Have you ever missed a fish and later realized the back half of your soft plastic is gone?
You don't think much of it at first but then after putting on a new bait the same thing happens again moments later.
It's frustrating, to say the least.
Or what about getting to the end of your retrieve only to see your bait not giving off the action it should be?
If this has happened to you before it may be worth evaluating the size of the hooks you're using.
Hook Size Can Affect Hook Sets
Believe it or not, the size hook you use can help or hurt you in terms of catching fish.
If you find yourself missing bites left and right it could very well be the case that your hook is either too small or too big.
Most hooks used for bass fishing fall within the range of #2 to 5/0 (pronounced "five ott").
Know When To Downsize
Let the size and species of fish you intend to catch help you determine the right hook size.
Take smallmouth for example.
As the name implies, a smallmouth bass has a much smaller mouth than a largemouth bass does.
So when selecting a hook (and bait) we as anglers need to ensure we're choosing something that will first and foremost fit into the mouth of the fish we intend to catch.
For smallmouth, proper hook size normally falls in the #2 - 2/0 range.
If you're getting a lot of bites that you believe are indeed smallmouth and yet no fish to show for it check your hook size.
It may be time to downsize your hook to ensure your rig is making it into the mouth of the fish for a good hook set.
Know When To Upsize
The flip side of the argument is making sure your hook is big enough.
This most often becomes a problem when rigging a soft plastic in a Texas-style manner.
Extra wide-gap hooks (sometimes displayed as "EWG") are a popular choice for most anglers since having a curved hook shank.
This allows Texas rigged soft plastics to collapse into the shank of the hook when a fish takes the bait.
This in turn results in the point of the hook becoming exposed.
If your hooks are too small in relation to the body of your soft plastic you run the chance of the hook point never getting exposed for proper hook ups.
This doesn't tend to be too much of an issue when fishing with worms but keep this in mind if you fish a lot of creature baits or bulkier bodied lures.
Upsizing your hook may be the ticket to hooking and landing more fish.
Hook Size Can Affect Action
Yes. The size of your hook can also hinder the action of your lure.
This is another thing that is common when fishing soft plastics and it oftentimes boils down to an angler's hook being too big for the lure they are fishing.
Creature baits and soft plastic jerkbaits (see above) are two that usually suffer from this.
Both of these baits are typically rigged Texas style which requires running your hook through the nose and back through the body.
If you notice your hook getting close to the tail end of your lure when rigging be sure to check the action of the lure in the water before making too many casts with it.
If your bait isn't running straight or you don't see the obvious flapping of the trailer then it may be worth downsizing your hook.
Time to go catch 'em!
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