Tap.....Tap

[OkobojiEagle]

"hook sets are free"... unless you are setting into a snag of rocks or log, in which case you may lose your bait or destroy the hook point.  Seldom is anything in life black or white.

 

oe

[Catt]

On 4/5/2019 at 6:19 AM, Mobasser said:

Some days each strike is slightly different, some with a " tap tap" feeling, others with very little feel at all. Now I never wait. If I feel anything out of the ordinary on a retrieve I set the hook. Because of this, I've set the hook into water, weeds, wood , rocks and everything else on the lake bottom, but my notes through time show an increase in fish hooked by not waiting.

 

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.

[Mobasser]

15 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

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.

Agree Catt! It's much better to set the hook into weeds or water, than to not set at all. The one time you don't set the hook, could be that bass of a lifetime.

[Catt]

On the subject of feeling a worm or jig bite; many people say the two are totally different but I believe they are very similar.

 

Worm/jig: with these baits the bass will simply flare its gills causing a vacuum which moves water and your bait into their mouth. With this bite there is very little if any line movement thereby not much is transmitted to your rod tip.

 

The art of feeling a worm/jig bite is a fine combination of watching your line and feeling for unnatural sensations of what your bait should feel like. Some times you will feel that classic Tap, some times you'll only see line movement, some times your line will simply go slack, but some times there will only be a feeling of heaviness that is almost like your line will not move.

 

The bites where the bass moves after inhaling you bait are the easy ones to feel because there is line movement, the bites where the bass simply inhales your bait and just sits there are the hardest to feel.

 

Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line. To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense.

[Todd2]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

 

Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line. To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense.

Short of actually being on the water experiencing it, this explains it about as well as can be.

[The Maestro]

58 minutes ago, Catt said:

Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line. To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense.

This is where the term "semi-slack line" comes from. And you're right it's somewhat of an oxymoron and initially it doesn't really make sense.

[deadadrift89]

On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 6:19 AM, Mobasser said:

 After all these years I've become addicted to the "tap". In fact, I pretty much live for it.

       So True !! It's what keeps me going back all these years☺️

  

Regarding hooksets I strike as soon as they do, only time I wait is if I miss a couple in row I'll start giving them a couple seconds extra  

 

 

 

[WRB]

Strike detection seperated the top bass anglers from the average. We all have good days and not so good days, missed strikes are the not so good days.

I can't tell you when to set the hook without being on the water with you and getting a feel for the days activity level.

Tom

[Mobasser]

Catt and WRB sum all this up very well. Strike detection is what separates good fisherman from the average guys. Catts slack/ tension line concept is on the money too.Its never the same, day to day, but that's bass fishing!

[JK Jake]

Just don't overthink it, as soon as I feel a fish bite on my jig, worm, or fluke, I quickly reel in the slack line and set the hook. I would say it's better to set the hook early, don't pause at all, reeling in your slack line gives the fish the split second they need to swallow your bait (If they have not already). 

 

With that said there is a difference between a fish tapping your lure and biting it, and learning this comes with experience, and I'm still learning it myself. Some of the time the fish may just peck your lure or snip it before they commit to actually biting the whole thing. 

 

Just don't overthink the whole thing and don't really pause for more than a second, and you'll be fine In the majority of your time. With experience you'll understand it more.

[thinkingredneck]

Sometimes I set the hook before I think about it.  Reflex.

[OCdockskipper]

One positive of sight fishing in the spring (for both bed fish and cruising fish) is being able to see the different ways bass take jigs & worms and getting physical feedback thru your line & rod as to what different bites feel like.