Time on the water!

[Catt]

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”

 

With the discussion about intuition & discussions about feeling worm/jig bites. It boils down to time on the water.

 

It's extremely difficult to explain some worm/jig bites when it's intuition hooksets. 

 

Some of y'all can measure how long y'all have held a worm/jig rod in hours. Anglers like myself @WRB, @A-Jay, @roadwarrior, @J Francho, & many others who have guided or tournament fished measure it in weeks & months.

 

For 20 yrs I fished from first light to dark thirty or nights from 7pm to 9 am. 97.5% of that time was spent holding a worm/jig rod. 

 

A large portion of my hooksets I never really felt anything, something subconsciously said, drop the rod, reel the slack, set the hook.

[NoShoes]

I don’t even know why I set the hook half the time, but she was there ?

[J Francho]

7 minutes ago, Catt said:

A large portion of my hooksets I never really felt anything, something subconsciously said, drop the rod, reel the slack, set the hook.

I agree.  Sometimes it just doesn't feel like what I'm used to it feeling like.  A lot of times I'm right - but it isn't always a fish.  I've done a lot of cranking as well, and I swear I can sometimes feel a follow before it strikes.  Something throws the wiggle off, and I know I'm getting bit before it happens.

[Mobasser]

Good post Catt. Jigs and soft plastics are probably the most effective baits for bass overall. But, they take the most time to learn, and it comes down to strike detection. I struggled with it 40yrs ago, and still miss fish sometimes now. If we could tell a novice fisherman one thing to learn, it would be to develop your ability to detect strikes, on jigs and plastics. If they can do this, other things will fall into place for them, and seem easy by comparison.

[A-Jay]

28 minutes ago, Catt said:

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”

 

With the discussion about intuition & discussions about feeling worm/jig bites. It boils down to time on the water.

 

It's extremely difficult to explain some worm/jig bites when it's intuition hooksets. 

 

Some of y'all can measure how long y'all have held a worm/jig rod in hours. Anglers like myself @WRB, @A-Jay, @roadwarrior, @J Francho, & many others who have guided or tournament fished measure it in weeks & months.

 

For 20 yrs I fished from first light to dark thirty or nights from 7pm to 9 am. 97.5% of that time was spent holding a worm/jig rod. 

 

A large portion of my hooksets I never really felt anything, something subconsciously said, drop the rod, reel the slack, set the hook.

 

I appreciate the support @Catt, but I have no problem admitting that I am still a work in progress.

Probably always will be. 

But as the years have gone by I do think I've gotten better. 

Night ops no doubt accelerated the process for me. 

Something I know I say much more these days is:

"That was a fish" ~

And it often comes without a hook up but during a retrieve.

Seems a fish will 'do something' (non visual) to disrupt a baits travel,

regardless of which bait it may be. 

Routine offenders are spinnerbaits, most any crankbait, more recently a vibrating jig, 

and of course, a jig and / or rigged soft plastic.

I do really like being able to know what my bait's doing

and this may be an example of that.

Sure seems to help when she does decide to latch on . . . 

#hithardandhope

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

[NHBull]

Over the last couple years and with some observations of others, I have noted that I often set a jig on the “absence “ of a feel.  I didn’t realize I did this until my partner as me what I felt and my reply was “nothing”. 
 

In that moment my hookup ratio improved.  I still struggle and not as proficient when my concentration is off.  Mindful/ Mindless, what ever you want to call it ? 

[scaleface]

I felt like a noob yesterday .Man , the bass were hitting funny . Somehow  managed a limit of 15 inchers .

[Catt]

Every bass is different & every bite is different.

 

What isn't different is how the jig/t-rig feels hitting rock, brush, grass, timber, or just the bottom.

 

If I don't feel that I drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

 

In my minds eye it's more about what I'm not feeling, I just know (intuition) it doesn't feel right.

[David 7]

Whenever I get a good bass (2.5 plus up here) it always feels like I’m stuck on something but then I feel or see the line move.

[LrgmouthShad]

Alright so Catt you just send a message in whatever format you like to my instructors to tell them why fishing is more important than learning why mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell and problem solved! Too easy! Lol. You’ll do it right????
 

I will be fishing most every weekend 

[GaryH]

5 minutes ago, Catt said:

Every bass is different & every bite is different.

 

What isn't different is how the jig/t-rig feels hitting rock, brush, grass, timber, or just the bottom.

 

If I don't feel that I drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

 

In my minds eye it's more about what I'm not feeling, I just know (intuition) it doesn't feel right.

You put into words great. I always would wonder why I set the hook and had a fish and now it makes sense. It’s not what I felt but what I didn’t fell. ?? 

And here all along I thought I was clairvoyant.

 

. 

[Sphynx]

2 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Alright so Catt you just send a message in whatever format you like to my instructors to tell them why fishing is more important than learning why mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell and problem solved! Too easy! Lol. You’ll do it right????
 

I will be fishing most every weekend 

I have worked jobs that rarely took up less than 60 hours a week, I still fish nearly every day at certain times of the year, if becoming extremely good at bass fishing is something that is important to you, you'll make time for it, but just like with any decision, choosing to dedicate that much time to our hobby will invariably mean a sacrifice in another area of life, there are only 24 hours in a day and only you can decide how best to spend them.

[Krux5506]

I've taught fishing buddies how to fish certain plastics or particularly ned rigs and I could never exactly explain how you'll know when there's a strike other than "you'll just know" and you become used to that. 

[scaleface]

I didnt have a long learning curve . I picked it up rather quickly but I had a  fishing background long before I started fishing plastic worms . Most of  the people I fish with who also have a extensive  fishing history acquire the skill easily  and those who have not fished a lot just cant seem to get it . 

[diehardbassfishing]

 

If it feels "funny" - set the hook!

 

 

Karl

[Tennessee Boy]

A term I uses in this area is "familiarity".  When I was a teenager a long time ago,  I fished several times a week and 99% of that time was with the same Ugly Stick rod,  Trilene XL 6# line,  and the same Rebel crankbait.  Only thing that changed was the color of the bait.  I got very familiar with how that crankbait felt on that rod and it was like I could see what was happening with it.  I could feel the bottom. I could tell what I was bumping into.  I could tell the size of the fish before I set the hook and I have no idea how I knew it.  I don't recommend anyone fish with just one lure but I did learn some important lessons from those experiences. 

 

Time on the water is critical to fishing success.  It's also important to focus that time on developing a few important skills.  If you spend 100 hours a week on the water but you're throwing 100 different lures and those 100 lures change every week then you're not gaining the "familiarity" you need with what you're doing.

[LrgmouthShad]

35 minutes ago, Sphynx said:

I have worked jobs that rarely took up less than 60 hours a week, I still fish nearly every day at certain times of the year, if becoming extremely good at bass fishing is something that is important to you, you'll make time for it, but just like with any decision, choosing to dedicate that much time to our hobby will invariably mean a sacrifice in another area of life, there are only 24 hours in a day and only you can decide how best to spend them.

Hey, amen brother. Just saying I wish that I could make more time for it but it is the only thing I do for fun anyways. 

 

I have not been on a good streak of posts today.... think I'll just take a break for a while

[gunsinger]

Weather and circumstances permitting, I try to get out every Sat and Sun AM (before church).  I used to go out in the evenings after work but between the summer rains and my catch volume, I've about decided that I'm just not an evening fisherman.  

 

But, regardless of when I go, my time on the water is priceless.  My job carries a lot of stress and fishing allows me to decompress.  It's about the only time I don't feel obligated to be tied to my phone responding to every text or email.

[Sphynx]

7 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Hey, amen brother. Just saying I wish that I could make more time for it but it is the only thing I do for fun anyways. 

 

I have not been on a good streak of posts today.... think I'll just take a break for a while

Hardly meant as a criticism, more of a "if you want to be crazy like us, think of what you will potentially be giving up before you commit to it." Can't say for sure whether that sort of time investment is good for you or not because I don't know your situation, but you Hardly need to take a break on my account.

[Mobasser]

What I've realized through the years for one, it takes several skills to be good at consistently catching fish. Accurate casting, reading water, understanding your electronics and everything else involved. Last spring, a guy caught an 8lb bass from a small local lake that I fish also. He got his picture in the local newspaper with the caption" big bass hunter scores the big one!" He caught this 1 fish on a Rattletrap. I saw him bank fishing one hot July morning and he told me he hadn't caught much since his big bass. I already knew this. Once it got hot, his trap wasn't working anymore. When it came time to fish slower with a plastic worm, he couldn't do it, because he missed all the strikes! THIS, of all things in bass fishing is the hardest of all. And it confirmed what my old partner Mike always says." When the fish are slamming fast moving baits( which are those rare times), almost anybody can catch a few, but when the going gets tougher, the jig/ worm guys will usually be on top, because they're feeling the strikes, that many others miss". Why have so many big fish been caught, and big tournaments won on jigs and soft plastics? They're fishing for the fish that won't chase faster baits, and, they've trained themselves to detect a all the lightest strikes.

[MGF]

I think my river is a good teacher. The current takes the bait one way, the wind takes the line another was and both the wind and current are usually trying to do something completely different with the boat.

 

Through it all you can learn to do a decent job of detecting a bite but it isn't like something I often read about. Sometimes the bait just stops going down river...sometimes it just goes down river at a different speed or goes back up river. As you mend your line it often feels different even though the line isn't what you'd call "tight" and there are no taps or jerks.

 

Even though I don't always detect movement exactly it doesn't feel like a snag either. It feels alive. Don't ask me to explain what that means. The other night they were almost tearing the rod out of my hands.

 

Sometimes the people I take fishing tend to hook fish "deep". Those fish are obviously hanging out after eating the bait and the angler hasn't a clue...but they still catch fish.

 

I've taken to smashing down the barbs on most of the hooks in my boat.

[Mobasser]

WRB also made a good post on this topic called SKILL, regarding high end rods and strike detection. Lots of guys do well with mid priced rods/ reels. This says that it's not always about the tackle. There's more going on here. Time on the water

[DaubsNU1]

Good reads here.  I'm okay detecting bites on worms, but suck with jigs. I rarely fish them, partly because my home lake has lots of hydrilla/moss/plant, and partly because I'm not good.

 

 

[Mobasser]

One thing that can definitely make a difference in feeling light strikes is night fishing. Your mostly fishing by feel alone. When I first tried night fishing with t rig worms years ago, I quickly realized I had probably been missing fish during daylight hours.

[Darth-Baiter]

I think most bites on that type of bait is surprisingly similar.  Similar as in no set rules. You just know. 
 

topwater and swimbaits. It’s more “in yo face”.   but that’s all about the expectations.