Hi, I'm having trouble with fish getting away because the hooks won't set properly.  I've tried treble hooks and single hooks but i'm still having trouble.  Does anyone have any tricks or favorite hooks?

A lot of it could be due to the type of rod you are using, is it a Lite weight or medium  or Medium heavy or Heavy rod ???this will all make a difference along with the type of line your using, Mono, Floro or Braid. A tad more info would help in giving you answers and to possibly helping ya out.

how sharp is the hook point ? if dragged across your finger nail it should dig in not slide across it . Don't use a lot of pressure to do this simply drag it across.
 
sharpening a hook  video
http://www.helium.com/items/1506570...you-should

what retired-psg and rod tosser said is about 80% of all problems with missed hook setting. the rest is trying to set the hook to soon, to late-- because the fish has felt the hook or the weight on the line, and the list can go on from there.

good luck on finding out wich it is and when ya have done that you'll have a great feeling come over ya..

My pole is a medium heavy and I use about 15 Lb. mono. And thank you.

There's a lot of variables, but one thing is a personal touch that feeling how a rod loads with a fish on and keeping a good tension on it.

can you tell us what fish you are targeting, are you bank fishing, boat fishing, trolling etc. Do you have more then one rod?

try the bill dance method of keeping your rod swinging away from the fishes direction,if its traveling to the right swing your rod to yhe left and so on.markb22b.@yahoo.com

try the bill dance method of keeping your rod swinging away from the fishes direction,if its traveling to the right swing your rod to the left and so on.markb22b.@yahoo.com

It really depends what your fishing for.  For fish with tougher jaws, I would set the hook a bit stronger than a fish with less tough jaws.

Let's assume you are actually hooking the fish, got the right equipment, etc. 15 pound mono line usually has a nice stretch built in, more forgiving than superlines. Braid requires a much more responsive rod and skill to make up for lack of stretch. From there on the suggestions concerning avoidance of slack line is about all there is toward keeping a fish hooked, assuming the line or hook doesn't break. I've observed a lot of new anglers make what can become a habitual error, giving a fish just a split second of loose line. Every moment requires a tight line. We say that so easily. It isn't easy to master. It requires anticipation of a fish's moves, and reacting to unanticipated moves successfully all of the time, the reason Dance videos show him and most other pros swinging the rod in opposite directions side to side. The reason they don't play a fish with rod moving up and down is simply because your range of motion is too limited. If you have raised the rod as high as possible and the fish keeps coming at you, he will get off because you can't tighten the line more. The only time your rod should be above your head is while setting the hook or when swinging the rod from side to side. From then on move it sideways as much as possible, more than doubling the possible range of motion.

Let me add to that last post. 15# mono is a good average weight for bass in light cover and hard structure, but way too heavy for something like a crappie. You would need a much lighter line. In that case I go to a 12 ft long light action low power crappie rod that's very forgiving. Regardless, if I let a split second of slack line happen, a hooked crappie will almost always get loose. I was fishing on a charter boat in the Gulf of Mexico with what I think was 80# line. The guide told me I probably had a tarpon hooked. I got it closer in, reeling for what seemed hours, but then felt no pull at all for a few minutes, so stopped reeling. A deck hand said I would lose the fish, so I did. Whatever it was was big and swimming straight to me, and I let the line go slack. All I caught from then on was some redfish.

Keep the line tight once a fish is hooked. That keeps it hooked.

I can't even guess how many bass I've hauled aboard, the lure falling loose as soon as the line went slack. Once a hook penetrates soft tissue there begins a widening of the hole made. The hook barb won't hardly make up the difference. I've taken bass in that had a 2" wide hook hole torn in the jaw, demonstrating the importance of keeping that line tight.

Jim