Occasionally feel Bass biting but I never catch any

[aqandres1]

I use a weedless Texas-rigged watermelon-colored worm to try to catch bass. I reel it in slowly and make it twitch to make it seem like its real, and it does seem to catch attention, but they've never really gotten hooked. Most times after they tried to bite, they noticed something was off and they just dash away. Sometimes they would try biting it for about five times, stare at it for a few seconds, and then they'd just go away. I make sure I rig it right. I have the point of the hook close to the edge of the worm, but they never really get hooked.

[DropShotHotShot]

Are they bluegill bites, they peck at senkos

[DINK WHISPERER]

Are you actually seeing them do all this? Sometimes bluegill and sunfish will nibble on your bait and trick you. If you do know they're bass you might try switching colors and worm sizes.

[Angry John]

Try a 4" worm wacky rigged.  You will catch what is nibbling including bluegill

[bueshy]

Are you setting the hook?

[aqandres1]

There are some cichlids and bluegills in the canals, but I would definitely see largemouth bass and also peacocks after they were biting. They probably notice me after I reeled it out from the water and I think that really turns them off.

If I felt that they were biting, I would just reel it a little slowly to see what would happen. Now that I think about it, I think I should've done that motion right after I felt the bass biting. I always feel like the really small mistakes are keeping me from getting the bass.

 

I'll also try the 4" worm wacky rigged, thanks!

[Catt]

Drop the rod...reel the slack...set the hook!

[Sifuedition]

Are they spawning? You mention Peacock bass, so I presume somewhere like Florida where it is never really cold. 

 

You mention seeing them so I assume shallow. You mention them investigating, but not committing, that sounds like behavior commonly seen during the spawn.

 

If they are spawning, you will see  they hover in a particular spot persistently. They may have finished their bed or still be working on it. If they have finished, you will see a spot cleared out, usually circular, with little to no vegetation or rocks. If they are working on it, they will be brushing the bottom with their tails periodically, stirring up silt as they try to clean out the area.

 

If they are spawning, they are too preoccupied to eat much. You will need to get a reaction strike most of the time. Lizards and bluegill eat bass eggs, so baits that mimic either might work.

 

It might also be that they just are not interested in worms.

[Way north bass guy]

“When in doubt, set the hook!”

 

also “ hook sets don’t cost anything”.

[Glenn]

 

[fishnkamp]

Try a different lure.  Look at getting some baits like a Keitech Swing Impact or Reaction Innovations Dippers or skinny dippers. If you are fishing water that is less than 5 foot fish the smaller baits and rig them with belly weighted swimbait hooks.  If there is deeper water rig them with a swimbait jig head. I have included some pictures to give you a clearer idea of what I am suggesting.  Throw these baits out and you can retrieve them by letting them sink and then swim them back, swim them steady with some pauses or swim them and add a pause twitch, twitch to them. They have incredible dying action on the pauses.  Many of your bites will happen as they fall.

[MichaelCopeland]

As soon as I feel the bite I point my rod tip down towards the bass reel in the slack and set the hook. I've also included a pic of a Texas rigged Ol' Monster that I have alot of success with. If they're not wanting plastic worms or swim baits you might try a jig with a Rage Bug or Craw for the trailer. Also if you can get away with a faster moving bait a chatterbait is a good one to use with a Rage Swimmer trailer. Good luck and yes hook sets are always free. ?

[scaleface]

With a Texas rigged worm  the hook has to be set through the worm and the basses mouth . Just reeling it in a little faster will not get the   fish hooked very often . Also describe your rod and reel .

[aqandres1]

My rod is not one of good quality. It's a blue and white Shakespeare spinning rod that cost me about $17 in Walmart. They're pretty common there. However, I caught my first (and only) bass with it. I just think I need more practice. I started bass fishing, again, today and haven't been fishing for a few months besides some days. I will keep trying this time, though, until I get one. It's because I've done this before but I've never really gotten any results. I just think I need to fish more often at sunrise, which I will do in a few hours. I tend to go fishing late in the afternoon.

[scaleface]

I dont know the action of your rod but I'm speculating it  has a lot of flex .  Make sure you have some skinny worms and some "thin" wire offset  hooks . Those 6 inch lucky e strike worms   at my Wal Mart work well . A thin wire 2.0 offset hook goes through them pretty easily . You dont have to bury the hook unless fishing in snags . When I'm fishing baron points and flats I run the hook all the way through .

 

 

[aqandres1]

Wow, I just caught a Largemouth Bass about an hour ago! It took very long to find and catch it, but after finding where they were and then using my lure the right way, I caught it! Since I was using a watermelon-colored Texas-rigged lure, they were paying attention to it being reeled from some plants. They seemed a bit confused at first, and I think I know for sure why they were. I guess that the problem was that I was reeling it in too slow and they intended to get it when it was off the ground. I wasn't just reeling it slow, I was also twitching it and making it look random, too. After I found out reeling it slow wasn't working, I cast my lure to the right side of the plants and reeled it in a little bit faster this time, and it worked because I guess they could actually put it in their mouth now. Bottom line, I think I caught it because I reeled it in a bit faster (so it was off the ground more), or I was using it in the right place (close to vegetation), or both.

 

It was about 1-2 lbs., but that catch showed me I was making progress!

Also, I would show a picture of it, but the .JPG file is for some reason 803 kb. I'm pretty sure I did something wrong, but I have no idea how to fix it.

[Angry John]

My buddy is fishing Florida rightnow and doing well on beavers.  You may be more south as he is mid state, but that's as if 12 hours ago.

[BigAngus752]

2 hours ago, aqandres1 said:

Wow, I just caught a Largemouth Bass about an hour ago! It took very long to find and catch it, but after finding where they were and then using my lure the right way, I caught it! Since I was using a watermelon-colored Texas-rigged lure, they were paying attention to it being reeled from some plants. They seemed a bit confused at first, and I think I know for sure why they were. I guess that the problem was that I was reeling it in too slow and they intended to get it when it was off the ground. I wasn't just reeling it slow, I was also twitching it and making it look random, too. After I found out reeling it slow wasn't working, I cast my lure to the right side of the plants and reeled it in a little bit faster this time, and it worked because I guess they could actually put it in their mouth now. Bottom line, I think I caught it because I reeled it in a bit faster (so it was off the ground more), or I was using it in the right place (close to vegetation), or both.

 

It was about 1-2 lbs., but that catch showed me I was making progress!

Also, I would show a picture of it, but the .JPG file is for some reason 803 kb. I'm pretty sure I did something wrong, but I have no idea how to fix it.

Yup the fish will decide how fast you need to do your fishing.  You don't get to decide.  

 

Another possible suggestion...this summer my wife and I started fishing a new lake that tends to be cloudy/silty.  We were having no luck at all until we started religiously washing our hands descenting soap before handling any lures and using a paste scent on the lures and lines.  Then all the sudden we started catching bass.  Coincidence?  

[MichaelCopeland]

10 hours ago, aqandres1 said:

Wow, I just caught a Largemouth Bass about an hour ago! It took very long to find and catch it, but after finding where they were and then using my lure the right way, I caught it! Since I was using a watermelon-colored Texas-rigged lure, they were paying attention to it being reeled from some plants. They seemed a bit confused at first, and I think I know for sure why they were. I guess that the problem was that I was reeling it in too slow and they intended to get it when it was off the ground. I wasn't just reeling it slow, I was also twitching it and making it look random, too. After I found out reeling it slow wasn't working, I cast my lure to the right side of the plants and reeled it in a little bit faster this time, and it worked because I guess they could actually put it in their mouth now. Bottom line, I think I caught it because I reeled it in a bit faster (so it was off the ground more), or I was using it in the right place (close to vegetation), or both.

 

It was about 1-2 lbs., but that catch showed me I was making progress!

Also, I would show a picture of it, but the .JPG file is for some reason 803 kb. I'm pretty sure I did something wrong, but I have no idea how to fix it.

If you are using a smartphone you can go to the Google play store and download the Image Shrink Lite app. It will allow you to share pics to the app and shrink the size so you can upload them on here. I use the app and it works great for me. Congratulations on catching you a bass. You did good in working your bait in different ways until you found what they wanted. Keep it up, it will only get better with practice. ?

[aqandres1]

Thanks Michael, here's the bass!

[MichaelCopeland]

2 hours ago, aqandres1 said:

Thanks Michael, here's the bass!

You're welcome @aqandres1! Merry Christmas! ?

[Sifuedition]

Congratulations!

 

When they react to a worm fished fast, it is likely other baits made for moving faster will likely work better. Those soft swimbaits linked earlier by @fishnkamp would likely be a good choice.

[MickD]

Sometimes they like fast, sometimes slow, sometimes twitched, sometimes just reeling constant speed.  You need to try all sorts of techniques and colors.  But greens are good almost anywhere.

 

When I first started fishing jigs I had all sorts of trouble.  When I finally started making my own high modulus graphite rods and using braid line, many times more effective than before.  As someone already mentioned, if you have a "sloppy" rod, and don't set the hook, then you are giving away a lot of advantage.  You need crisp actions, at least medium power, and a solid hook set for plastics.  I also recommend you try exposing the hook point (no weedless feature) if you have not already done so.  A mistake many newbies make is assuming that hook sharpness is not a big deal.  It is a very big deal. Make sure your hooks are "sticky" sharp, meaning they will grab onto your thumbnail as you drap the point across your thumbnail.  As you gain experience, you'll find out what is more effective, and come to your own conclusions.  And you will catch more fish.  

 

Another possibility with clear water canal fishing is that a smaller lure might work better.  If you have not tried the Ned rig, I suggest you get some.  Very easy to fish, small, so few fish will refuse them, but big fish eat them too.  Lighter colors for clear water.  Buy both the grubs and the jigs designed for them.  After gaining experience with the real Neds you might want to experiment with your own similar options, but start with the real stuff.

[Catt]

Think about that bass!

What exactly did it feel like?

What exactly were you doing?

 

Every bass will tell on the next bass, if you're paying attention that is!

[thinkingredneck]

Your rod is not ideal for worm fishing.  It is better suited to treble hook lures, IMHO.  You might do better with braid and a leader if you are currently using mono.  Good luck and hang in there.  Time on the water is the best teacher, but reading helps a lot.  Lots of good info on this site.