing by with a net/gaff.

 

A lot if people don't realize but braid can lead to pulled hooks. I compensate by fishing with more moderate action rods and not horsing the fish in.

 

You can put swivels on your hooks so the fish aren't  able to torque the hook out.

 

 

[LuPork]

Thank you so much for all of your helpful responses. (& set the hook @sytheteacher)

I will try these out next time I'm on the beach. Especially using the last wave to assist.

We might have been horsing them in a little too hard in the backwash and I think it was also the blue's head shake I just wasn't used to.

I'll probably try to find some inline hooks just to test them out vs the trebles and will look into metals & swivels for hooks.

Those toothy little guys already did a number on the lures in one day!

Love fishing with lures though. Glad I gave it another shot.

[Sandbar1]

While your at it change out those hooks on the SP Minnows. Those stock hooks are trash.

[redfin]

I am assuming your hooks have barbs intact. I personally prefer barbs myself. Braid has little stretch and you can literally be pulling to hard. You want steady pressure but not overdoing  it. I find that a 2/0 vmc 4x SW treble to be the best size on the SP minnow. That is a good solid replacement hook. It is true like someone mentioned above that small blues do fight in a way that they often shake themselves free too. My all time favorite bluefish lure is a tin with a tube. The classic combo usually sports a limerick style single hook that is very hard for a fish to throw. 

[ludeaddict]

As  other have said make sure to use the waves to help bring the fish in.  Another thing is that the rod you are using might be too stiff.  I also have a 10' penn prevail and I notice that it has little bend when fighting smaller fish.  This may cause your line to get some slack.  If there is no constant tension on the line it is easier to lose fish.  

[bugsbenny]

19 hours ago, ludeaddict said:

As  other have said make sure to use the waves to help bring the fish in.  Another thing is that the rod you are using might be too stiff.  I also have a 10' penn prevail and I notice that it has little bend when fighting smaller fish.  This may cause your line to get some slack.  If there is no constant tension on the line it is easier to lose fish.  

agree the rod your using way to heavy for small fish , once you get the fish in the wash not only are their chances of shaking the hook greater but also a big stiff rod will pull alot of hooks, this time of year try a smaller. lighter setup. 

[mericanwit]

Losing a fish in the wash is also known as, "LDR" which is a long distanced release!