Question for all the casters.

[StarViper11]

Gerry,

If you are using a braided line, the drag may still be to tight on the hook set (therefore, possibly ripping the hook almost out of the fishes mouth on the hook set only to lose it on the fight) and it still may be to tight on the fight.

This was my issue last year on the jig bite and halfway through the summer as I had decided to make a commitment to switch to braided lines over mono that I have always fished. I was very frustrated hooking fish and loosing them on the retrieve last year until early July when I loosened the drag way up compared to fishing with mono. The rest of the summer, I landed 95% of the fish I hooked up on and this spring was much better probably landing 80% of the fish I hooked up. I still lost some jig fishing because drag was to tight.

[ChinnAgain]

One thing that I found that worked for me was switching to a 7 foot glass cranking rod. I use the bass pro crankin stick made for bass crank baits. It has a softer tip that gives on a head shake. Line is 12 pound fluorocarbon made by P-line. I set my drag to only retrieve if the fish isn't pulling. If he makes a run it will pull drag but won't tear lips open or pull the hook. Hope this helps.