After The Hookset??

[Mattlures]

Bass learn just like every other animal. Don't believe they have a short memory. Any time you try and break a bad habit of an animal it takes more then one negative result to teach the animal especially if that animal has gotten many good results. For instance if you hand feed wild bass worms they will get used to it and become unafraid but if you put a hook in the worm and catch it, it will learn. It might take two or three times before it never eats your worms again but it will learn. Ok how does that apply to your situation? Well if I were you I would change it up a little but not too much. I would hit the same spot from a different angle. I would use a similar bait but not the same one. Maybe a lizard or a jig fished the same way you fished the worm. This has worked great for me when ever fish have become conditioned to a certain bait. Your fish may still eat the same worm presented in exactly the same way but maybe it will remember just like a bass that you used to be able to hand feed. Change it up a little and stay one step ahead of it.

[jhoffman]

Theres an article on this site somewhere where one of the pros talks about a kicker fish he hooked twice in the same tournament before catching it the third day. Changed up baits every time.

[WRB]

WRB, so do you think the preferred hooks that you mentioned would get a better hook set than the widegap hooks even with a very large plastic bait? Thanks

Round bodied worms yes, flat bodied creatures no. You can skin hook the side of a worm that is over 3/8" diameter, can't do that with thick wide bodied creature baits. You can make a slot for the hook like Flukes have molded into them with a fillet knife and that helps to prevent plastic from filling the hook gap.

Bass are creatures of habit and in ponds have a predictable routine so you should be able to put a lure in front of the fish again. Like Matt mentioned make a small change like different tail type and highlites coloration.

Bass will drop a jig in a heart beat, but a mouth full of soft plastic they tend to hold in their mouth longer, depending on how active they are. With big worms timing the strike is like timing a top water lure, give it a second more time, unless it's a bed fish.

Good hunting, this is what big bass fishing is all about; locating them, then catching them and it becomes a passion.

Tom

[Jigs 4 Pigs]

 

Will it bite again?

 

Broke off on something, re-rigged my hook and senko casted to same spot, fish on! Double gut hooked in 5 minutes, removed both hooks and saved this little guy! Obviously didn't learn his lesson.

[Sbennett9]

Had this same experience happen several times last summer alone in a small pond near home. That fish WILL bite again and if the conditions are the same its likely that it will be near where you hooked it the first time. Also for future reference I have had big fish and little fish start to fight then spit it out. At that point most people reel in quickly and curse repeatedly. After a couple times of doing this I decided to experiment and continue the retrieve as if nothing happened. I can't confirm it was the same fish but I have on multiple occasions ended up hooking up with what I believe was the same fish that put it down originally. Anyone else have this occur?

[WRB]

Sure! When you have a group or school of active bass feeding in the same area it's common to caught several bass of nearly the same size from within a small areas.

One time in May of  '91 I was fishing with a friend in his boat and we were running about 70 mph down the lake and I noticed 3 blues herons on a point standing in the water on the shore line, this was very unusual, heron are solitary birds. I tapped Danna on te shoulder and motioned to slow down, he did. We circles back and dropped the trolling motor about 150 yards away, got out a swimbait, made a cast and immediately hooked a DD bass about 12 lbs. That bite was historic and caught 18 DD bass off that point within 1 hour and all the bass were 10 to 12 lbs clones, a school of big bass feeding on trout. The blue herons were there to pick off the trout the bass pushed up near the bank. This was a wolf pack in the glory days of big bass populations.

Never leave bass that are biting just because you caught one!

Tom

[PABASS]

Sure! When you have a group or school of active bass feeding in the same area it's common to caught several bass of nearly the same size from within a small areas.

One time in '94 I was fishing with a friend in his boat and we were running about 70 mph down the lake and I noticed 3 blues herons on a point standing in the water on the shore line, this was very unusual, heron are solitary birds. I tapped Danna on te shoulder and motioned to slow down, he did. We circles back and dropped the trolling motor about 150 yards away, got out a swimbait, made a cast and immediately hooked a DD bass about 12 lbs. That bite was historic and caught 18 DD bass off that point within 1 hour and all the bass were 10 to 12 lbs clones, a school of big bass feeding on trout. The blue herons were there to pick off the trout the bass pushed up near the bank. This was a wolf pack in the glory days of big bass populations.

Never leave bass that are biting just because you caught one!

Tom

That must of been awesome!!  I was watching a bass show based in CA cant recall the name but the guide would take clients to stocking point for trout were the game commission would release them to catch the DDs...  Around here not many bass could take a stocked trout although our game commission at least in this part of PA only stocks streams and rivers not lakes like they do in CA..

[JayKumar]

She will be there again, no doubt.  Recommend a huge plastic worm (10" or 12" Berkkley Power Worm is my fave big worm) or a swim jig or big jig with chunk of cours.  Black or gr pump.  Has worked for me.  Other than that, are you sure you set the hook in her?  Sometimes those big fish just clamp down so hard on the worm, the point doesn't penetrate.  Learned that the hard way in Florida...more than once.  On that note, if you think there's any chance you could connect with the fish of a lifetime, make sure your rod and line can handle it.  Imo the most important piece of that is the rod -- uber-stiff to get that hook to penetrate.  Just my .02...learned the hard way!

[wademaster1]

JayKumar, I was using a 10" rage tail thumper worm. I set the hook hard, the fish kept my rod bent over and it moved slow at first. It came by me right beneath the surface and right when I thought I might turn her around to maybe gain some ground on her she bolts and rips line, then that's when the hook came loose.....

[JellyMan]

JayKumar, I was using a 10" rage tail thumper worm. I set the hook hard, the fish kept my rod bent over and it moved slow at first. It came by me right beneath the surface and right when I thought I might turn her around to maybe gain some ground on her she bolts and rips line, then that's when the hook came loose.....

 

Those Rage worms are beast getters. I use them like crazy on Florida lakes. I'de throw the same again or try an Anaconda. Watermelon red is my go to big bass getter.

 

I also fish them weightless.