Bites Coming On The Initial Drop/splash?

[Giggidy564]

I fish a small river close to my house and all of my bites are coming on the initial fall. In my past 3 trips, all of my bites have come on the initial drop, miliseconds after it hits the water. Could it be that they aren't interested in my lure or what? I have been using zoom ultra vibe worms, flukes, and trick worms. Has anybody had this happen to them?

[kikstand454]

Happens all the time.

Just means you're making well placed casts to aggressive fish! Reaction strikes- Fun huh?

[Giggidy564]

Happens all the time.

Just means you're making well placed casts to aggressive fish! Reaction strikes- Fun huh?

 

You got that right.

[Paul Roberts]

Very common. Lures don't fool fish most of the time. They have to do something special at just the right time. Splashdown can offer a suite of "special" -attractors and triggers:

 

-The splashdown itself can be attractive to bass. This is the main reason it's suggested you wait for a bit before starting your retrieve with topwaters, waiting for the fish to get there.

 

-The water's surface is an "ambush point", in two respects: it obscures your lure just enough that they don't get to see what's "wrong" with it. Secondly, and this is in operation with topwaters and when you are taking your bait out of the water (like for another cast) -it looks like the bait is about to escape.

 

-Bass can see surprisingly well above the water. When they are aggressive, they can be attracted to the speed of a lure zipping through the air. They may chase it to the splashdown area, then smack it.

 

-Bass LOVE falling baits. It's a trigger. Works beneath the water too. Pull the bait up, and then let it fall.

[riverbasser13]

Sounds like you are right on point. When I fish the river most of my strikes come on the fall. If I'm targeting shade lines or trying to skip under bushes then I pretty much expect it every time. Way to get 'em!

[Djf3864]

Probably the most common time to get a hit is the initial splash or the subsequent fall of the lure.

 

Get a higher gear ration reel so you can throw more casts and catch the fish while they are biting!

[BigMoneyGrip]

I have this with Senkos. I think it is the "ploooop" sound it makes. Other plastics sound different and I don't get as many instant strikes. Put a Senko on, ploooooop, and set the hook.

[geo g]

I often get strikes on the initial drop with a senko or fluke, especially when throwing into the pads. Sometimes as soon as it hits the water there will be an explosion and then a hook set.

[Driftb]

I re occasionally, member a number of years ago when I committed to use and learn the jig and trailer.  In this case it was a chigger craw.  I had fished jig-and-pig, and also jiigs with other trailers with mixed results for years but never really had much confidence in that style of jig.  I had decided that I needed to commit time to the method so I was ready to spend the day deep jigging with some heavy jigs.  On my first cast a heavy fish crashed the jig as soon as it touched the water.  It turned out to be a three or so pound fish, and that was the wasy the day went.  Some fish took the jig on the bottom, others mid water, and I had a couple more reaction strikes as soom as the jig hit the water.  So now I have confidence in the jig.

[einscodek]

You dont even have to be that accurate if you have an aggressively hungry fish

It will race to investigate any splashdowns from 10 feet + away and youd be surprised how fast

[BasshunterJGH]

It happens all the time fishing with senkos, tubes, dropshots, etc. Caught a 2 lb smallmouth the other day 3 seconds after my dropshot rig hit the water.

[lectricbassman]

Ive had bass hit a fluke and even a buzzbait as it touches down. I believe the fish can see it coming and are there anticipating splashdown before it happens. I often forget that bass are excellent predators and its awesome to me that they can do this

[Felixone]

As I am still relatively new to this it hasn't happened to me much, but it did a couple weekends ago.  I was finishing new water.  I paddled out to a likely spot.  One of the little quirks I have picked up is my first cast isn't intended to catch fish.  I typically cast to open water, and just reel right back.  I don't really know why I do this other than it is a simple test of my equipment.  Well this time it worked.  That cast no sooner hit the water and bam a fish hit it.  As I wasn't intending to catch a fish the hit spooked me.  It almost seemed like the fish hit before it even hit the water.  I just saw the huge splash, and then the tug on the line.  I set the hook, but the fish swam down into some weeds and threw the hook so I never got to actually see it.  Still it was an exciting 10-15 seconds.  I thought for sure it meant I was in the right place, but unfortunately all I managed to land that day was a couple of pickerel. Still it is moments like this that keep me going back.

[buzzed bait]

went on Sunday afternoon and 8/10 of the bites came on the first turn of the reel handle.... just one of those hyper aggressive days!

[Daniel Lin]

I once cast a spinnerbait on a baitcaster out with my right hand and was going to let it helicopter a little bit to running depth before beginning the retrieve. It just so happened that instead of my usual transition to left hand before splashdown for a long cast, I was trying to scratch a bug bite with my left hand and a fish struck moments after the lure hit the water.

 

Felt like a boss when I set the hook one-handed, thumbing the reel on an open clutch. Although I'm sure anyone who's done any fair amount of flippin' and pitchin' has done more than their fair share of that too.

[Jtrout]

Happened to me during the summer for a month on trigged worm

[everythingthatswims]

This happens with swimbaits sometimes... "Woah! A trout fell from the sky, I'm gonna eat it!"

[RSM789]

Skipping Senkos under docks often leads to immediate strikes once the bait stops, although I did have one bass who caught the lure in mid air between skips.  I am guessing she was 1/2 bass, 1/2 border collie.

[Ozark_Basser]

A bait just entering the water just gets them to react sometimes instead of getting a real good look at it when it's on the bottom.  I was working a paddle tail swimbait a couple of days ago through some grass patches.  When I popped the bait off the top of some taller grass into a hole, I had a keeper bass literally jump out of the water to grab the swimbait midair.  

[WRB]

Did you know it takes over 500 milliseconds for your brain to react to a strike!

River bass live in an environment where the current brings them food or it falls on the surface, they can't wait or it will pass bye.

The difference between a so so angler and good angler who fishes underwater soft plastics and jigs is strike detection. The majority of strikes go undetected by most bass anglers.

Tom

[guitarglynn1]

It always amazes me when bass do this. A good percentage of the Bass I catch with spoons it is like that. Spoon hits the water and that initial flutter, or even just that initial splash is all it takes before a bass has grabbed it up. 

[jib5jab]

What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?

[Paul Roberts]

What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?

Often, yes. If they are biting, I'm not one to argue, as long as my catch rate and quality are satisfying. If not, I start looking beyond the initial drop -fishing casts out for a longer period.

 

Being ready to detect takes on the initial drop is something I have to be purposefully aware of though, as they can be easy to miss. Keeping in touch with your lure, where it is at all times is important, but often esp so on the initial drop.

 

Again, dropping lures are a real attractor/trigger for bass and this is so even beyond the initial drop. Make purposeful use of this trigger by fishing baits in pulls and falls, being ready for a take -often it comes at teh bottom of the drop. Takes can be just having your bait not make it bottom, (watching for slack), line movement, a tap, or mushy weight. I usually maintain slight tension on the drop, esp with heavy lures bass are apt to spit. (FC lines excel at semi-slack sensitivity.) With soft plastics that they'll hold longer I may have the luxury of “weighing the line” at the bottom of the fall, feeling for life or weight that indicates a fish. This also allows me to fish more slack in the drop, which allows the lure to fall more vertically –helpful in some places.

 

How fast a drop can matter, which is a matter of lure sink rate and line diameter.

[Senko lover]

I love when this happens, especially when it's your first cast. That's where it's at!

This happens occasionally with weighted worms, a lot more with senkos, but the most with topwaters. I'll chuck a popper out and a bass will explode on it right after it hits the water. Often time they miss because there's still the initial splash and they can't see the thing too well, I guess.

Bass are ambushers. That's why we cast to cover. They sit under a log or into the current and wait for baitfish to come along and ambush. When a well-placed cast puts a lure right in front of their nose, they ain't refusin' it.

[RipzLipz]

What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?

 

Have been having this happen on strip pits right after ice out with jig and craw for the past 2-3 years.  My last 2 PB were caught on the initial fall after the cast, the biggest being a female that was holding off a steep ledge, on which there was a male on bed on the shallow side.  Yes, we do cast out, make a few hops if no bite on the initial fall and reel back in without fully working the jig back to the boat.  This bite will slow way down once the air temp gets over 60° or 65°F.