Hook Set Question - Flukes/worm

[RyanS]

So I typically wait until I feel a "second" tap when fishing a fluke or t-rigged worm before I set the hook?  But last weekend, just ended up with a lot of single taps.  Should I be reeling down on the first tap and just setting the hook every time?  Or reel down after first tap and see if I feel the fish before the hookset.  Or am I doing ok just waiting for the second tap?

 

Is it the same on a Jig?  When I see the pros do it on TV, they seem to always say "There's one." Then pause (like they are waiting for another tap), then reel down and set the hook.  Then yell "Oh Son" or some tag line like that......

 

 

[Catch and Grease]

Every day it may be different IMO, some days I'll miss fish waiting a little to long to set the hook but start ripping their lips off when I set the hook asap, then other days they chomp on it like bubble gum for awhile and I need to wait longer to set the hook... Maybe its just in my head but that's just my 2¢

[Mccallister25]

It all depends, some days are different than others.When I feel a "tick" on a worm, Ill usually reel down my slack and wait until I feel the weight of the fish.

With jigs, sometimes you feel the fish take it, and other times you just have to watch your line. Itll take off, and if your not paying attention, you'd never know it. It may sound odd, but when jig fishing, I can feel a little weight on the end of the line and its sorta like a second nature to know when to set the hook.

[Fish Murderer 71]

first tick, rod to 10 oclock...  feel any pressure and reel down and try to pull the soul out of the fish.

[Fish Murderer 71]

HOOKS SETS ARE FREE!!!!!

[B@ssCrzy]

first tick, rod to 10 oclock...  feel any pressure and reel down and try to pull the soul out of the fish.

 

x2....sometimes those ticks are just bluegill or other small fish.  The added weight/pressure on the rod is what I feel for....

[merc1997]

fishing something such as a fluke sometimes the bass will just nip at it. my best advice is to set the hook immediately when you feel a bite. if you are missing, then wait until you feel them towing. as for jigs, set the hook immediately any time something different happens. however, when dealing with bass that are picking the jig up off the bottom, many times the first feel you get is the bass pinning the jig to the bottom, and the next feel you get is them taking the jig in. so, again, if you miss a few on the first feel, then make yourself wait to the second feel before setting. when fishing cover, the longer you wait to set the hook the worse your hook penetration will be because of all the things the bass has pulled your line through, and then you have to get the bass all the way back through whatever it has swam through while you are waiting.

bo

[The Fisher]

Check out this article

http://www.***.com/bass-fishing-feature-do-you-set-the-hook-wrong/

[SPEEDBEAD.]

If it's a fish worth setting the hook on, I cross their eyes after that first tap.

 

If I'm fishing a fluke where I can see it, I'll wait sometimes if I can see the hit.

[Catt]

Three Tap Theory as explained to me by Shaw Grigsby

 

The first tap the bass has inhaled your lure

 

The second tap the bass has expelled your lure

 

The third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking way you didn't set hook!

[iabass8]

Three Tap Theory as explained to me by Shaw Grigsby

 

The first tap the bass has inhaled your lure

 

The second tap the bass has expelled your lure

 

The third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking way you didn't set hook!

x2

 

this is especially true on a jig. They get one tap before I swing.

[tatertester]

Feel tap, reel down, set hook upward , fight fish , land fish.....Done.

[KYBassin']

first tick, rod to 10 oclock...  feel any pressure and reel down and try to pull the soul out of the fish.

Agree. Not sure if I pay attention to "taps", more trying to feel weight or a consistent line movement. But when in doubt...

[DILLY07]

For fluke, when I feel the fish on the fluke, I hook sweep it like crankbait. For jig, since the jig is gonna be on the bottom and the hook is stickin up, Hookset it up so the hook can penetrate. Its all about seeing the line go right or left then Hook it.

[dam0007]

Watch the line! How it lays on the water, the position before the tap and after the tap. You can even use reflections in the water, trees, rocks, a leaf as a reference point. That line starts b lining, set that mother!

[merc1997]

i read all the comments about getting all these taps, but what about when there is not a tap, but the bass has it. in all my years of fishing for bass, most of the time, there is not that traditional tap that everyone talks about. i love those times when the bite is that good tap, but that just is not the norm. most of the time, there is just something different happened that should not have, and i set the hook without thinking or feeling. i know it is a bite than many struggle with. flukes are the same way. most of the time, bass that i catch on a fluke are nothing more than a change in the pressure on the line underneath my thumb. hooksets are free. anytime something feels different or happened different, set the hook. you will be amazed at how many bass you hook.

bo

[MichaelJ7]

It all depends, some days are different than others.When I feel a "tick" on a worm, Ill usually reel down my slack and wait until I feel the weight of the fish.

With jigs, sometimes you feel the fish take it, and other times you just have to watch your line. Itll take off, and if your not paying attention, you'd never know it. It may sound odd, but when jig fishing, I can feel a little weight on the end of the line and its sorta like a second nature to know when to set the hook.

^^^X2

[Alpha Male]

Feel tap, reel down, set hook upward , fight fish , land fish.....Done.

 

I feel the same way except for one important difference. after I land fish, I prefer to repeat.         

[tatertester]

I learned that way to fish a buzzbait from Bill Dance many moons ago.....A bass hitting a buzzbait is usually obvious , lower your rod as soon as you sense the hit,reel up any slack line and set the hook...I rarely miss a fish now....As often as not the bass hook themselves if given that pause before a hookset.

[PersicoTrotaVA]

I have felt taps and watch the line slowly move around, taps with no line moves; I have felt straight thuds and pulls, thuds and nothing; i have felt nothing at all and felt weight, like a snag or the lure picked up some grass or dead leaves and had a fish on the line.  In the end hooksets are free, so rip on it of you think its a fish.

[hatrix]

I feel like generally double taps are little fish. Or at least I think it seems that way. Once they start getting to about 2# it's usually just one hit. Or so it seems to me.

[Big239Fish]

"When in doubt, set. The hook" - Bill Dance

Usually when something in my brain or gut says to me "Jay you should think about setting the hook here soon..." I typically just say OK and yank.

[RB 77]

Three Tap Theory as explained to me by Shaw Grigsby

 

The first tap the bass has inhaled your lure

 

The second tap the bass has expelled your lure

 

The third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking way you didn't set hook!

 

This! They get one tap and Im setting the hook. The second I even think I might have one on I set the hook. Did I mention I cant set the hook fast enough? I have went back and forth with this with my pops for years. He actually lets them run with it like he was fishing a dine or chovy offshore for pelagics. Then he wonders why he gut-hooks so many bass! I couldnt imagine fishing without him though! I love fishing with the guy.