Give slack or strike back when bass unexpectedly hit soft plastic as you reel in for recast?

[markphoward54]

I think most anglers can relate to reeling in a plastic lizard or wacky worm rig to recast when a fish strikes the quickly moving bait unexpectedly.  At 62, I still have not come to a set method to address this occurrence.  Sometimes I'll try to immediately cease the resistance the fish must certainly feel, other times I'll almost involuntarily react by a hooksetting action.  My most common thought is, if my lizard is nose hooked, has the fish engulfed the bait, with the hook inside it's mouth?  Or has it only grabbed it halfway up the body?  I have no idea of my hook-up ratio to method used; never took the time.  Any views on this matter are welcomed.

[flyingmonkie]

Set the hook like you would with a spinnerbait - sweeping to the side and keeping pressure on the fish.  If you miss the hookset, pitch it right back in there over and over again.

[IndianaFinesse]

I wait to set the hook until I can't see my bait any longer if they hit it while reeling in for another cast.

 

[Bluebasser86]

I point the rod at them and they'll usually pull it tight, then I set the hook. 

[ward131]

Set the hook!

 

[Jaderose]

Don't think...just do.  Set the hook!

 

[Senko lover]

I usually wait one tiny second and then slam the hook home. Often I can see the bass strike so that helps too.

[S. Sass]

I had one do my worm like that the other day. I might have slowed down a fraction he caught up and I set the hook.  

He was hitting the tail so hard it jerked the tail off the zoom u tail. When I brought him in the boat the tail was completely gone. About 10 minutes later the tail came floating by. 

I don't usually change my action as what ever you are doing is why he hit it in my opinion. 

[NoahWatts]

I set the hook right away.  You never know if your gonna miss until you miss

[lo n slo]

i've done both methods over the years, however my natural reaction is to stop the retrieve. sometimes they have it, sometimes they dont. a spot will come back about 75% of the time if you kill it. if it happens more than 2 or 3 times i need to be throwing a moving bait.

[tstraub]

I usually close my eyes, turn my head and set the hook.  Sometimes you get the fish sometimes you get hit in the side of the head with the lure. It's probably not the best method for everyone but it works for me.

[S. Sass]

30 minutes ago, tstraub said:

Sometimes you get the fish sometimes you get hit in the side of the head with the lure. It's probably not the best method for everyone but it works for me.

I would say your in need of learning a sweeping hook set before a hook embeds itself into your cranium. 

[ClackerBuzz]

usually there is a noticeable difference between the machine gun tap of a baitfish humping ur lure vs the thump of a bass trying to wound it.  if it's a thump i go with bluebasser86 approach.

the other day the bite was more like a baitfish and i didn't want to tear my senko playing tug of war with a baitfish.  so i stopped and waited for it to leave.  then the rod bent so i swept and it was a 2 lb bass.   baitfish might tighten the slack but they generally won't bend the rod.

tourny guys often talk about shaking off a fish while pre-fishing so they can come back and hook it during game time.  they are always amazement how long a bass will hold the lure and/or swim around with it.  I started experimenting and you can learn a lot. just know how to unhook a gut hooked fish.