# Tips on hooking specks



## lastlaugh (May 21, 2013)

Anyone have any tips for hooking specks? Pretty much every day this week I have found a hole with a ton of em in it, and they are biting my lures like crazy, but I only ever land a few. I know they have very soft mouths, and I think I'm pulling the lure out of their mouth. Its very hard coming from a lifetime of freshwater bass fishing not to set the hook with a jerk of the rod! The few I have caught, I seem to have had very little to do with as far as hooking them. Im just reeling and suddenly have weight on the line. I also feel, what I call a "typewriter" type bite a lot. Like a tap, tap, tap, on the line but very faint. I thought it was pinfish at first, till I started landing decent sized trout. They really don't put up much fight for their size. So, what are the tricks for getting these guys in the boat more often than not?


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## Seatmech86 (Mar 8, 2011)

Super Spook, get it take the crap trebles off and replace them with the Eagle Claw Laser Sharp triple strength of the same size.


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## spec-tacular! (Aug 20, 2012)

That lil tap tap tap bite is pin fish!


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## rfh21 (May 17, 2012)

Pin fish or baby jacks. They are always a problem speck fishing because they're in the same area. They do have soft mouths but you can still get a hard hook set if you use a softer rod and mono. If you use a stiff rod and braid you're gonna pull a lot of hooks.


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## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

They specks over here in mobile bay on hard baits, when they hit you know what it is. They fight for every ounce of them. Change hooks would be my suggestion. When they hit top water, set hook on feel. Not noise or sight.


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## lastlaugh (May 21, 2013)

I've been trying spooks and mirrolure 17mr here with absolutely zero luck. Not a single bite at all. Drop a gulp shrimp in the water and they are all over it tho! I'm using a light rod and hi-catch mono, 15lb.


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## evan (May 11, 2012)

Don't set the hook on a trout... just keep the line tight.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

evan said:


> Don't set the hook on a trout... just keep the line tight.


Yep, they have very, very thin jaws (I would say paper thin). You can't muscle them in....

EDIT: Just be patient.


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## JasonL (May 17, 2011)

Up north they're know as Weakfish because of their weak mouth cartilage (and they've been fished to near extinction up there). Don't yank too hard, let them take it and set themselves. But most likely the biting your feeling is some kind of small bait fish pecking at your bait.


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## rfh21 (May 17, 2012)

If you are using gulp you are definitely going to get a lot of attention from pinfish and other small scavengers. Just part of using a scented bait. Keep fishing and you'll start to recognize the different feel of the strike. 

Weakfish is actually a different species of fish that grows much larger than speckled trout, very similar looking though. 

Specks do have soft mouths, nicknamed "Papermouths" for a reason. When you do land one notice the large hole that will tear in the side of the mouth, it's why you have to keep good tension on them while fighting them.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Light drag, mono line, and thinner hooks.


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