I went fishing for a couple hours this evening and night with a yum dinger worm and a lizard a few times, and caught only two bass. I lost 5 or 6 though. I would set the hook good(or at least i thought), then start reeling them in and get them close to the dock, and with no slack in the line, they would just get off. then when i looked at my bait, the worm was fine and hadnt moved much most of the time.

do i need sharper hooks? or do i need to yank even harder when setting the hook?(i havnt fished soft plastics in a long time)

I like a wide gap hook on any Dinger/Senko type baits, and always texpose the hook so there is less plastic to prevent hook penetration. Texposing is pushing the point all the way through the bait and just skin hooking it on the other side. Watch the tip of your hook as well, even good quality hooks can have the point rolled over inhibiting penetration.

I set the hook as hard as I can fishing soft pastics.....

You need good sharp hooks. Get you some Gamakatsu or Owner hooks. Make sure you reel the slack out of your line because that helps you get a better hook set. If you tx. rig a bait press hook point all the way through the worm making a channel and then pull the hook point back into the worm or txpose the hook and skin hook it. Use a good line that doesn't have a lot of stretch in it. Use a m/h action rod.

That should do it for you.

sweet. thanks. i got some gamakatsu hooks, and ill try out that other stuff.

On thicker baits, I skin hook them. Meaning I bring he hooks point through the bait in tuck in back into the bait. This may increase the chance of hangups, but will pay off.

someone might have a pictureor diagram handy to show ya

All I use are Gammys and Owners.. still always check the point on your hook or like James H said they can bed over on you a little bit to where it's barely even noticable.. Over time you'll set into a log, rock, even the tops and gill plates of those fish's mouths get pretty hard.

well i used those hooks for a couple hours tonight on the yum dinger. caught two small ones, but lost 9 what felt like really big ones. this is ridiculous!!! i yanked very very hard when they bit, to the point of my pole being at like a 90 degree angle, and started bringing the fish in very hard, and yanked some more and was battling them in, but then they just get off somehow. is it because of my crappy bps 25 dollar spinning combo? or somehow slack ggot into the line? its pissin me off majorly

any other thoughts? and the diagram on that skin hook would be sick

Here's the best picture I could find...http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.anglingalabama.com/pitchtube1.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.anglingalabama.com/tube.htm&usg=__qpIXRy3JvDqcrZAhawLmfVcZIZ8=&h=290&w=584&sz=87&hl=en&start=38&um=1&tbnid=TaOerxziIvnsFM:&tbnh=67&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtexpose%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGIC_en___US315%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

You may want to check how much tip and "backbone" your rod has, also if you are using mono on a long cast you may have so much "linestretch" the hook cant penetrate, the guys are right use gamagatsu or owner hooks ( I still use an emeryboard to sharpen them. Run the hookpoint accross your thumbnail, if it doesnt try to dig in its not sharp enough.

the gamakatsu hooks i got are the g lock worm hooks size 4 and 5. these ok?

I had a terrible time loosing fish, and still do when I fish lures with pre rigged hooks.

Since switching to Gamakatsu hooks, I have lost very very few fish, other then from my own screw ups.

Im not sure but I think the shape of the hook may help? They are not round, but more.. let me find a picture.

Good point, you got to have a rod with backbone to drive the hook home. Most spinning reel set ups lack enough backbone hence the terms noodle rods or fairy wands. The gamakatsu 4/0 wide gap should be fine. The super line hooks tend to have a larger diameter hook and are less prone to bowing out but due to the metal being thicker they require more power to drive the hook in. Thinner wire hooks be easier to stick fish with but will bow out or bend under pressure. You don't need to set the hook multiple times usually 1-2 times is plenty. This first hook set starts the penetration of the hook and the pressure of the rod pulling the fish should drive the hook in the rest of the way. You may be getting so upset setting the hook that your actually ripping the hook free or your throwing to much slack to the fish when you reel down to set the hook repeatedly.

he g lock hooks are fine ..depending on many variables, line test rod action, type of bait. that hook in a worm up to 6 0r 7 inches will kill the "action" of the bait, but used with a fluke or senko type bait it is perfect and the larger bite of the hook allows for penetration of the wadded up plastic to get to the fishs mouth. James is right in saying those hooks are larger diameter and require more power to set. Maybe we could advise you better if we knew , the length and power of your rod, type reel, line test and if you mostly bank or boat fish. there are times I fish with a 6 ft rod spinning reel and 6lb line, and later that day I'm in heavy cover flipping a 1oz jig, 8ft rod with 65lb braided line. How bout you?

Your probablem could be the hook. But if your using a weight a lot of times they will hold on to the weight.