Vegetation vs. Bite

[Moto]

I fish a pond with heavy vegetation at the bottom, and quite often, you feel resistance of the lure trying to maneuver its way through the vegetation. But how can you tell if the resistance is the vegetation, and not a fish? I don’t want to miss bites thinking it’s just the vegetation, yet again I don’t want to set the hook in case of doubt, and really all I’m doing is shoving my lure into deeper cover, eventually snagging it. 

[Bluebasser86]

Hold the tension against the line and just wait for it to do something until you're satisfied it's just weeds. The more experienced you get, the less time it will usually take but we all get fooled from time to time. 

[jbmaine]

Setting the hook on weeds from time to time is a fact of life in this kind of fishing. But as Bluebasser 86 said, the more experienced you get the easier it will be to tell the difference. I can't always tell someone how I knew it was a fish instead of weeds when I set the hook, but after fishing this way long enough your instinct will be sharpened enough to pick up the subtle difference between weeds and fish.

[Catt]

In a Bassmaster University video titled “Denny Brauer on flipping and pitching”, in it Denny answers viewer questions and one question was “what does a jig bite feel like?” Denny’s answer was “I don’t know but I know what it doesn’t feel like!”, he went on to say he felt 100% confident that not a single bass wrapped it’s lips around his lure and he didn’t take a shot at it.

 

His next commit was “observers in my boat might think I’m a complete idiot because I set hook 20 times but only landed 5 bass so the other 15 times I didn’t have a clue want was going on and they may be right but one thing for sure the other 15 times were not bass.

 

When in doubt, drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook! 

[NHBull]

@Catt Bingo!

Swings are free......

 

On a side note, when I am in those situations, I really focus on moving the bait with the rod and just reeling the slack. It helps me distinguish between  something stopping my bait vs pulling or moving the bait. 

[813basstard]

Anything that’s not an animal on the other doesn’t pull. It sticks. Like I tell my 8 year old, if your the only one pulling, it ain’t a fish. But until you figure out what to feel for, set the hook anyway.

[MarkH024]

If you're able to, watch your line.  If you see it moving, set the hook  This is where a hi-vis line shines.  Sometimes ripping those lures out of the weeds aggressively triggers strikes, which you most certainly will feel.  But don't be afraid to set the hook on everything.  And, cast back to the same spot a couple of times if you think you missed a fish.

[Catt]

Don't be surprised when a 2 lb bass inhales your 1 oz jig without any tell-tale line movement and proceeds to sit there until you apply too much pressure at which time they spit it!

 

WHEN IN DOUBT!

 

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

[scaleface]

7 hours ago, Mottel said:

But how can you tell if the resistance is the vegetation, and not a fish?

It  can be  difficult . Sometimes I  get the weeds  half way   to   the   boat   before  figuring  out its not a bass .

[Dens228]

The best way to learn is to set the hook and not have a bass rather than not set the hook, not get the bass, and not know you even had one. Over time you'll get the feel of the small, consistent tick-tick of weeds/rocks vs the bit from a bass. 

 

As is often said, hooksets are free.

[sfpalatka]

It's not unusual when fishing thick vegetation to pull up 6lbs of weeds with a 2lb fish being attached underneath it. If in doubt set the hook.

[scbassin]

I have been BASS fishing for 46 years. Catt & I went to different schools together  so when in Doubt SET THE HOOK!!

[Todd2]

Yup, I'm in the swing club. You can catch a Bass on an unsure swing. I've done it more times than I can remember. I also have caught a lot of tree pounders...lol

[Catt]

4 minutes ago, scbassin said:

I have been BASS fishing for 46 years. Catt & I went to different schools together  so when in Doubt SET THE HOOK!!

 

Here's another one, the lightest most subtlest bite will be from the biggest bass!

 

[scbassin]

How True probably 99% of the time.

[Dens228]

40 minutes ago, sfpalatka said:

It's not unusual when fishing thick vegetation to pull up 6lbs of weeds with a 2lb fish being attached underneath it. If in doubt set the hook.

That's so true...Last year I was fishing in about a foot of weed infested water using a 5 inch Senko when I got a hit, as I was pulling that bad boy in I was thinking, there must be 20 pounds of weeds on this bass!  It was a 48" musky!  LOL

[DINK WHISPERER]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Here's another one, the lightest most subtlest bite will be from the biggest bass!

 

This is the absolute truth right here! I've had many a giant tungsten weight come flying right at my face after setting on nothing. ?

[Mobasser]

As others have said, set the hook! Doing this will increase your catch rate for sure.I also agree that the biggest bass can strike the lightest. One theory is this: small bass compete for food much more than big ones. Those 8 pound+ fish eat when they feel like it. Sometimes, you just get a " sense" that something is slightly different. If so don't fool around. Quickly take up slack and set the hook.If it's not a fish- so what? Reel in , quickly check your bait, or re rig your Texas rig, and fire off another cast. But always set the hook

[GReb]

7 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Here's another one, the lightest most subtlest bite will be from the biggest bass!

 

Yep! Caught a 8.5 lb one day on a brush hog. Didn’t feel a thing. Just noticed my line move about a half inch to the left. Had I not been looking at the line in the water I’d have likely never known before he spit it out

[Ksam1234]

I have to say unless you know 100% it’s weeds always set the hook.  I started fishing a jig a lot this year, that was my fishing resolution to get better at jigs. I was out fishin last week and I swore I had weeds on my jig every few casts but when I reeled it in now even a single weed residue was on it. I thought to myself something is wrong. The next time I felt that “mushy” feeling everyone mentions. I swore it was weeds bc I felt no tick or tug but I felt mush.. I set the hook anyways and what do ya know.. it was a fish. Nice 3 pounder. So now I set the hook on all the mush until I can get better at telling the difference 

[Moto]

13 hours ago, Ksam1234 said:

I have to say unless you know 100% it’s weeds always set the hook.  I started fishing a jig a lot this year, that was my fishing resolution to get better at jigs. I was out fishin last week and I swore I had weeds on my jig every few casts but when I reeled it in now even a single weed residue was on it. I thought to myself something is wrong. The next time I felt that “mushy” feeling everyone mentions. I swore it was weeds bc I felt no tick or tug but I felt mush.. I set the hook anyways and what do ya know.. it was a fish. Nice 3 pounder. So now I set the hook on all the mush until I can get better at telling the difference 

But if your pond is very weedy, you’re going to be setting the hook every cast? 

The pond I fish at has a lot of vegetation. When I reel in after each cast, I always feel pressure either from vegetation or maybe a bite but I don’t know. I would be setting the hook 100x if I set it whenever I feel pressure. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Mottel said:

But if your pond is very weedy, you’re going to be setting the hook every cast? 

The pond I fish at has a lot of vegetation. When I reel in after each cast, I always feel pressure either from vegetation or maybe a bite but I don’t know. I would be setting the hook 100x if I set it whenever I feel pressure. 

 

With experience you learn to distinguish between the two but even after 60+ yrs fishing vegetation there are times I'll go "Wait! What!".

 

Those are the times we're talking about ?

[Ksam1234]

2 hours ago, Mottel said:

But if your pond is very weedy, you’re going to be setting the hook every cast? 

The pond I fish at has a lot of vegetation. When I reel in after each cast, I always feel pressure either from vegetation or maybe a bite but I don’t know. I would be setting the hook 100x if I set it whenever I feel pressure. 

I don’t mean set the hook on all pressure. Sorry to not clarify.  I can tell what weeds are for the most part , but there are times as @Catt had said that your not sure. And I noticed a lot of the times I wasn’t sure I didn’t bother to set the hook. So now if I’m unsure at all I set the hook until I get better at detection. 

[BassNJake]

Sometimes I set the hook on a laydown because the branch will pull back when I apply pressure. 

 

I not only mark this spot as a potential spot to fish but also to come back and check it out once they drop the water 20 feet like they do on my lake.

 

I have named one of these laydowns the jig whisperer as every year I'll grab half a dozen jigs off of it when the water is down. 

[FishDewd]

On 8/14/2018 at 8:42 AM, Dens228 said:

The best way to learn is to set the hook and not have a bass rather than not set the hook, not get the bass, and not know you even had one. Over time you'll get the feel of the small, consistent tick-tick of weeds/rocks vs the bit from a bass. 

 

As is often said, hooksets are free.

They're not free, they cost about $5 a pop for snagged jigs. Lol