Does anyone else have this problem when running big(20+ lbs) braid? I hooked into a very large fish with a Strike King football head jig, fought for a second and then lost the fish. Once i retrieved my jig i realized my hook was at a 45* angle! This happened 2-3 times in the same day. I've about had it but i just like using braid because I rarely lose lures OR fish. Any thoughts?

Stop setting the hook into those BIG COTTONWOOD STUMPS!

Loosen the drag or quit setting it so hard.

Some things to consider. When you set the hook with braid, there is relatively no line stretch to absorb the shock of the hook set. Thats' a bunch of shock you're putting on the rod and bait if you're swinging for the fences. No need to set the hook like that with braid. You're lucky you only bent the hook. I've seen a bunch of rods snapped that way.

I guess thats what swinging for the fence means

I'm not setting it that hard? Well...not harder than usual. I was using a light-medium rod too! The hogs we boated had gnarled the hook to where it was a loop. I feel like something has to give when you get into those big fish. Ah well. Only resolution i can find is bigger/stronger hooks

Yeah I would just steer away from those hooks. With the bend that a lgt/md rod would have and the fact that most low profile reels have less than 10lb of drag locked down--something is wrong with the hooks.

U gotta use jigs for bass man not hogs lol. Just playin. Try a different jig

Try All Terrain FB Jigs

Use a shock leader 6-10' of 20-25lb fluoro. This will absorb the shock of the hook set while maintaining the sensitivity of the braided line. Having the leader also helps with abrasion resistance and ease of tying knots.

Use and Improved Albright to join the two lines.

Jason are the jijs that I gave you causing all the problems?
Mike

After doing some tuning on my reels and upgrading hooks I haven't had any of the same issues. On a side note does anyone notice a difference in rod action in cold weather vs. hot weather?