Zipzilla Rigging and Big Plastic Hooksets: Help Please

[Michigander]

So I need some help for the coming year and I will preface with a story.

Toward the end of last season, I was in a team bass tournament and going into the final hour of the event, I was pretty sure we had a competitive bag for 1st place and a solid shot at big bass so I decided to fish for one more big bite and try to get a heavy cull. I had purchased a pack of 13" Zipzillas (https://fishingcompleteinc.com/collecti ... /zip-zilla) the previous winter and decided now was the time. I had watched on YouTube how guys were using the big soft swimbaits and figured that this was similar. I put it on the biggest hook I had which was only a 7/0 and tied it on to the only rod that had enough juice to cast and effectively work the bait. The weight of the Zipzilla totally overpowered my rod but everything seemed stout enough. I let the bait sink down down to the bottom and was creeping it along over the tops of some low wispy grass in 12ish feet of water. After a few casts, I felt the telltale vibration of something clamping down on my bait and the instant flow of adrenaline because I "knew" that this was a big one. However, when time slowed down and my mind was working through what to do next, I realized that I didn't know what to do next. Do I swing right away or give a bit to let the fish inhale this giant meal? I defaulted to waiting for the second tick like I would if I was fishing a normal worm. Then the second tick came, right at the cadence I expected and I reeled down, felt the rod load, and I swung. Fish on!! For about 3 seconds anyway. Line goes slack and I reel my bait back to the boat to inspect it and hopefully figure out what went wrong. That zipper worm resembled a baseball more than a lure. It was literally balled up in what I assume was the general shape of the inside of a fish's mouth. No more bites that day on the big bait but I developed a bit of a fascination with big baits. This year I will have a proper rod and reel but what I can't buy on Tacklewarehouse is the knowledge of what I did wrong.

What size hook would be best paired with a big 13" bait like that? I'm thinking a 12/0 Owner Beast hook, but that's not based on anything but a guess. Was the 7/0 laughably small? Also, using a stinger has been suggested to me but won't work because I am fishing in a lot of grass and stumps.

What is the hookset timing for this kind of bait? Do you reel down and swing on that first tick or wait for the second one? Or is there a different method?

I know losing fish is part of fishing but I also know that if you are paying attention, running proper gear, and using good technique, you get the majority of them. I can buy the gear but I don't know the technique, please swimbait gurus, teach me. I live in Michigan and there's not a lot of local resources I can draw on for this knowledge. Guys just don't fish like this over here, not for bass anyway. Pike and musky tend to always freight train a lure which makes the whole process much more straightforward and I have years of experience with them but not with using big baits for bass.

I'll stop rambling now. Thanks!