Questions regarding technique

[JFlynn97]

I want to get better at using all types of bottom-contact baits, whether it's a texas-rigged worm, creature baits, jigs, shaky heads, senkos - whatever. But I do have a couple of questions.

 

When people say for bottom contact baits you have to watch your line, where exactly are you looking? Right where your line meets the water? Or further up near the tip of your rod where you might have slack in your line? And what exactly are you looking for when you watch your line?

 

Second, how do you know how much line to reel in? Like for fishing a jig the simplest advice I was giving was to lift your rod tip up to move your jig and reel up the slack as you lower your rod tip back down. How can you get a better of idea of how much line/slack you should be reeling in, especially on lighter rigs like unweighted/lightly weighted worms and such?

 

Also any and other tips you guys have for these kinds of baits would be super appreciated!

[scaleface]

I watch my line where it  enters the water ,  the line will slack  up a bit when it hits bottom if you are using mono   . It might move a little bit signaling a bite  .  Pay attention how long it takes to slack up and the speed in which it is dropping .Any deviation may be a bass . I dont reel in line when the bait is falling . I lower the rod tip at the same speed the lure is falling allowing a slight amount of slack , almost tight . I reel in the slack before the  next lift .

[Jig Man]

I watch my line where it goes into the water.

 

When I lift or twitch a bait off the bottom, I let it fall back to the bottom before I take up the slack.

[scaleface]

Also , I use clear blue fluorescent line making it easier to watch .  

[deadadrift89]

   Line watching is done where the water meets line, sometimes fish will pick up a bait move off with it and you'll never feel it. When you cast let bait fall on a slack line then engage reel and take up slack, if lure is not close to the area you threw bait a bass probably already has it so take up slack and set the hook. Happens a lot especially when fishing unweighted senkos.

 

   With Texas rig plastic or jig 90% of time after bait hits bottom I drag it slowly with my rod from 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock then reel slack and repeat. I do not move my bait with reel only the rod and always keep my line tight with no slack after the initial cast that way I can detect strikes. When I detect cover after slowly pulling through it I pause bait for a few seconds and then lightly shake in place then continue the drag process. I prefer using Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon on my baitcasters and on spinning reels Power Pro braid with fluorocarbon leader. 

 

  There are times jig/worm fishing when bass will hit your bait as you reel in to make another cast and that's when I put that rod down and pick up a moving bait. Lot's of people like to hop/swim worm or jig in some situations but I don't so can't offer advice on that.

 

   If I had to pick one bait it would be a Zoom Trick worm(Junebug color-stained water), Gamakatsu 4/0 ewg hook and 1/4oz weight close second would be zoom Ole Monster 10.5" with 5/0 hook. I love Texas rigging soft plastics and its my favorite way to fish. That "tap" you get when a bass hits is so addictive.

 

 

[TOXIC]

Welcome to my world of advanced senko fishing.?  Line watching on a weightless Texas rigged senko is a must.  First, throw a line you can see.  When line watching, I first look at where the line enters the water at the end of the cast closest to the senko.   Normally I don’t cast so far that I can’t see this point.  As your senko falls, it will be pulling the line down from this point.  If it speeds up, stops or moves to the side you have a bite.  The second place to watch your line is where it comes out of the water directly below your rod tip if you are truly letting it sink on a slack line.  That is where your line will jump if you get a good bite.  There is a lot of distance between where your senko is pulling the line down and where your line exits the water below your rod tip.  It can be the entire length of your cast.  I try to keep both of these points in my field of vision but will alternate as conditions warrant.  Line watching is totally different if you have a weighted bait.  Sounds pretty simple to line watch but there is a lot,of technique involved.  

[CrankFate]

If you want to learn how to line watch get setup for carp fishing. Throw a corn rig out where there are 15lb+ carps. Then just sit back and watch the line no bobbers for as long as it takes. When you catch one, you’ll think it was a very small fish by how little they move the line.

[papajoe222]

Glenn put together a great video about learning how to detect bites using bottom contact baits. (can't recall the title)  In it, he suggests using a split shot rig starting out. One of his favorite sayings goes something like: If your line does something that you didn't cause it to do, likely a fish did. set the hook.

[Bossofthemoss]

I live by the thought of hooksets are free. I hand them out to anything I think is a strike. I also watch my line where it makes contact with the water. 

[Bankbeater]

I fish a t-rigged plastic the same way I fish a jig.  You just have to play around with the retrieve until you hit way the bass want it.  Sometimes they want the bait constantly moving across the bottom very slowly, and sometimes the bass want the bait barely moving along at all.

[the reel ess]

Most bites on the jig, if you're casting to a specific piece of cover, will come on the initial drop. I don't usually feel them. What usually tips me off is the bait moving sideways. You'll get better at feeling the bite with practice. But bass won't usually drop the bait when you feel them. If they want it, they'll give you a little time.

 

I use the T rig differently. It's more of a cast and retrieve type bait for me. Sure, they'll work in the same places. But to me the jig is a scalpel and the T rig is a knife. To me, these aren't the same technique.

 

 

[Catt]

4 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I fish a t-rigged plastic the same way I fish a jig.  You just have to play around with the retrieve until you hit way the bass want it.  Sometimes they want the bait constantly moving across the bottom very slowly, and sometimes the bass want the bait barely moving along at all.

 

That's exactly what I do! ?

 

Texas Rigs & Jig-n-Craws are precession instruments for dissecting individual pieces of cover by flipping-n-pitching or individual pieces of structure by casting & dragging it along the bottom or hopping/stroking off the bottom.

 

Two thoughts on feeling the bite and watching your line.

 

#1: Say you flip or pitch into 10' of water & it seems like you've dropped 13' of line. I pretty sure your jig is traveling but not by itself. 

 

#2: Again you flip or pitch into 10' of water but your lure stops at 8'...ya might have been bite!