Trying to explain what a bite feels like...

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

I've also come to the conclusion that the bigger fish are the harder strikes to feel.

 

Absolutely! ?

 

Some of the most subtle bites ever were from bass 8 lbs plus.

 

I was fishing a canal where it made a 90° turn, cast my worm up on to the bank on the far side. Engaged the spool, flipped the worm into the water. Never felt a thing but saw my line vibrate like someone lightly strummed a gautier string & circular rings about an inch in diameter. Thought huh! You mine, result 11lb 3oz!

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Catt
Operator Error

[roadwarrior]

[garroyo130]

Go get a copy of Wii sports ... the Wii fishing game got the feeling of a bite down pretty well. 

[Mobasser]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

Some people never get it . No matter how many fish I caught  with a worm meaning we were on fish , my uncle just could  not pull the trigger on a bite .Unless he felt the bass moving , he never got it .This went on for years .

True. You could give my wife the most sensitive rod ever made, and she would still miss all the strikes. It's just not her thing....

[Cgolf]

As most are saying, time on the water will learn you, and that learning never ends. Jigging for deep water walleye really helped me learn how to line watch.

 

One of my best outings, over 23 quality bass in less than an hour I was setting the hook on fish for reasons I didn't even understand. Line watching, or just feeling something heavy on the line probably played into it but I was in a zone, as were the fish.

 

A lot of my plastic bites the last couple of years have been let the bait drop to the bottom, pop it in place a couple of times and pause a second or so and sweep the rod gently and start reeling if the fish is there the rod will load up. 95% of those fish I never felt a thing.

 

The hits I hate are the machine gun taps because then you know you have a rocky on the other end of the line.

[Bassun]

I think teaching bite detection is one of the hardest things.  I generally advise this:  "If it feels funny, set the hook.  If there's not a fish attached cast back again, if you feel the same thing, it wasn't a fish."  To me this kind of does three things.  It shows that not all bites feel the same -- that it is better to set the hook on nothing than to miss a hawg -- and it teaches what other things feel like.  I'm sure we have all fought a flimsy limb a time or two thinking it was a fish...

That doesn't cover every scenario - but I honestly don't think you can really teach some things.  Experience and instincts come in.  There are just too many different factors to consider when it comes to feeling bites.  Just a few off the top of my head:  Rod specs, line specs, lure type, lure weight, current, wind, other terminal tackle, grip type, hand grip position, grip strength, angle of the rod, boat movement, surface movement, surface debris and I'm sure I could name off a dozen more without much thought.  My suggestion is that they overset and learn what isn't a fish.  I still overset myself, sometimes I am almost sure that it wasn't a fish but there's that little doubt.  Occasionally, I still end up with a fish I didn't expect.  Heck, sometimes I set the hook and think ugh... just a limb and then a few seconds later ... wait IS there a fish on...well look at that!  I get that more with spinnerbaits than anything lol.  Usually a dink though lol.

 

[Guitarfish]

Bassun is right,  and someone told me 'hook sets are free'.  I like free stuff.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

As most are saying, time on the water will learn you, and that learning never ends. Jigging for deep water walleye really helped me learn how to line watch.

 

One of my best outings, over 23 quality bass in less than an hour I was setting the hook on fish for reasons I didn't even understand. Line watching, or just feeling something heavy on the line probably played into it but I was in a zone, as were the fish.

 

A lot of my plastic bites the last couple of years have been let the bait drop to the bottom, pop it in place a couple of times and pause a second or so and sweep the rod gently and start reeling if the fish is there the rod will load up. 95% of those fish I never felt a thing.

 

The hits I hate are the machine gun taps because then you know you have a rocky on the other end of the line.

I was feeling the machine gun taps once and said out loud “aw, stupid bream hitting it” and set the hook anyway. 3 lb largemouth 

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I was feeling the machine gun taps once and said out loud “aw, stupid bream hitting it” and set the hook anyway. 3 lb largemouth 

Nice, and I still set the hook, and land my fair share of rockies. They definitely are not afraid to attack large baits. It seems if the rockies are in an area so are bass.

[ajschn06]

15 hours 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!”, I set hook on everything, twigs, leafs, grass, 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 what was going on & they may be right but one thing for sure the other 15 times were not bass.

Ugh... I need to do more of this.  I'm over here trying to feel it drop through trees, over rock, pulling on it, making absolutely sure its a fish before I set the hook.  I know I missed 3 this weekend because of it....

[WRB]

It feels different to me then it does to you. Strike detection is a learned skill and the process is trail and error. 

Some of us could be safe crackers with extremely sensitive sense of touch, most will never be able to crack a safe.

I caught more giant bass then most because of my strike detection skills. When you fish the same jig using very similar line the rate of fall and feed back becomes ingrained into your memory after decades of use. Intuitive hook sets are not that uncommon and how do you explain a feeling you just know something isn't normal? Stay focused and trust you gut feeling. The thumps and bumps are are easy to detect, sometimes bass simply hook themselves.

Tom

[roadwarrior]

Best reply:

 

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!”.

 

 

[The Bassman]

There's certainly a measure of satisfaction in sensing a delicate contact bait strike but I really get a kick out of that rock hard thump that comes with something like a lipless crankbait.

[TriStateBassin106]

3 hours ago, cgolf said:

As most are saying, time on the water will learn you, and that learning never ends. Jigging for deep water walleye really helped me learn how to line watch.

 

One of my best outings, over 23 quality bass in less than an hour I was setting the hook on fish for reasons I didn't even understand. Line watching, or just feeling something heavy on the line probably played into it but I was in a zone, as were the fish.

 

A lot of my plastic bites the last couple of years have been let the bait drop to the bottom, pop it in place a couple of times and pause a second or so and sweep the rod gently and start reeling if the fish is there the rod will load up. 95% of those fish I never felt a thing.

 

The hits I hate are the machine gun taps because then you know you have a rocky on the other end of the line.

90% of the time machine gun taps are either obnoxious sunfish or underwater structure. Either way my plastic comes back with little peck marks. 

[Jaderose]

Weight.  If I feel weight, however slight, I'm setting the hook.  

[TriStateBassin106]

6 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

There's certainly a measure of satisfaction in sensing a delicate contact bait strike but I really get a kick out of that rock hard thump that comes with something like a lipless crankbait.

You mean the heavy load and line zig zagging once you start reeling it in? Best feeling in the world! 

5 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Absolutely! ?

 

Some of the most subtle bites ever were from bass 8 lbs plus.

 

I was fishing a canal where it made a 90° turn, cast my worm up on to the bank on the far side. Engaged the spool, flipped the worm into the water. Never felt a thing but saw my line vibrate like someone lightly strummed a gautier string & circular rings about an inch in diameter. Thought huh! You mine, result 11lb 3oz!

 

 

Dude nice fish! Did you use mono or something else like braid to detect that line movement? 

[The Bassman]

7 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

You mean the heavy load and line zig zagging once you start reeling it in? Best feeling in the world! 

 

Actually brings to mind the feeling when the front treble is fouled in the line. lol

[TriStateBassin106]

53 minutes ago, cgolf said:

Nice, and I still set the hook, and land my fair share of rockies. They definitely are not afraid to attack large baits. 

Yellow perch are infamous for this in my lake, always attack huge swimjigs and cranks..  

[fin]

17 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

So far he's only been able to detect bites when his line starts darting but he thinks every rock or bump is a bite now lol.. to keep this story short how can I best explain to him more on how to detect those slower presentation bites? 

Rather than try to explain it with words, show him what it feels like by actually pulling on his line on dry land. Have him cast a plug with no hooks 30 feet or so on the lawn. Show him how it feels when you tug on slack line versus tight. Show him what it feels when you just slowly pull the plug, etc. He will be able to see what you are doing and his mind will make the connection. It won't feel exactly like it does when his line is in the water, but he'll learn a lot quicker than listening to you.

[frogflogger]

When in doubt set the hook -

[Catt]

1 hour ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Dude nice fish! Did you use mono or something else like braid to detect that line movement? 

 

15# Berkley Big Game ?

[scaleface]

 Braid is the least sensitive string on a slack line . I leave a little slack in my line . 

[king fisher]

What does a bite feel like?  Exactly like dragging a lure through an old gill net.  I didn't get many bites last weekend, but was 100 percent on hooking nets.

[scaleface]

19 minutes ago, king fisher said:

What does a bite feel like?  Exactly like dragging a lure through an old gill net.  I didn't get many bites last weekend, but was 100 percent on hooking nets.

...and lost fishing line in a brush pile .

[Choporoz]

10 hours ago, scaleface said:

...and lost fishing line in a brush pile .

Yep.  That gets me every time.

Brushpiles are tough anyway because so often your line is across one or more limbs.....throw some old line down there and its a whole other level of challenge