NPH 10-8 missed a good fish.

I went out to NPH and launched from the harbor patrol beach around 7:00am. Day was nice and tide was coming in so it was an easy kick getting down to the ferry launch. Got 2 small bass and a tiny sculpin on the way to the ferry going with the tide. I was practicing casting with the bait caster and had a little creeper trash fish lure on. I was just trying to get some action on the bottom using the new rod I picked up last week and BAM I got hit pretty hard. Since I've used spinning rods all my life I usually hold the pole in my right hand and wasn't ready for the hit while holding the pole in my left hand. I didn't even get a chance to set the hook because I was just trying to hold on to the pole as the fish almost yanked the pole out of my hand. 3 seconds later it was gone! I reeled the lure and the hook was buried into the back of the lure not even exposed and the front of the hook was pushed back onto the lure about 1".

After doing some research online I found an article / review on tackle tour about the lure and low and behold they found some problems with the design and suggested cutting a slit into the bottom of the lure to allow the hook to move upward when you get hit. Not sure why I didn't think of that before because my other small plastic swim bait has a slit on the bottom just for that purpose, but at least I'll be ready next time.

Trouble with the trash fish lure is, the bait in stock configuration doesn't leave any room for the hook to come up when a fish bites.

stock suggested setup

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After adding the slit on the bottom the hook can move up as needed when you get a bite.

their suggested setup

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Hook is now allowed to move upward and is exposed.

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Here is the full article / review

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I am always cutting in to plastic to make the hook move easier and so i can make them weedless too

Yeah i'm realizing that a lot of people seem to make changes to the lures once they get them. I just read a nice post about how a guy does a few things to the huddleston lures, like removing the single hook and replacing it with a treble by adding braid from the eye to the hook.

Good info. Lght!

how was the water quality, any Red tide going on? I'm thinking of heading out Thursday AM when I get off work...

I love the look of that trash fish, were did you get your's I wont to give them a try some day.

What did you use for scent?

fishslayer wrote:how was the water quality, any Red tide going on? I'm thinking of heading out Thursday AM when I get off work...

The water wasn't bad, but the tide was tough. At one point I had to tie myself to a buouy so I can retie my line. However I was fishing close to the harbor patrol beach which isn't far from the inlet.

jeffcpr wrote:I love the look of that trash fish, were did you get your's I wont to give them a try some day.

To be honest I don't even remember. I know I got it a earlier this year for a camping trip out up North at lake San Antonio. I was told to pick up a few for the striper bite, but didn't land any. I did however get a few small mouth bass with it. Swims great and has a really eratic swimming pattern if you twitch the rod left to right.

n2deepfsw wrote:What did you use for scent?

I think I had the bass feast jelly and then I dip it in some other oil dip. The bass feast works great because it goes on thick and last for about 15 minutes and the oil leaves a nice oil trail for several casts.

I got to try that bass feast jelly.

n2deepfsw wrote:I got to try that bass feast jelly.

Capt. Kirk mentioned it and wow it does work. Only thing is it doesn't leave a huge "oil slick" like some of the other ones since it's a jelly, but a quick dip in some bite-on and it makes a huge difference. Seems like the fish not only takes the bait, but they hold and try and swim away with it. Whatever hit my trash fish completely destroyed it and took a bit chunk out of the nose.

Nice! Where did you get it?

man i have had the same thing happen in nph.

n2deepfsw wrote:Nice! Where did you get it?

Local Mom/Pop takle shop had it. It's funny, because they carry very little of anything and the other 2 shops I went to didn't have it and they did.

I guess you can order it online via amazon if you can't find it locally.

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smelly jelly is my favorite i been using it for I think 10 years now

i used smelly jelly for cat fish