Whipped Into Attention Immediately By A Hit?

[Bass newb]

How often do you find yourself casting and casting (of course each cast has a purpose) and your attention is elsewhere and then a fish takes your bait out of nowhere and you are immediately brought into the moment?

It happens quite frequently for me because I can fish for hours without so much as a stirring of the waters and then BAM! I got a fish on the line. Exciting.

I know, I know, some of you don't fish more than 5 minutes before you pull a 5lb'er out of the water, but for the rest of us, how often does that happen?

[Felix77]

When fun fishing I have my moments when I am engrossed in thoughts or conversation outside of fishing.  Sometimes just enjoying the moment ... you know.  Nothing snaps me out of that faster than a hit on my line.  Instant wake up call.  LOL.

[Fishes in trees]

I like to think that I can multi-task, i.e. be deeply engrossed in random thought and still set the hook when I need to.   I like to think that.   I don't always do that.  I don't get too bent out of shape when I miss a fish, though.

[monkeyman3dee]

Yeah I love the cast after cast mentality, almost droning on. 

 

Then you get bit. I call it the o-face.

[Dtree11]

This happens to me when it is hour three and haven't caught anything yet.

[Turtle135]

The biggest largemouth I caught in 2013 came when I was drifting off to sleep in my kayak seat. Never count out dead sticking as a presentation. I have no idea how long my "long blink" went on but I remember coming to as something was pulling the rod out of my hands. That was on a texas rigged plastic worm and I woke up fast enough to bury the hook.

 

It does not happen to me very frequently as I prefer to fish jigs and big plastic worms. I can be thinking about something else and still be paying pretty close attention to my line and rod.

[bigbill]

When I'm fishing I'm in the zone. I don't think about anything else but fishing. I shut out noises, conversation stops. I'm motivated and focused on what I'm doing. With plastics I watch that tip with laser beam eyes. The slightest nibble I set the hook.

[fishballer06]

Every time I fish a buzzbait and I take my eye off the bait, this happens. Every. Single. Time. 

[Scott F]

If my boat partner starts nodding off or daydreaming, I screw with them. We used to troll for walleyes and pike on fly-in trips. If the guy in the front stopped paying attention and his line got near me, I'd give it a good tug which woke them up real fast and gave me a good laugh. From the back of a canoe, I'd slap the water with the flat side of the paddle which sounds like a gunshot. You gotta be careful with that one. They could tip the canoe over if you startle them too badly.

[Darren.]

Often. Love it when it happens

[bigbill]

In the beginning of getting serious into bass fishing I was fishing with two rod setups. I was casting baits while my live bait setup was on the ground casted out with a live minnow on it. Of course I'm watching the live bait rod while tossing the lure off a 8' high cement culvert. I'm looking down at the water. My 5' live bait rod starts to take off heading for the water. I grabbed it just in time while balancing on the 18" wide cement top on the culvert. I caught a nice 3lb lmb. This was private property but fishing off the culvert was legal.

I would relax and sit and fish off the cement at this culvert too. One day a very long, very thick black snake coils up on the cement and springs off the wall into the water. I didn't see it till it was in the air. My son's seen it launch too.

Another day we were there my son was on crutches from a broken leg. This snake was up in the weeds above us as we went to leave. All of a sudden my son is up in the air balancing on one crutch. As I seen the snake slithering past him towards me. We're going up hill he balances his whole body on one crutch. That will wake us up.

[WPCfishing]

I fish a lot.. I've had hits on the first and second casts more often than even I would believe. Especially top water.

Other days when it's off and then out of nowhere bam! If I hookem great.. If I miss that fish all I can do is think.. You stupid ... xxxx .. what were you thinking!!

[bowhunter63]

Very often and love every minute of it.

[everythingthatswims]

Mental unpreparedness is my number one fish catching technique

 

 

I swear they know 

[ClackerBuzz]

I love when it happens b/c it's an instant wake up call that i'm fishing too fast.

[Last_Cast]

Def. wakes me up. Gives me hope

[Catt]

When I hear some one say it never happens to me I tend to look at em a little goofy!

Throw a Texas rig, Jig-n-Craw, or C-rig long enough it has or will happen to you!

It happens to me more at night, worm/jig sitting still & something takes my rod tip all the way down to the water. While the rod is on the way down I set hook & nothing!

I think it's Striped Bass cause big one hit like a freight train

[scaleface]

When it happens with a top water I set the hook to soon  , with a plastic worm I set the hook to late , with a crankbait I set the hook just right . 

[hatrix]

It has happened to me plenty of times throwing moving baits. Sometimes i start looking around not fully paying attention and just mindlessly reeling for the millionth time and get bit. For some reason it always seems to be a big one too. It usually one of those hard impact bites that my my rod jump and kinda startle you. I had a giant hit last year on a buzz bait while not paying attention. I almost dropped the rod but ended up catching it.

[flyfisher]

whenever that happens to me i take it as a signal to slow down.  usually i am not paying attention like i should be and my presentation subsequently slows down.

[Cgolf]

When I fish on the lake I take the iPod out and jam to some music while fishing. I find this really keeps me focused and while I am listening to the music, I can never tell you the song that was going when I get I a hit.

Getting burned while paying attention can suck worse. Was fishing a baby king shad for bass and when the bait was away from cover I looked up to pick my next spot to cast to and when I looked down and started to lift the bait out of the water I saw a 50+" Musky boat side. Unfortunately plopping the lure back in the water spooked the fish. This was a huge lesson to me to never give up on a cast, you could have a tentative fish following the bait.

Haven't repeated that mistake and in fact caught a 45" musky directly under the boat by giving the jig one last wiggle before lifting it out two weeks ago.

[JustinU1X]

This happens every time I'm fishing a frog. Then I instinctively whip the rod back too fast and miss the hook set 

[HoosierHawgs]

Every time I fish a buzzbait and I take my eye off the bait, this happens. Every. Single. Time.

Take your eye off the bait more often then, haha!

[Dye99]

Yea I get lazy, and stop paying attention.

A good hit, or fish changes the game, but afterwards I have to remind myself to slow my retrieve as I tend to get pumped up anticipating the next one!