Time on the water!

[Dwight Hottle]

Yes. There is no substitute for time on the water no matter what your level of expertise. 

[Big Hands]

On 8/18/2021 at 7:53 AM, J Francho said:

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.

Fourth of July when I was a teenager, I was fishing a golf course pond, and saw a HUGE bass (I estimate it was between six and eight pounds and I had never seen one that size in person before that day) sitting in a gap between the tules. I had my rod setup for bluegill because that was all I had ever caught there. . I ran back to my tackle box and tied on the only bass bait I had in my tackle box; one of those Creme pre-rigged grape worms with the propeller in front. I ran back to the gap, and the bass was gone.

 

I tossed the worm out into the area where she had been sitting and just let it sit there a few minutes. All of a sudden, I see the heifer slowly swim out from the reeds, and she takes up a position directly behind the worm, but seemingly staring at me, frozen on the shoreline. . . staring right back at her. I had no idea what to do, so I just stood completely still.

 

Then, she opened her giant worm hole and began flaring her gills. The worm started fluttering, but not really moving and did so for about three full seconds before she sucked in so fast, it was like it was there and then it wasn't.

 

I have never seen anything like it before or since that time, nor have I seen any video  of anything like it, but I certainly saw it that time plain as day. So, J Francho, it would not surprise me in the least that there is sometimes something going on before they actually ingest the bait. I have heard people say the same thing about a crankbait that doesn't quite feel right just before a strike and I would imagine a bass following it closely could have an effect on the way the bait swims through the water.

[padon]

i think most people who have been doing thi a while develop that sense. half the time i set the hook on a worm,jig, ned whatever i dont even realize im doing it until its done. its like a reflex before the thought even enters your head the slack is taken up and your driving the hook home. then you think how did i know i had a bite? i love it when i get that distinct TAP. but those times are rare mostly its just some kind of unexplainable feeling, or lack of feeling.

[slonezp]

Not difficult to explain @Catt. When it's not right, it's right.

[Nitrofreak]

Not there but getting pretty good at it, jigs are my thing even though soft plastics like worms are still very much an extremely large part of my time on the water, line watching and countdowns are a big thing that’s been incorporated into my outings, not just for these types of presentations either, things all of you guys have said over the years have stuck with me and in most part have been instilled into my continuing passion for this sport.

 

Two years ago I joined my first club, I am enjoying a lot of success from the back of the boat and a ton of it is because of what I have learned here, from you guys, albeit that it’s a different world from the back but none the less another lesson in learning. 

[DitchPanda]

I'm 20 years into this bass deal and I fish alot. Not alot of time on the water compared to some of you but still I've had my share of experience. Some days I feel like a pro and others I feel like I've never held a rod and couldn't catch a bass with a stick of dynamite. I've got a long way to go but I definitely feel like I've improved.

[BrianMDTX]

I don’t have much to add except, I believe I am much more adept at detecting strikes on soft plastics than I am on jigs…by leaps and bounds. 
 

That, or I just don’t get bit fishing jigs!