Mark Zona Hook Set Technique

[Afrayedknot]

I was watching Zona's show the other day and saw him do an odd hookset using tubes. He would "snap" the rod 2 or 3 times before setting the hook. He said it would crack their mouths open for a better/deeper hookset. Aaron Martens, his guest for the show, was having difficulty hooking up on a fish until Zona showed him this trick. Anyone use the trick?

[jigapig]

Interesting. I would think the fish would eject the tube. But it must work . I still think I would just rather set the hook. Wish I could see the show but do not have that channel. I bet that was a good one with aaron Martins on it.

[Afrayedknot]

Interesting. I would think the fish would eject the tube. But it must work . I still think I would just rather set the hook. Wish I could see the show but do not have that channel. I bet that was a good one with aaron Martins on it.

Aaron Martens took that route. He ignored the weird "rod snapping" that Zona was doing and tried his own thing. He missed so many fish and got so frustrated that he had to ask what the heck Zona was doing. After a few misses, he got down the technique and started catching fish.

[toddmc]

I would like to see the physics under water before I would buy into this hookset. Maybe Hook n' Look will do a show on it. It seems like it would be tough on your forearms and wrists to be doing this all day.

[johnnybass]

I am thinking that the jerks are making the SM reposition and chomp down on the bait as if it were trying to flee. Maybe gets the tube in a better hooking position if you can't hook the fish. Seems bizarre to me but Zona usually knows what he is doing especially with SM.

[Nytron]

Link to video?

[Afrayedknot]

I couldn't find it on YT but I saw it on his show with Aaron Martens.

[murphy]

I don't think Zona will ever say exactly what he's doing. If you are a fan of him, you know he gives a different explanation every time he talks about it. You've seen KVD do it too when they fish Mich. Lakes together.

Here's another version of the "scootin'" techique... same principle

http://vimeo.com/21751798

[Nytron]

Condition/conditioning should always be part of dictating which type of hookset to use. Sometimes you'll be on a spot where every single fish will jump out of the water when hooked. Or sometimes the bite will be a certain way, i.e. the fish takes the lure and casually swim off with it. OR they hit it super aggressively and self set. Or sometimes you set the hook and they steal the plastic.

The fish will tell you how to set the hook. My guess is these particular fish were expecting the lure to be a crawfish. A big semi-armored smallmouth bass probably enjoys the process of the crawfish fighting back, like a cat playing with a mouse. They have extreme dexterity with their mouth, they spit out crawfish and reposition them to avoid claws. During this time, they will also call bullshit on your lure.

Before the actual hookset and beginning the process of reeling in the fish, the angler has the option of imparting a tug on the line to check for snags or a fish. This also forces the fish to commit to inhaling the lure. It will cause the fish to fully engulf the lure instead of just grabbing part of the plastic. Snap jigging is a good way to practice this technique.

Anyone have a link to this video?

[Afrayedknot]

http://vimeo.com/21751798