Do any of you pro staffers ever use weed guards?> I was fishing along a bank the other day where I was catching alot of small bass right along all of these lilly pads, weeds, downed trees, ect...

Well I kept on snaggin up in the weeds and either pullin a good small bass out of there a huge gob of weeds, whats the solution?
Thanks

Brett,

Almost all jigs come with a fiber weed gaurd on them. If you are talking about a weed gaurd on a plain hook, I personally do not like to use them. If you are fishing softplastics, Texas or wacky rigged) make sure that you leave the hook point burried inside the body of the bait (see below).

Texas:

A guy at the bass shop down from my house showed me the exact same thing. The only problem I had with it was getting the hook set. I would try and set the hook but the fish would just take off. Like it wasnt coming out of the worm and hooking in the bass' mouth.

That could be any of the following or a combination of all:

1) You are using a rod that is not stiff enough.

2) The line you are using has too much stretch.

3) You are not setting the hook properly.

Most of the time it's 1 and/or 2. Single hook baits require a stick rod blank. (Med-Heavy Action with a Fast taper)

Brett, I rig the same way Brendan does except I like to hook the worm on the side instead of through the middle. Either way, you should be hooking those fish. Could it be bass that are too small or panfish pulling on the tail? Are you setting the hook immediately or using a count? I like to set on the first tap. Maybe you copuld try some Super braid lines, no stretch, great for hooking up. Johnnie

Well heres a few problems I believe.

The bass were small, not big bass at all. Most of them all weighing a 1 LB. or less. They were nipping at the tails of the worms also I believe. I was also using a 5'6" trout rod and reel so there may be a problem. I am not very good at setting the hook yet because I havent gotten into any big bites where I can tell if its a bass or me getting caught onto something lol. Most of the time when I was catching them, they were setting themselves basically ahaha.

I am trying to save up money for a new Rod and Reel so I can be fishing with some better stuff.

Thanks for the info. I plan on using these tips in a few days if I can get out.

Brett, you definately can't set the hook on bass using conventional tackle with a fly rod. That's your major problem. When you acquire some heavier tackle your catch rate will improve greatly. Brett, you don't have to have expensive rods and reels, just buy what you can afford and learn to use it effectively. You'll do fine soon. Johnnie