Over the summer, I fished a dropoff about 15 ft off a bank using plastic worms. As an experiment, when a fish picked up the worm, I dropped the rod and waited with slack in the line. The longest time a fish held the plastic worm was 40 seconds. They would strike the worm, then just sit there and not move. After 40 seconds, I took up slack line and set the hook. I believe they would have sat there with the bait even longer, if I had not hooked them. These were not big fish, and most were around 14" to 16" in length. I'm not sure if large bass will do this also, and I don't have an explanation for this? The best explanation I have is competition among these fish for food. When they get the bait, they sit there and hold it in one spot, making sure another bass can't get it. Some will swim off slowly after a period of time. Others start to swim off as soon as they pick up the plastic worm.I think it's one of those things, that only the fish know the reason they do this. We'll probably never know exactly why? Have you had this experience also?
