I was fishing the Vedder today and hooked into a nice steelhead of at least 12 pounds or more. After a few minutes, it was well under control as I did put quite a bit of pressure early on using UG#12 leader and gammie #1 hook in which I had full confidence. The fish was around 15 yards away and I reduced pressure on the fish to just tire it out a little more before bringing it in. Suddenly the hook pops out and it's GONE.
Then I realized what I had done in the previous run. I had hit a snag and in the process of pulling it out, the hook bent open a little. Normally I would change it right away, but today I was a little tired, so I pulled out my plier and bent the hook back in. Bad mistake as a fixed hook is no where near as strong as a new one, especially hooked up against a powerful steelhead. When I checked the hook, sure enough, it was bent open again. Just enough to pop a hook under reduced tension. Lesson I learned the hard way by losing a fish all but landed. But, it was still fun.
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Topic: Don't go cheap on hooks (Read 1029 times)