How long will a bass keep a jig in its mouth?

[Kenny Yi]

Was watching a bunch of YT vids recently.  I found that they seem kinda contradictory.  Some videos show that bass will pick up a jig, maybe do a couple adjustment bites, then spit the bait (within a couple seconds).  Greg Hackney's experience is that bass tend to hold onto the bait for much longer than that (his example was that when he prefishes a spot and gets a real good bite, he doesn't want to catch that fish so he waits for it to let go, but it takes quite a bit of time).  

 

I've always used Hackney's tips for jig fishing (with great success), but I do wonder how many times a fish has grabbed my bait and spit it quickly.  I can recount some moments where I may have waited too long on a bite and lost the fish completely. 

 

Is it dependent on the individual fish?  Are y'all setting the hook as soon as you feel anything or do you wait, like me, to see the line moving?

[928JLH]

I usually set when I feel them hit. I believe underwater strike videos are primarily bed fish. They will definitely nip and bite a jig a few times. Every bass is a little different though. I think bass hold on to a lighter jig longer than a heavier jig. Probably feels more natural.

[Deleted account]

In my experience, it varies, but more often than not they hold on to it for a long time. There are times when  they do inhale it and spit it out in seemingly one motion, but I find this the exception. I set the hook on jigs like the Hack.

[Choporoz]

More than a couple times that I learned a bass picked up my jig when I saw my line going by the front the front of the boat

[WRB]

It depends on more factors then can be discussed.

Strike detection is the most misunderstood factor and missed by the majority of bass anglers fishing jigs.

I said 90% of jig anglers miss detecting 50% of the strikes it would be understated.

I can’t speak for anyone other my self. Hackney may mean when he detects a strike he misses very few, I agree with statement because we both use the same hook set technique.

Try bed fishing using a jig and hook set only by feel.

Tom

[Deleted account]

7 minutes ago, WRB said:

90% of jig anglers miss detecting 50% of the strikes it would be understated.

I can agree with that. I'm sure there are times when a bass spits out my jig, and I'm none the wiser.

[RDB]

1 hour ago, 928JLH said:

I think bass hold on to a lighter jig longer than a heavier jig. Probably feels more natural.

As a general rule, I would agree.  Often I don’t “feel” the bite...it’s just resistance or the fall stops prematurely.  My motto is when in doubt, hook sets are free.

[Big Hands]

58 minutes ago, WRB said:

I said 90% of jig anglers miss detecting 50% of the strikes it would be understated.

I can’t speak for anyone other my self. Hackney may mean when he detects a strike he misses very few, I agree with statement because we both use the same hook set technique.

Try bed fishing using a jig and hook set only by feel.

Tom

To state that jig fishing is not my forte would be a gross understatement to put it mildly, but. . . . it seems like it would be super difficult to keep a jig on a bed, and simultaneously keep the light taut enough to reliably detect a strike, no?

 

The times I have fished beds, if I wasn't using sight to see the bass take the bait, I would have caught far fewer bass to put it mildly.

 

For the lakes you and I fish, I have my doubts that the bass even believe it's really a crawdad or a bluegill dancing around the bed. We both know each other is there. They are able to grab the bait in a way that the hook isn't in their mouth several times and just long enough to move it off the bed and quickly spit it away from the bed.

 

Eventually you can see their demeanor changing and getting more aggressive. Finally, they get ticked off and carelessly ingest it. Pretty sure they'd flip us the fin if they knew what it meant.

[J Francho]

I can't say the exact length of time, but I know the worst is when you don't feel them taking the bait, only the spit out.  Once in a blue moon I catch that fish on a second cast.

[Boomstick]

I have definitely had bass pick up my jig and spit it pretty quickly and I go to set the hook and don't get a fish. I'm sure this has happened at some point to everyone here. However sometimes they absolutely hammer it. I remember one time I cast my jig out and a bass hit it I swear before it even hit the water. That fish had probably swam 20 feet in my direction with the jig in its mouth before I even knew what was going on and could get my line tight and make a hookset.

 

I think a lot of it depends on the fish's mood, time of yea, brand and color of the jig and if the angler's hair is just right and so forth.

[Catt]

Jig-n-Craw or Texas Rig, I don't wait on nothing, & I set hook on everything!

 

Those taps, thumps, bumps, line movements, we should be sticking 95%+. It's those bites where there's no line movement, no thump, it just ain't feeling right.

[Kenny Yi]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Those taps, thumps, bumps, line movements, we should be sticking 95%+.

I tend to feel the initial thump (that jumps the line and my focus), then look at the line (to see if there's a tiny wake from movement).  If I see that line moving, I reel down and blister it.  

[the reel ess]

I'm not saying you should wait around to set the hook. But my experience is they'll hold it a while. Sometimes I detect the bite because the jig is moving off to the side. Other times I detect the bite because I start to move the jig and the bass pulls it back. My experience is that bigger bass don't want to let go even after they feel resistance. Then there are the times I feel the telltale tap-tap. That's generally a small bass biting and spitting it out repeatedly. I think they're trying to stun the crawfish so it has no defense. 

[Darth-Baiter]

True story.  
 

I cast out a jig.  Despite the DC reel, I get a slight overrun.  It happens when I don’t crank the reel and let it freespool accidentally afterwards, really. 
 

anyways. It was an easy overrun to mitigate.  I peel off some line looking for the sound nicely packed spool below.  Easy- done.  I start reeling in the tangle on the deck of my kayak.  !zoiiks!  My line knots up!  I had to cut it there and pull my jig back like I was hand-lining.    I look and there was a bass coming towards me holding my jig!  It was swimming towards me.  It is impossible to set a hook by hand, trust me I tried.  The bass then spits my jig.  It held it fir a long time. 

[Kenny Yi]

58 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

My experience is that bigger bass don't want to let go even after they feel resistance.

yes my thinking is that the big bass believes the jig (imitating a craw or baitfish) is trying to escape, making them either hold it more or do stun bites. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Kenneth Yi said:

I tend to feel the initial thump (that jumps the line and my focus), then look at the line (to see if there's a tiny wake from movement).  If I see that line moving, I reel down and blister it.  

 

You just missed the majority of your bites.

 

Those bumps, thumps, tics, & taps are easy to detect, so are the ones where ya see line movement.

 

It's the ones where the bass inhales your jig without any tell-tale signs or movement & proceeds to sit there until you apply to much pressure at which time they spit it.

 

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.

 

Keeping a certain amount of tension while keeping a certain amount to slackness will "clue" you in on two bites.

 

If you jig/t-rig is sitting still & your line gets tighter or your line gets slacker odds are you've had a bass pick up your lure!

[Mobasser]

I try to set the hook right away, as soon as something is different. I used to wait, but I missed a lot of fish that way. I also think that bigger fish seem to strike and spit the jig faster than smaller ones. Big fish don't need to eat your jig. They're not competing with a bunch of dinks for one bite. They can eat when they want to.

[Skunkmaster-k]

One time I set the hook on a minnow bag half full of mud. Next cast I felt another minnow bag so I just reeled it in . The minnow bag turned out to be a nice size bass! He just held on till we looked at each other, I set the hook about the same time he let go and I learned an important lesson. If it feels weird set the hook. 

[Bluebasser86]

I'm a speed setter when it comes to jig bites. In my experience, they don't play around with jigs, at least the fish I want to catch on them don't. If I feel anything that even remotely feels like a bite, I'm swinging right now. They'll hold a jig for a long time some days, but other times they'll do a lot of picking it up and blowing it right back out and you have to have that hair trigger to get them. 

[blckshirt98]

Andy Cuccia said if you think a bass has taken your jig to set the hook.  If you're not sure and try to wait and see if it bites again, that's the bass spitting your jig out.

[Hammer 4]

Hook sets are Free, I swing on anything that even feels, or looks like it might be a bite.

 

You snooz, you loose.

[J Francho]

6 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

You snooz, you loose.

This is the truth!

[bulldog1935]

answering the OP - until it tastes the steel.  

[FishTank]

Unlike baseball, when I'm fishing I swing at every thing.  Soft at first, then hard when I feel the line take hold.  I am not the best jig fisherman but this is my process. 

 

Also, I think you have to remember the fish gets in its mouth and has get through the skirt and the weed guard.  It's a small window when it comes to the open space you have to set the hook, compared to other baits.  To me, this is where the right equipment is crucial and experience is also key.

[Catt]

How long will a bass keep a jig in its mouth.

 

Nobody knows, each bass is different, & each bite different!

 

What drove it home for me was the first time I saw the "Hawg Trough", ya know that big aquarium on a trailer at tackle shows. I was standing right up against the plexiglass when the Pro threw a Texas Rig & a 3# bass sucked it in & spit it out before my pea brain could comprehend what just happened.

 

I started setting hook on everything! 

 

This is why I say a jig bite & t-rig bite are the same. Anybody can feel the taps, ticks, thumps, & see line movement. But I guarentee there are bites y'all thought wasn't bass that absolutely was!