I used to fish for them as a kid back east and don't remember them being hard mouthed. While I'm here online, I have the Outdoor channel in the background, and it must be bass night. Those guys with all the advertising on their wares hit those fish hard enough to jerk the beak off a turtle. Have the bass evolved like our big game, so one needs premimun hooks and high velocity strikes to score?

Yes, big bass do have a hard mouth. I fished with David Vance, a guide on Lake Fork Texas, a couple of times. He would set the hook so hard, that you could hear his rod swish through the air. I always wanted to do that, but never could quite acomplished it.

The viscious hooksets come into play when using wide gap single hooks and especially when using jigs that ride with the point up. It takes a good sharp stroke on the rod to sink a big or thick hook into the upper mouth/jawbone of a bass. The other issue is with small fish or one that is swimming towards you. A less agressive hookset will pull or glide the fish through the water and you may not bury the barb. Sometimes there's not a lot of resisitance to swing against on the fish's end of the line. With super sticky fine wire hooks, dropshot hooks, treble hooks, in lips and other soft tissue, - it doesn't matter as much.

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There is a relatively simple explanation to your observation of bass fishing techniques.

They are used to tournament fishing where time is money so they trying to hook, stun (so they will survive in the live well) and land them on one quick HARD jerk.

I have often wondered what fishermen from other styles of fishing think of those hook setting moves.

I'm a firm believer in not just jerking the rod in most fishing situations. Generally speaking when a hookset is needed I prefer to load the rod up first and then set the hook. It avoids snatching the hook out of a fish's mouth.

Bass fishing in the examples I cited are the exception for using a "clean and jerk".

In some situations it's far preferable to not set the hook at all. You risk tearing it out.

A benefit I've found with several species and a lighter set is that the bait or lure is still near the fish if one misses, and they will come back on it. I'm mostly a fly fisherman, and with bonefish, steelhead, salmon, and trout if one jerks like the bass boys the hook ends up about 20 yards behind me. With soft sets, the fly is still near the fish, and they will stay on the chase. I've had steelhead give me 3 hits in a single cast, and bonefish (who are fairly had mouthed) pick the fly up 3 or 4 times.

Another thing is that I don't break fish (especially big fish) off.

Circle hooks do not need a hookset. Engage the reel and the hook slides to the corner of the fish's mouth. Very popular in AK and saltwater fishing everywhere.

Most largemouth bass fishing takes a hard hookset. On crankbaits and rattle traps, Mustad Triple Grips treble hooks are your friend. Good luck.

I hardly fish bass with anything but soft plastics anymore. Love feeling that bass walking away with a bait in its mouth and readying the rod for the hook set. Now, I'm going to differ from most. I use 6 to 8# test on a medium action spinner rod and hardly ever make a really hard hook set. Yes, I lose a few, but it's just my style.

Dan

Simply depends on the technique, and the cover you're fishing.

If I'm punching grass, a technique we use quite alot here in the hydrilla mats, I'm using a 1oz and up weight, a 4/0 wide gap hook strong enough to anchor a small boat, 65lb braid, and a 7.5' flipping stik that looks like a broom handle. When a fish hits, I'm putting all 250+ lbs of southern beer belly into that hookset!!! I want to turn the fish, and head it to the boat. Same thing with fishing plastic worms around the cypress trees, or frog fishing over the pads and grass. It's 4 wheel drive, in yo face power fishing!!

On the other hand, if I'm throwing a topwater bait, jerkbait, etc, then I use no hookset at all. I simply lower the rodtip, make a quick sweep to the side, and let the trebles do the rest.

With monofilament line most of that "violent" hookset is required to stretch the line enough to get the hook to move. Use powerpro or fireline and the hook can be set with a sharp wrist flick if the hook is sharp.