Fishing plastics, why the long pause

[N Florida Mike]

In my experience If I set the hook immediately It either bites the tail off, or  you swing and miss. I wait until I know where he’s at and which way he’s heading before I set the hook. Almost every time a bass picks up a plastic bait, he will move off with it. They usually swim somewhat parrellel to the boat, or sometimes toward the boat. If you set the hook immediately, the fish may not be where you think he is and you’ll miss the fish. 

For some reason I dont have many fish spit baits out once they pick it up.

[MassYak85]

8 minutes ago, Catt said:

What opened my eyes was back in the 70s at a fishing seminar that featured the Hawg Trough (huge aquarium on wheels).

I was standing right up against the glass eyeing a 4# bass when the Pro flipped a worm in front of the bass & it flared it gills sucking the worm in & spit out before I knew what happened.

 

After what happened sunk in my pea brain I thought...dude ya better set hook faster & don't wait on nothing!

That kind of stuff and watching underwater video really makes you wonder. The bass can spit it before you even react but at the same time they can precisely bite right behind the hook on a jig and not fully swallow it for a while. You almost have to gauge how they're physically biting it on a give day and react accordingly. 

[RoLo]

Quote

@Catt  I was standing right up against the glass eyeing a 4# bass when the Pro flipped a worm in front of a bass & it flared it gills sucking the worm in & spit out before I knew what happened.

 

I seen that same phenomenon in a Glen Lau video.

The bait shuttled In-&-Out of the bass's maw with lightning speed      

Fortunately, they don't reject every morsel, or we'd never fill a 5-bass limit. 

 

Roger

 

 

[drakesndrum]

I tend to pause a second with T-Rigs too, especially with a 10" worm.  Wacky rigs, however, Ive found that an immediate hookset is best to avoid gut hooks.  Not sure why but the fish seem to really inhale a wacky senko more than a t-rig for me. 

[Catt]

Do I rip tails off plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on stumps, logs, limbs, twigs, grass...you bet ya!

 

Do i loose hooks, weights, plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on nothing...you bet ya!

 

I guarentee ya I stick more than I miss ?

[The Bassman]

25 minutes ago, drakesndrum said:

 Wacky rigs, however, Ive found that an immediate hookset is best to avoid gut hooks.  Not sure why but the fish seem to really inhale a wacky senko more than a t-rig for me. 

I agree with this. I'd rather miss a fish than gut hook one. I see this problem with beginners regularly because they don't sense the strike.

[N Florida Mike]

54 minutes ago, drakesndrum said:

I tend to pause a second with T-Rigs too, especially with a 10" worm.  Wacky rigs, however, Ive found that an immediate hookset is best to avoid gut hooks.  Not sure why but the fish seem to really inhale a wacky senko more than a t-rig for me. 

When I fish flukes , I try and set the hook right away because out of all the baits I use , I gut hook more with the flukes than the rest of my baits.

I love a T rig senko, but dont catch much with wacky rigged ones for some reason. And it drags weeds a lot worse.

[Bluebasser86]

I swing quick on those bites I'm sure of, but if there's any questions, I'll weigh my bait and try to be sure. If I don't get in a big rush they're not likely to spit it.

 

My big one yesterday morning grab it on the fall into a laydown and just sat there. There's some grass growing around the tree, combined with the laydown, when a fish just grabs it and doesn't move, or do anything, it's really difficult to tell it's a bite for sure. So I weighed my bait, and she finally moved ever so slightly.

https://youtu.be/tTkH-qQU7Ic?t=349

[padon]

paul elias said when you feel a bite " he aint got no hands son, its in his mouth right now"

[Mobasser]

I agree with others who have noticed how long a bass will hang on to a plastic bait. It seems like this happens most for me with smaller plastics like 4" worms. We've probably all had fish that pick up the bait, then just sit there, not moving. I've never actually timed a fish doing this, but I've had some that sat for several seconds in one spot, before slowly swimming off. I feel like I hook more fish if I take up any slack line and set the hook quickly.

[Bigassbass]

Waiting to set the hook gives the fish chance to exhale out and you loose it, also you will gut hook a lot of fish by waiting to set the hook, get proficient with the hook set and you'll catch lots more fish!  This is why I rarely fish plastics I hate gut hooking a fish, gotta move fast, thats why we spend lots of money on extra sensitive rods and reels!  SET THE HOOK NO WAITING.

[scaleface]

I dont recall ever gut hooking a fish with a Texas rig but I dont recall lots of stuff . It happens rarely anyway .

[Junk Fisherman]

This is a great topic and some very thoughtful posts have been made.

 

My answer is I am never waiting to set the hook on a Texas-rigged plastic.  There are times when I stop to see if I have a bite.  Like others have said, you don't want to drive your plastic into a brushpile or wedge it into rocks thus ruining the spot and potentially losing your bait.  But I also realize that hooksets are free so if I am truly in doubt after a couple seconds I tend to set it.  With experience and high-end equipment bite detection gets easier however you are still going to run into those times where you don't know.  The hardest is when the bass inhales it and doesn't move especially on the fall of your cast.  This is when it seems like people are waiting but it is bite detection.

 

And I don't use a lot of 10" worms, is it common for bass to bite the back half of the worm and then take another bite getting the hook?  That would change my approach but 95% of all the plastics I throw are 5" or less and keeper bass inhale it all at once.  

[JustJames]

I’m in the camp off if I feel the bite I set the hook. Yes many times it come back with missing worm tail but better than gutted hook fish. I might be p.i.s.s.e.d but I told myself those are 80-90% small fish. Many 4-5lb I caught the tab is not quite obvious as small fish, and often time they bite and not moving at all.

 

BTW, I gutted hook fish once with 3/8oz Jig waiting exactly 4 second before setting hook and another one on Texas rig when bite was on the drop and I had no idea. I have seen a video showing bass can hold the lure longer than you expected but also can split out treble hook lure in a split second.

 

this video @9:00 min mark.

 

[Hillbilly Bennett]

20 hours ago, Catt said:

Three Tap Theory as explained to me by Shaw Grigsby 

 

The first tap the bass has inhaled your lure

 

The second tap the bass has expelled your lure

 

The third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking way you didn't set hook!

This is me to a T. When I feel that tap I reel the slack out of my line and absolutely lay the lumber to it as soon as there is weight, especially with a jig or anything Texas rigged. My thought is that if a fish hits it and then spits it, I can reel down, feel my lure and give it a little shake to get bit again. Hook sets are free. I try to not miss a fish by getting in a feeling contest with them because I loose more than I win that way. Just my take on this and I’m no pro. 

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I dont recall ever gut hooking a fish with a Texas rig but I dont recall lots of stuff . It happens rarely anyway .

I agreed it rarely happen compare to other weightless like fluke and senko, but happen to me once or twice. The problem is long line casting and fall on slack.

[WRB]

I caught 2 bass on the same T-rigged worm! The 1st bass I felt a light tape then a harder pull the 2nd bass was the harder pull. What happened was the 1st bass somehow engulfed the worm and it went through it's gills and the second bass ate the worm. Both bass were about 3 1/2 lbs each. Never heard anyone else having that experience.

Tom

[Todd2]

19 hours ago, scaleface said:

If I'm in heavy brush and feel a tap, at times I will  weigh the line momentarily  too see if there is something on there 

Yeah, if you don't weigh it a little right before swinging you can't be sure you've caught up with those ones that grabbed it and came at you. 

[TnRiver46]

22 hours ago, scaleface said:

I know what you mean . I was watching a scott Martin video and he took a long time to set the hook . I waste no time .

I’ve seen him and his daughter push the button to let line out after getting a bite to let the bass get it completely. Every time I’ve seen them do it, which is quite a few, they were swimming zoom speed worms in grass. My guess is the bass attacks it, spits it out, then eats it all in a couple blinks of an eye and the reason they push the button is not to take it away from the fish after the initial “short strike”. Knowing how much Scott has fished, that’s most likely a technique he developed after much trail and error and missing bites. Not a technique developed  based on the science that fish don’t have arms hhaha

[optimator]

9 hours ago, Catt said:

Do I rip tails off plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on stumps, logs, limbs, twigs, grass...you bet ya!

 

Do i loose hooks, weights, plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on nothing...you bet ya!

 

I guarentee ya I stick more than I miss ?

I like this attitude 

[Catt]

On 6/30/2020 at 4:37 AM, Catt said:

Do I rip tails off plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on stumps, logs, limbs, twigs, grass...you bet ya!

 

Do i loose hooks, weights, plastics...you bet ya!

 

Do I set hook on nothing...you bet ya!

 

I guarentee ya I stick more than I miss ?

 

17 hours ago, optimator said:

I like this attitude 

 

With all this talk of not losing tungsten weights, high dollar hooks, & expensive baits.

 

While I hate losing any of my setups, I do not let that effect how I fish!

 

Y'all have two choices to make, lures in your tackle box or fish in the livewell.

 

You can't have both 

 

In heavy cove my #1 goal is to stick em, #2 is how to get em out!

[BassNJake]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:59 AM, The Bassman said:

I agree with this. I'd rather miss a fish than gut hook one. I see this problem with beginners regularly because they don't sense the strike.

Theres only one bait I ever gut hook a fish on and that is a plastic worm.

If I feel the bite, presume to have felt the bite, think it might have been a bite, hoped it was a bite...

I'm setting the hook- hard and fast

 

 

[BrianMDTX]

17 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

Theres only one bait I ever gut hook a fish on and that is a plastic worm.

If I feel the bite, presume to have felt the bite, think it might have been a bite, hoped it was a bite...

I'm setting the hook- hard and fast

 

 

Yeah. If you guthook a crankbait, something's not right!

[Dens228]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

 

 

With all this talk of not losing tungsten weights, high dollar hooks, & expensive baits.

 

While I hate losing any of my setups, I do not let that effect how I fish!

 

Y'all have two choices to make, lures in your tackle box or fish in the livewell.

 

You can't have both 

 

In heavy cove my #1 goal is to stick em, #2 is how to get em out!

Exactly!  I got much better at fishing jigs once I decided I was going to lose them.

[TriStateBassin106]

I feel a thump thump, I set the hook. end of story..

 

At the most I'll wait 2 seconds.

On 6/29/2020 at 4:27 PM, Pickle_Power said:

I set as soon as I 'think' I feel something, which may be between 1 and 6 seconds. ?

I second this.