Broken hooks grrr bolivar reds to blame 09/04

[flykool25]

Launched around 08:15 am in bolivar and peddled to my secret hotspot. Tide was really high. Saw some bait being busted along the shoreline and casted with gulp on a Jighead . Turned out to be croakers . Finally anchored at my spot . I also had dead shrimp with me . Since I had good luck last week with shrimp I used it again with a popping cork . Caught two small croakers. Then I end up with a nice red that I fought for about 3 minutes . All of a sudden the line is loose and I reel my line only to find a broken hook. This is my first time I have had a red break my hook. Catch a few more croakers and then end up with a 21 inch red. Feeling good I cast out two lines with shrimp on it. Catch a croaker that decides to run into my other line . Now I have a tangled mess of two braided lines. Finally after trying to untangle the mess I just cut the lines and retie everything . 1/2 hr later I am fishing again . Back to fishing with one line out . I get another solid bite and I fight this redfish for about five minutes. Got it to about a foot away from the kayak and the redfish decides to take off again. All of a sudden my line is loose again. I reel the line in only to find out a second broken hook. This fish was atleast 28 inches or bigger . Now I'm mad at myself because of two broken hooks in one day, and two lost redfish. I keep fishing and finally end up catching a 25 inch redfish that I finally got on my kayak. Later on I managed to catch a small 10 inch red and a 6 inch flounder. Was hoping for a trout but that didn't happen. I think I have finally found me a honey hole. Also learned the hard way to buy some good quality thicker hooks. I was using a lazer size 3 circle hook. overall the reds taught me a lesson about changing the hooks every now and then and to throw away older hooks. Was still a fun day . Was off the water by 1:30pm. All the fish today were CPR . Here are some pics to enjoy.

[TexasTwoWheeler]

I've only fished saltwater a few of times in my life the first times as a kid, only once in recent years as an adult. So I'm following these messages to learn and I have a ton of questions

In the last picture of the broken hook and good hook:
What kind of hooks?
I see discoloration in the eye and down the shank of the broken hook. Is this discoloration from exposure to saltwater?
If that is from saltwater how much exposure (weeks months or years) did it take to discolor it ?


Even with the 2 lost fish sounds and looks like you had a productive and fun day!
From where in Bolivar did you launch? Looking for a good place to launch where I don't have to worry about my truck while I'm out there.

[Milkjug]

In the last picture of the broken hook and good hook

The good hook is for a true sportsman. Barbless hooks are no longer in style, its all about the barbless and pointless hooks now for the real challenge.

[flykool25]

In the last picture of the broken hook and good hook

The good hook is for a true sportsman. Barbless hooks are no longer in style, its all about the barbless and pointless hooks now for the real challenge.

ok if you look closely at the second hook the redfish broke the hook at the tip of the hook where it usually curves to make it a circle hook. I was not fishing with a pointless hook on purpose. I am not that good a fisherman. apparently I have trouble just keeping a fish with circle hooks. Kudos to people fishing out there with barbless , pointless hooks. I think the discolored hook was atleast a year old. it was sitting in my garage after last years use. saltwater ruins mostly everything . also here is the link for kayak launch points courtesy of coachmills website http://tailtailsigns.com/launch-points/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
My usual launchpoints are rollover pass and stingaree marina launch in bolivar.