Question for stcatfish

[A1000HOOK]

stcatfish - I will be getting a Otter fish house. My question is

the Otter cabin gives me enough room, but I am

concerned about the head room. I want to be able

to get a good hard hookset into a laker. I'm not

sure the Otter cabin will allow for a good hookset.

What model do you have? Do you have enough room for

a hookset. I lost 3 trout because I don't have

enough headroom in my current portable.

[Surface Tension]

I have the Otter Cabin and theres plenty of head room for a hook set. If you hit the roof in the Cabin you either have your drag to loose, the fish is small, or you didn't hook the fish.

Having said that, I hit the roof in my Otter Lodge at the Bash.

It was because of one of the satiations mentioned above.

[Steve Foss]

Hook, I've got a cottage, which is an ultra-wide one-man. It's plenty tall for my hookset with my 34 and 36 inch rods, and is significantly taller than my old Fish Trap II.

Regardless of which shelter you've got, I'd definitely recommend getting in the habit of keep the rod as close to the hole as possible. Of course, you can't do that when you're jigging with big sweeps, but when I've had lakers hit on the drop when the line is a bit slack or the rod elevated, I just pivot my body and set the hook by whipping the rod sideways toward the back of the shelter.

And then, once the fish is tight and I reel down to the hole, I give it one more hookset. If that pulls the hooks out, then they were going to come out anyway, and if it doesn't pull them, I know I've gotten a good set.

You won't go wrong with the Otter, though. I've got plenty of vertical room in mine so I don't have to take the measures I just described.

Good luck!

[Catfishunter]

Dean, that's fishing for you. You have not had a problem in that house before on B-side, it might just be a bad start to the year. You have been fishing that lake since befor the smelt were there, you know them trout dang good. I still say the hooks on a jiging rap are a size to small compared to the lure. STF, what hook on the rap are most of your trout brought up the hole on? I got a sure thing (no such thing as a sure thing) for next time, lets start planing the trip.

Here's my sun. fish dean, in one of your spots .

[Northlander]

I fished out of my Otter Cabin during the bash and had plenty of hooksetting room. Well at least enough to hook 5 fish. Too bad I only 1 got on the ice though.

[Steve Foss]

Catfishunter, I haven't fished with the trebles that come on the No. 3, 5 and 7 jigging raps since I first fished with them over 10 years ago. When I buy them I swap out the treble for one size bigger. The bigger raps (No. 9 and up), have beefy enough hooks, though I like a little longer shank.

I've also been cutting off the front and rear single hooks on the raps for years and years. So, of course, every fish I catch on them comes on the center treble, since it's the only hook left.

You wanna plan? I'm your man. But I thought you never used anything bigger than sunfish ants/waxies and 4 lb line for your lakers. Of course, my e-mail is always in my sig if you're too bashful to post it in front of 33,000 members and 150,000 lurkers.

Should've known A1000HOOK was an old laker veteran who didn't really need my advice anyway.

[Catfishunter]

You got me all wrong, ants and waxies are not in my box. Just trying to get some bait for my tipup and got a good fish. I just hate hearing a lot of lookers and no takers, downsize and get them fish somtimes to a tugsten gill jig and a bug works. When i get up there next time you will have mail, hopefully sooner then later.