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Quite a few back in the days before I owned a scale.

I've caught too many DD's to remember. They were all caught here in Michigan will I was fast asleep in my warm cozy bed while outdoor temps were below freezing and a bunch of the white stuff blanketed the ground. ?

Been very fortune to catch a handful of green bass over 10 lbs. All were in Mexico. As for the state - I was in a state of Hysteria ~ Every Time. (still looking for a brown one . . . . ) A-Jay

Interesting . . . I imagine that my reflexes may have slowed a bit. And there's a decent chance that a few young to middle age bass could come & go undetected. But since I prefer to target the Older Slower bass - I think it sort of evens out. So I'm OK with that. A-Jay

My educated experienced estimate is more than 50% strikes go undetected, even higher ratio for bass over 5 lbs. Tom

Quite a few, but then again, I was born and raised in Florida. Used to catch at least 3 every winter but lately (the last 30 years) have been afflicted with Snook and fish only the spawn for bass. Usually still manage 2 or 3 per year. Plan on going next month on the full and new moons. Been doing this a long time so have a pretty good idea as to when/where/how. I fish public waters and release them all. Largest released was 13.5. Did have a 14 + mounted back when I was a kid. Nothing you couldn't do if you lived where I do. I'm just blessed to live in central Florida.

I do it exactly as A-Jay, only different.

GLX 853C JWR

I finally got my opportunity at a big whitetail buck and I made the most of it. He green scored at 147-3/8" and according to the PA record, book, would put me at 15th in my county (of all time) for a typical buck during rifle season. The rack is almost perfectly symmetrical with only 1.5" of deductions.

Where I bass fish the species behave and react differently, smallmouth prefer blade lures and largemouth lipless jigged. Both bass species prefer structure spoons and ice jigs over lipless or blade lures. Flame orange gold for smallies and blue chrome for LMB. Tom

How do I count/measure undetected strikes? Sorry...just the smartazz in me.... My eye openings were Big Mouth Forever (spittin cranks) and at the other end of the spectrum, watching Bobby U fishing a demo tank and pulling bass 10 yards or more....with Megasticken plastics, but no hooks....the spectrum is wide. I will admit that I've caught plenty of bass that I never felt -- if the line hadn't been moving sideways, I'd have never known there was an actual fish involved with those casts. That doesn't mean that they spit it fast, but they certainly can spit fast enough if they're subtle about the whole thing.

What opened my eyes was back in the 70s at a fishing seminar that featured the Hawg Trough (huge aquarium on wheels). I was standing right up against the glass eyeing a 4# bass when the Pro flipped a worm in front of the bass & it flared it gills sucking the worm in & spit out before I know what happened. After what happened sunk in my pea brain I thought...dude ya better set hook faster & don't wait on nothing!

2018 Rod & Reel arsenal.... (10) Shimano Aldebaran 50 (4) Shimano Calcutta 400D (4) Shimano Exsence 3000 (1) Conquest 905C (4) Conquest 904C (4) Conquest 903C (1) Conquest 842C (4) Conquest 842S (2 not in pics) (2) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 966C (not in pics) (1) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 965C (not in pics) (1) G. Loomis CBR 959C DD (not in pics)

I don't see how a straight up question get caught in the weeds. Most use backing. Most use mono to save money. Others don't......like me Life's a choice.

@Todd2 not questioning you or the report ? I've seen similar studies with similar numbers but if .08 is average that puts plenty well above our .15 range. Funny cause I got a friend that does the same waiting game yours does & wonders why he's never hooked bass over 7 lbs.

@Catt Had to go back and read...no mention of average for the Bass, but the Human study did say average, so that varies quite a bit. I guess the point I took from the article is a Bass can (and often does) spit a lure fairly quick...even jigs and soft plastics here. Sure I'll get the occasionally walk off bite where the line kind of takes off to the side or sometimes right below your boat and you have no choice but to catch up with em and swing. But more often I seem to feel one small tap and that's it...those seem to be my bigger fish. I fished with a good buddy from Texas for years. He's moved back home now. But we had two totally different hooksets...he'd get bit and say "take it baby, take it" and wait till the rod was bent before setting the hook. Id always swing at first tap. I never say a word...just swing fast. When I missed, he'd say "You didn't wait long enough." He'd miss and I'd say "They don't have hands, set the hook". Over the years we fished pretty even so I don't know if we ever proved which way was better.

I have caught several bass over 10 pounds in my home state of Florida, all weighed on a scale, all from land in public waters, all caught by myself with no guide putting me on fish. I feel its much more rewarding to catch your own trophy bass , but thats just me.

Since bass don't have hands or paws with claws they can only strike using their mouth. Artifical lures may look like something they want to eat, depending how aggressive the bass is, they check it out by striking it, then decide if it's editable and continue killing and eating. Another strike response is a warning or simply to kill the lure when on beds, they don't eat it. If the bass is aggressive and fully committed to eat a prey the strike engulfs it, crunches it to kill and swallows it quickly, those bass we have a high probability of getting a hook set because the hook is deep into it's mouth. Tell me why we wait or hesitate hook sets for a surface strike? I hear everyone saying the bass doesn't have the lure in it's mouth, where do they have it if not in it's mouth? Surface lures we can see the strike, that is the only difference. Bass don't use different strike technique for different lures other then to check something or kill something. Hook set timing depends on where the lure is inside the basses mouth and that depends on if the bass wants to eat it or not and how big the lure is so the bass can kill and swallow the prey. When I first started using soft plastic worms the standard technique promoted by pro's was to let the bass move off with the worm by watching the line moving before hook setting. Today we don't wait knowing the bass may reject the lure quickly and set the hook the instant we detect it and make timing adjustments depending on success or failure. I watch bass in crystal clear pit lakes and never witnessed a bass slap anything ever. What does slap mean? Hitting prey with their tail or body? Bass either strike prey with their mouth or mis judge and miss it. Tom

Speak with the dealer who you want to order the boat through and ask them to work with you. They want your money. When I ordered my new Ranger I paid a few thousand less than what it cost to build it online .

I combat this problem by using lots of Megastrike! My jigs are so tasty the bass don't want to give them back.

Fish both and see which produces best. Chances are both will produce, but one will be better than the other. One thing to keep in mind, one has loud rattles and the other doesn't.

Wow. Those fish make those 7" senko's look like a 4" senko.

1, in Mexico.

The ability to detect unseen strikes from bass seperate the men from the boys. The fact that boys have faster reflexes tells you there is more to hook sets then quickness. Tom

I think most people would be shocked to see how many bites they actually get versus what they feel.

I'm right on the water, so most of what comes off the Lake Ontario comes in bands. Can be white out in one spot, two miles away the sun is shining. When we get lake effect off Erie, look out. Devastation.

Finally dipping my toes into the JDM rod world. Extreme Mission Type F.

New to the forum. US ARMY 37F/PSYOP 1997- Current

Im keyong in on it sayin how fast humans react to stimula of touch. Are they measuring a body reaction(twitch) or the time it takes for the brain to react and perform(hook set)? I'm sure of one thing, I ain't as quick as a bass Maybe we should all be throwing mighty bite baits. They guarantee a fish to hold on longer

G'day guys, I've just recently arrived back here in Australia after an awesome trip to the US. I just wanted to thank all of you on here that contributed in one way or another to helping catch my first few bass while I was over there. Some of you offered some good advice, which was much appreciated. A few guy's I wanted to make a special mention too, that really tried to help me out. MichaelCopeland, and N Florida Mike, thanks for the offers to take me fishing, but unfortunately time doesn't always line up for everyone, day to day life and work can get in the way sometimes as well, but thanks again for your kind offers. Bighead, what a shame you saw the post as late into my trip as you did, I would of loved to fish with you over in Texas, I hope we will get a chance to catch up if I can get back over there soon. And last but not least, my mate Ohboyitsrobby from over in Arkansas. A big thank you to yourself and your mate Derek for taking us out on Lake Ouachita. We had a cracking time on the water with you blokes, plenty of laughs, and of course plenty of bass. I am planning on getting back over there in the next year or two, and it would be great to stay in contact with you guy's if possible. For those of you on social media, either send me a friend request on Facebook or message me here and I'll send you a friend request. Again, thanks to everyone for their help. I didn't get to fish quite as much as I would of liked, but I did get to fish, and I did get to catch my first American bass which I am totally grateful for. Crikey, I've even got myself a profile pic to put up now.... Cheers

That's not counting my other 4 big bait combos: (4) Calcutta 400D's (2) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 966C's (1) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 965C (1) G. Loomis CBR 959C DD About $18,700 retail in 18 combos... (Granted, I didn't pay retail! ) The truck & boat (2017 F250 Platinum & 2018 Ranger Z520L) are where most of my fishing "expenses" are....! You only live once, right?!?!?

(2) 10's in SC. Both were in ponds, but both ponds were at least 50 miles apart.

I actually find that bass eat most baits (jerkbaits less so), but especially soft plastics and jigs, and don't readily let go on most days. They can and sometimes do spit in a fraction of a second, but often times they will refuse to let go even if you try to shake them off. Depends on the day and individual fish though.

I may have had bass spit out my lures in fractions of a second but I never knew it. In the end, ignorance is bliss. I can't get too mad over something that I didn't even know took place.

Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, & Florida ?

And another one from the archives . . . ~ X2 ~ Spinnerbait bite is a fan favorite. Once I get bit, I keep reeling, and as the rods loads - so do I ! A-Jay

I catch piles of bass on blades in the winter, they are an excellent bait when the conditions are right, as with anything. If you're fishing shallower than 15', a blade becomes much less effective. My guess would be that it's because they just fall too fast at that depth, but I have no way to prove that. If you're fishing vertical, your boat is really close to the fish at that point too. For me, a 1/4oz blade is best in the 15-20' range, and deeper than that I go with a 1/2. However, I have caught them as deep as 35' on a 1/4oz. When the bass get moody, the shift from 1/2 down to 1/4 can make a BIG difference. I think it's almost solely the slower ROF that triggers the bites when the 1/4 is outfishing the 1/2. I don't do much yo-yoing with lipless cranks, I probably should. Usually when I do well with them in the winter, it is fishing them as slow as I can on a steady retrieve, and popping them whenever the bait comes into contact with anything. Like @Bluebasser86 said, lipless is the way to go in 10' and less!

Infantry all the way! Army Guard MN 11B, 6yrs 10months and one long ass deployment to Iraq.

This will be for my back up stock. I don’t have a dedicated fishing store less than an hour away so when I go I usually stock up when I go or when I order online.

Search this in Youtube.. " Most Insane Underwater Bass Fishing Footage Ever!! GoPro Footage of Giant Bass Eating Lures!

I have seen those videos too . They opened my eyes . One of my favorite ways to fish is yoyoing lipless cranks in deep water . There are lots of times I feel or even hear the hit and miss the fish . I thought they were just bumping it closed mouth but now I think "after seeing the videos" that they are just faster than me .

https://taxfoundation.org/publications/state-local-tax-burden-rankings/ Cool map about a quarter of the way down the page. I have not yet done ANY research into accuracy of anything on that page....but did find it interesting for the time being. TN isn't just great for climate and fishing.

When the sun starts shining in that spare bedroom you can always use it as a solar panel. Or just buy more baits and fill it up! If I had to hang all my soft plastics on a wall pegboard it would like wrapping paper

I can just tell from your inventory alone that you definitely catch fish! Nice set up.

everyone should have a name and address..have fun.

OK! Bowfin: Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, griddle, grinnel, cypress trout and choupique In colder water they are not a threat but in the warm waters down south they will completely take over a body of water. It is not uncommon to catch Choupique down here weighing 10-15 lbs. Would I suggest killing em? Nope but I aint going outta my way to save one!

They're bedding on Istokpoga now. Got a couple over 7lbs today with full bellies.