recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

terminology, the hookset or setting the hook is when an angler makes a sudden lifting motion to a

fishing rod A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with ...

in order to pull the

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Art ...

and anchor the

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by impa ...

firmly into the mouth of a fish once it has gulped in the hook along with the

bait Bait may refer to: General * Bait (luring substance), bait as a luring substance ** Fishing bait, bait used for fishing Film * ''Bait'' (1950 film), a British crime film by Frank Richardson * ''Bait'' (1954 film), an American noir film by Hu ...

/ lure. In order to securely tether the fish with the line, sufficient force is needed to drive the hook point through the epithelium into the

connective tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops from the mesenchyme derived from the mesoderm the middle embryonic germ layer. Connective tissue ...

and

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are Organ (biology), organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other ...

of the fish's mouth, preferably under and around a

jaw bone The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...

. If this were not achieved, while it is still possible for the hook to anchor itself in to the fish's oral tissue, the likelihood of successfully landing the fish is reduced since, without the hook piercing to enough depth, the fish can shake the hook loose during struggle, spit it out and then escape. A deep enough hookset also catches more tissue (thus making it less likely to tear through the

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, but ...

), and transfers most of the

deformation Deformation can refer to: * Deformation (engineering), changes in an object's shape or form due to the application of a force or forces. ** Deformation (physics), such changes considered and analyzed as displacements of continuum bodies. * Defo ...

al stress longitudinally along the shank portion of the hook (where it also has the greatest

tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials ...

), instead of onto the bend (the curved portion of the hook) where the hook is more vulnerable to

deflection Deflection or deflexion may refer to: Board games * Deflection (chess), a tactic that forces an opposing chess piece to leave a square * Khet (game), formerly ''Deflexion'', an Egyptian-themed chess-like game using lasers Mechanics * Deflectio ...

and slippage when pulled by the line. The hookset technique usually involves suddenly jerking the rod, by either an upward lift or a sweeping motion to the side, depending on the orientation of the rod at the moment the fish bites. Some fishermen will perform several hooksets in quick succession to ensure that the hook is firmly anchored, especially on tough-mouthed fish (such as some saltwater species). In contrast, anglers using

circle hook A circle hook is a type of fish hook which is sharply curved back in a circular shape. It has become widely used among anglers in recent years because the hook generally catches more fish and is rarely swallowed. Since the circle hook catches t ...

s shouldn't set the hook with a vigorous action, since the hook's design allows it to slide and automatically set itself onto the fish's lip when the angler reels in the line. Timing of setting the hook is important especially when

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diff ...

as some

game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commercia ...

such as

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...

are vigilant enough to quickly realize the

artificial fly An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing (although they may also be used in other forms of angling). In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food o ...

is not real food and subsequently spit out the

fly lure An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing (although they may also be used in other forms of angling). In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of ...

. It can also be important to act quickly so that the bait is not swallowed past the fish's

pharynx The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its ...

, as this would cause the hook to set in the

gullet The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

of the fish and cause mutilating (even lethal) internal injuries to the fish, which would not be appropriate when

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returne ...

is wanted or required. Using

barb Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

ed hooks can help more firmly securing the hookset, as the reverse barb point serves as a mini-anchoring hook to prevent the hook backing out of the fish's tissue. However, the barb also makes it hard to remove the hook without causing further (and often significant)

laceration A wound is a rapid onset of injury that involves lacerated or punctured skin (an ''open'' wound), or a contusion (a ''closed'' wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a ''wound'' is an acute injury that damages the epider ...

s to the surrounding tissue. In situations that warrant catch and release, barbless hooks are frequently used as their withdrawal is much easier, which also means to successfully catch the fish, a harder (and thus deeper) hookset is crucial and there is a constant need to maintain a taut line tension.

References

{{Fisheries and fishing Recreational fishing