How to turn those behind the popper boils/misses into Hook ups!!

[Rob Soulsby NZ]

Hi All

I always wonder when a fish misses the popper if there is anything I can do to improve the hook up rate or is it just the fish, the day and of course timing. I know a few years ago in Fiji the afternoon produced 14 misses and only 2 hookups (one small GT and a big Coral trout) The next morning the GTS and other critters just latched on Hard!!! My last three trips have seen 1 from 7!!! hence the question.

Whats your experiences or ideas.

[Travis Heaps]

Some days you get to the buffet and you're starving, others you just pick or arent hungry at all.  If they are consistently just looking or missing at the last minute then mix things up.  Standard technique if they are just looking at the poppers is to switch to lob a stick bait straight after.  Also mix up the retrieve, try maximizing the time in the strike zone with slower retrieves or alternately increase retrieve to max to trigger that reaction chase and bite.

[Mark Harris]

Very good advice from Travis.

Sometimes I think the fish are really just having a quiet look and will not strike properly no matter what. This happened to me recently with 7 consecutive GT misses and no fish on board all day. Really mixed it up and it made no difference.

[Jay Burgess]

Sometimes I think the fish are really just having a quiet look and will not strike properly no matter what.

Agreed. You'll notice that sometimes after they 'miss' the lure they just sink quietly back to the depths, apparently not interested in your offering and other times they turn around and completely destroy it. If a GT really wants it you're going to hook up more often than not.

Agree with all the points Travis has said. I've lost count of the number of times I've had follows on a popper without hookup, switched to a stickbait and had immediate success (and vice versa).

[Warwick Joyce]

I've noticed on the shy days they will have 1 go and thats about it, on the hungry days they will have several goes at the lure if they miss it the first time.
Its a real challenge to crack the code on the hard days, that for me is the beauty of fishing. How frustrating it can be on the some days, and how good it can be on others.
The great reward for me is cracking that code, some days the puzzle is set at hard and others its easy and you never really know until you are out there.

[Karl Nelson]

Down sizing lures has worked for me in the past.....