Small treble trouble

[top_dollar]

                    I fish small jerkbaits about as much as anything else.  Here is what I have found.  I land almost all of my fish using 4# Mono (S.O.S line from Leland lures is my fave) and a medium power, moderate fast to fast spinning rod.  That seems to give me the right amount of twitch on the bait to generate strikes, while still giving enough cushion to keep the fish from pulling off.  I prefer the stiffer rod with mono with all jerkbaits, because with too soft of a rod, you will not generate the action required to get lots of bites.  You have to be able to work that jerkbait effectively, and that works best with a bit stiffer of a rod IMO.  I fish mono line on every treble hooked bait i use, except when i am longline trolling, but in that case i am using a 9 ft downrigger rod.

                   What you didn't mention, and what I suspect is probably the issue, is the size of the treble hooks you're using.  I have not found a way to keep fish hooked using anything smaller than size 6 trebles.  I tried for a while to make it work, and just kept losing fish.  The smallest treble hooks I am willing to use anymore are size 6.  I have found semi-success swapping out size 8/10 trebles with size 6/8 circle hooks on sub 2" jerkbaits, but anymore if i have to use a jerkbait that small i will use something else entirely.