Last month while fishing in the FLW Outdoors Texas Tournament Trail championship tournament on Lake Ray Hubbard, I learned a valuable lesson about hooks. On Saturday and then again on Sunday, I lost fish during the tournament that looking back, probably cost me placing high enough to earn a check in the tournament. It wasn’t until I returned home, thinking back on what I could have done differently in order to place higher than I realized one of my errors. I was using the wrong hook for the type of fishing I was doing.
Lake Ray Hubbard, formerly Forney Lake, is a freshwater impoundment located in Dallas, Texas in the counties of Dallas, Kaufman, Collin, and Rockwall just north of the City of Forney. In the years before Lake Ray Hubbard was built, it was a river bottom known to locals as “the bottom.” Folks would head to the bottom to picnic, camp, fish, and do some hand fishing (or “noodling”). The north end of the river was home to an old moonshiner’s cabin. Interestingly, even today some of the old river levees can still be spotted in some areas around the lake. Lake Ray Hubbard is known for its sailing and has been a focal point in the U.S. for yacht racing. It is the home to the Rush Creek Yacht Club. There are four marinas, three public dock ramps, and a couple of fun restaurants and bars around the lake.
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Map of Lake Ray Hubbard Fishing
I had been fishing with Zoom finesse worms rigged Texas style on light line using a light wire Gamakatsu E.W.G. hook (http://www.gamakatsu.com). This combination worked great, but only for a while. When the bite changed due to a strong cold front that had moved through on Thursday, I changed my tactics but failed to switch to a stronger hook. This oversight on my part resulted in the two fish I lost coming unhooked when the light wire hook bent enough for the fish to get loose and get away.
The fish I had found during practice, moved out into deeper water after the cold front moved through. I added a heavier weight to my line and pegged it about two feet above the bait creating what we call a Mojo rig or small Carolina rig. Since I was still using a light line ( 10# P-Line, http://www.p-line.com ) I didn’t think to change the hook.
When Carolina rigging, it is important to use a stronger wire hook that won’t bend when setting the hook. You see, when you detect a bite on a Carolina rig presentation, you need to reel up the slack in your line and set the hook with a large sweeping motion in order to properly hook the fish. When using a light wire hook, like I was using, there is a greater probability that the hook will bend allowing the fish to get away.
I should have switched to a G-Lock hook made by Gamakatsu. It is a stronger hook that is designed to keep your soft plastic bait up on the hook by the unique bend in the hook just below the eye of the hook. It is a great hook for Carolina rigging that will rarely ever bend on the hookset.
The folks at Gamakatsu have gone to great lengths to design and manufacture hooks for all types of fishing applications. It is up to the fisherman to know which hook is best suited for the different applications of fishing.
I have had great success with Gamakatsu hooks for many years. Even before receiving a product sponsorship from Gamakatsu, I bought their hooks because I believed them to be the best on the market. At first, I wanted to blame the hook for bending, but after looking into it further, the problem was not the hook, it was the hooker. I hope you can learn from my mistake; I surely have. In the future, I’ll pay closer attention to this often overlooked an important part of the fishing equation.
Until next time, enjoy the great outdoors.
Tom is a professional bass angler and outdoor writer. He lives in Corsicana, TX with his wife, Kelly, and daughters, Tatum and Megan. He hosts and operates an information-based web site where he answers questions about products and techniques he uses in the professional bass fishing arena. He fishes bass tournaments throughout the southern and midwestern United States and represents numerous tackle manufacturers across the country at trade shows, on his web site, and at seminars.
Lake Ray Hubbard Fishing Guides
John Varner’s Guide Service
3701 Windjammer Lane, Rockwall, TX
214-384-5801
Lake Ray Hubbard Fishing Guide and instructional service with John Varner. Lake Ray Hubbard is conveniently located just 20 minutes east of downtown Dallas Texas. He offers family fun fishing trips for people in DFW and surrounding areas along with the advance angler experience. He has been featured at Bass Pro Shops in Garland Texas and has held seminars on white bass and hybrid/striped bass seasonal patterns, down-rigging summer hybrids, trolling methods and seasonal lure selections. – jvguideservice.com
Lake Ray Hubbard Fishing Guide Carey Thorn
(469) 528-0210
Lake Ray Hubbard Fishing Guide Carey Thorn has been catching limits of White Bass and Hybrid Striper on this metropolitan fishery for over 15 years! We fish Lake Ray Hubbard year round and love to fish the creeks and White Bass Spawn Run from March to May. We then move to the main lake and follow the White Bass out of the creeks. There is a very nice population of Hybrid Striper as well as white bass. – whitebassfishingtexas.com
Elite Fishing Guides
214.802.2709
Lake Ray Hubbard’s normal water clarity is stained with fluctuation 1-3 ft. annually. The lake has adequate aquatic vegetation and an abundance of rip rap and standing timber in portions of the lake. Hybrid striped bass and catfish are rated excellent, largemouth bass, white bass and crappie good. – eliteguideservices.com