Watch your line

[EGbassing]

So you more experienced guys probably already know this, but to anybody relatively new to the sport: when fishing any slow moving presentation, WATCH YOUR LINE. I never used to do this but I've fished a lot of senkos recently and I've noticed that a lot of times I don't feel a thing and my line just starts moving off or ticks sometimes. This happened to me again today and I probably would have hooked him deep if I hadn't been watching my line but I knew right away when he bit. (got off near the bank unfortunately, but...) Hope this helps somebody.

[jbsoonerfan]

I have always watched my line, but when I switched to Sufix hi vis yellow braid my catch rate went up significantly. I am red/green color blind so I think it made a Huge difference. 

[Glaucus]

 

[Dogface]

I'm not color blind....just getting old but I have to say that hi-vis line is showing up on a lot of my rods. For me it makes a difference especially when fishing soft plastics. 

 

 

[MassYak85]

Seeing line swimming off on the surface of the water while fishing weightless worms is probably my favorite thing in bass fishing other than topwater blowups. 

[A-Jay]

No doubt line watching can be very helpful with visually detecting strikes.

However the more I fished at night, the less I felt like I needed to watch my line during the day. 

Dark nights make line watching all but impossible, but knowing how a bait 'feels' at any given moment is king.

That pays off with & without daylight.

Haven't been out at night as much past few seasons but still do very little line watching during the day.

Can't say for sure if I'm missing strikes, because I can't miss what I don't feel.

Hope the ice melts soon, my left eye is starting to twitch.

A-Jay

 

[Bluebasser86]

I'm a big line watcher, and I like to watch my rod tip as well for those slight visual cues my hands might not detect. 

Line watching is a big reason why I was excited about Flash Green Seaguar Smackdown that just came out. I've never been able to see yellow very well in small amounts like thin fishing line, but I could see that bright green easily. It's already helped me catch quite a few fish. 

 

[Glaucus]

As usual, I'm backwards. On top of starting on a baitcaster, I started line watching whereas a lot of people start with feel. Thank you, social media age, for once. I think you should wear polarized sunglasses anyways for both eye protection and because it helps on the water, but my eyes are so light sensitive that I can't see the line unless the shades are on. Over stimulation issue but that's another topic. I haven't had the courage to use high visibility braid yet - definitely a (lack of) confidence thing. I think I rely much more on seeing than feeling because when it's really windy I tend to do a lot worse because of the bow in the line.

[Catt]

I totally agree with @A-Jay night fishing will dramatically change your sense of feel.

 

Now I aint gonna say I don't watch my during daylight but I don't stare at it either.

 

This is why I've preached for years ?

 

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.

 

You should be able not only to see the line movement but feel you're line tightening up!

[Todd2]

I don't keep logs, but when pitching into cover, I'd guess half of my strikes are detected on line movement alone. Either a twitch, walk off, or just going slack earlier than expected. When casting and working along the bottom, I go more by feel probably.

[nascar2428]

I agree with the op as far as fishing Senko type baits. Line watching is an essential part of that technique. If you don't line watch, gut hooking fish will increase.  Hi vis braid with a flouro leader will help in this endeavor.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, nascar2428 said:

. If you don't line watch, gut hooking fish will increase. 

 

Uhhh nooo!

 

So far this year I've caught somewhere around 200 bass with only one gut hooked. And that one was on a weighted Texas Rig which the bass simply inhaled.

[NYWayfarer]

2 hours 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.

 

You should be able not only to see the line movement but feel you're line tightening up!

Makes sense to me.

 

The Goldilock's zone. Not to tight, not to slack. Takes a bit to get there but it's worth it. With a decent rod you will feel that "tick" of a pick up, then see the line move, time to set the hook.

[nascar2428]

44 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Uhhh nooo! 

 

So far this year I've caught somewhere around 200 bass with only one gut hooked. And that one was on a weighted Texas Rig which the bass simply inhaled.

Had a feeling you might make a comment. Are you talking about weightless senkos or weighted worms? All of my gut hooked bass have been weightless senkos or weighted tubes( largemouth specifically)

[Jigfishn10]

1 hour ago, NYWayfarer said:

Makes sense to me.

 

The Goldilock's zone. Not to tight, not to slack. Takes a bit to get there but it's worth it. With a decent rod you will feel that "tick" of a pick up, then see the line move, time to set the hook.

There's the "Goldilock Zone" of line tightness upon splash down. For me I want to keep a tight line, yet slack enough so it drops straight down and not pendulum back towards you.

 

@NYWayfarer, great analogy for it.

[NYWayfarer]

9 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

There's the "Goldilock Zone" of line tightness upon splash down. For me I want to keep a tight line, yet slack enough so it drops straight down and not pendulum back towards you.

 

@NYWayfarer, great analogy for it.

Wish I could say I coined the phrase but I just adapted it to fishing.

 

Goldilock's Zone referrers to the habitable area around a star. Not to hot, not to cold, so life has a chance.

[Jigfishn10]

2 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Wish I could say I coined the phrase but I just adapted it to fishing.

 

Goldilock's Zone referrers to the habitable area around a star. Not to hot, not to cold, so life has a chance.

You can't win'em all. I liked it though...

[BassNJake]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

Uhhh nooo!

 

So far this year I've caught somewhere around 200 bass with only one gut hooked. And that one was on a weighted Texas Rig which the bass simply inhaled.

His experience would match mine, I gut hook more fish when fishing a worm than anything else.

I have never gut hooked a fish on a jig.

Rarely have I ever gut hooked a fish with a craw type of soft plastic.

A few times I have gut hooked a fish on a lizard.

 

I used to fish a carolina rig a lot with a long leader and a weightless senko and that rig was the gut hooked champion and my belief is it would happen because the fish would move off with the senko before I could see/feel it

[A-Jay]

6 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

 

 

Goldilock's Zone referrers to the habitable area around a star. Not to hot, not to cold, so life has a chance.

I've been living there for the past 6 months anyway ~

A-Jay

[Jigfishn10]

19 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

I used to fish a carolina rig a lot with a long leader and a weightless senko and that rig was the gut hooked champion and my belief is it would happen because the fish would move off with the senko before I could see/feel it

Man I hate C-Rigs for that reason alone. I know it's a great technique, but I'd rather watch paint dry in a rain storm.

[EGbassing]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

I totally agree with @A-Jay night fishing will dramatically change your sense of feel.

 

Now I aint gonna say I don't watch my during daylight but I don't stare at it either.

 

This is why I've preached for years ?

 

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.

 

You should be able not only to see the line movement but feel you're line tightening up!

I was talking more about fishing senkos where you can't keep your line tight like you can with a jig though.

35 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I've been living there for the past 6 months anyway ~

A-Jay

Meanwhile, it's 85 degrees here.

[the reel ess]

14 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I have always watched my line, but when I switched to Sufix hi vis yellow braid my catch rate went up significantly. I am red/green color blind so I think it made a Huge difference. 

How long is your leader? Or do you even use one. I've been considering the same thing.

[scaleface]

When I'm worm fishing I watch my line intently and go by feel   . My worm rod is spooled with clear blue fluorescent .

[Catt]

When I say feeling a worm/jig bite I need to rephrase that to read, plastics!

 

To many a Senko is considered a soft plastic jerkbait, to me it's another worm. Many anglers fish Senkos Wacky Rigged, I fish em Texas Rigged weightless.

 

Many anglers try to separate a Texas Rig bite from a Jig-n-Craw bite thinking they are not the same. 

 

For me I'm feeling for the same tics, taps, thumps, line movements, feelings of heaviness, regardless of which one I'm throwing. 

 

When most anglers think  "watch" your line for movement they're thinking the bass is swimming off with your Senko. When I throw my Senko into 10' of water & I watch my line sink 6' & stop I'm setting hook. When I throw my Senko into 10' of water & it takes 12' of line & still aint hit bottom I'm setting hook.

 

What about when that bass inhaled your Senko with no visual line movement up, down, left or right & just sits there?

Edited April 11, 2019 by Catt
Operator Error

[WRB]

Sometimes you hear a pro say that was a solid strike  "it knocked slack in my line".

Watching line means a lot of things besides the obviuos line moving. Feeling and watching line develops a sense of what the underwater lures are doing without a bass striking and changes to the line tension or movement that you detect from time on the water using those lures can indicate a strike, meaning the lure is in the basses mouth....set the hook!

I know you younger anglers think it's old school to run the line over your finger and rods don't need fore grips to hold the rod and reel relying on the rods "Sensitivety" for strike detection. It's the line that is tied to the lure and that line movements are dampened by dense water, you only feel line movements via the rod giudes or your most sensitive feel your finger tips. Not feeling line means you are not detecting a lot of the feel only strikes.

Tom