Bass nocking but unhooked on spinnerbait?

[Smells like fish]

I’ve noticed this entirely this year only as I’ve really been burning in my spinnerbaits near the surface of the water but many times I’ll be reeling and I’m getting the vibration of the blades and I feel the weight of the lure then bam a bass hits my lure I often times see the fish flash sideways at the hit but no hook up. What I feel when this happens is the vibration has stopped and the weight of the lure is no longer there. It’s like the lure has been “nocked” forward for lack of a better term. I’ve seen bass from dinks to 4-5 lb bass do this. I never feel the weight of the fish. Is this considered short striking or something else? Is a trailer hook gonna help?

[gunsinger]

I’ve never used a trailer hook but I’ve read they’re what the doctor ordered for short strikes on a spinner bait.

[islandbass]

I’ve experienced that with crankbaits. I’ve seen with my own eye bass knock my lure with a full smack right between the trebles. Their mouths were closed too. It seemed like a defensive move to repel or shoo something away vs. attack something. 
 

The weird thing was they did it completely avoiding the trebles like Neo avoiding bullets. 
 

I imagine if they did the same thing to a spinnerbait, they’d avoid the hook. In this situation a trailer hook might not have helped. 
 

I’ll best guess in both cases something was off about the lure color or action that perhaps made the bass react it’s an intruder vs. a meal. 
 

 

[Jig Man]

Sometimes it is the fish hitting the blades, but a trailer hook may give you more insight into the situation.

[scaleface]

If your using a bright skirt , I would replace it with a more natural baitfish pattern . 

[Scott F]

I’ve seen videos of bass striking prey with their mouths closed to stun it, then they turn it around eat it. 

[Deleted account]

When I get a solid thunk at the end of a spinnerbait, and it doesn't come tight, it's usually a case of the fish hitting the blades aggressively or turning away at the last moment. I've had both, blades pulled off, and hooked bass on the side. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I want to say its the fish hitting the blades, but I'm not sure that I've ever had a fish push a spinnerbait without a solid take.  I would either try to use a SB with more compact profile or shorter arm.  The other thing you can do is try to get the fish to concentrate on the bait and not the blades.  You could use a bigger/more aggressive trailer or use a bold color skirt or trailer.  

IMO trailer hooks hurt more then help by limiting the action and trailers you can use and making the bait more susceptible to hang ups. 

[Captain Phil]

14 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

I’ve noticed this entirely this year only as I’ve really been burning in my spinnerbaits near the surface of the water but many times I’ll be reeling and I’m getting the vibration of the blades and I feel the weight of the lure then bam a bass hits my lure I often times see the fish flash sideways at the hit but no hook up. 

 

Try fishing slower.  If you like to burn a spinnerbait near the surface, throw a buzz bait or a blade bait.  Our fish are notorious short strikers.  I never throw a spinnerbait without a trailer hook and I catch more fish on the trailer than the main hook.

  

[Finessegenics]

6 hours ago, Scott F said:

I’ve seen videos of bass striking prey with their mouths closed to stun it, then they turn it around eat it. 

This is my belief too. But if I  stop the spinnerbait or slow it down, it never turns into the fish coming back to hit the bait a second time. 
 

OP, I suggest having a follow up bait tied onto another rod if you’re getting out there with more than one setup. I almost always have one ready on another rod when fishing a moving bait. For me, the follow up is usually a ned bait. I throw it where I felt the bass “stun” my spinnerbait and 99% of the time it results in a hook-up. Your follow up bait can be anything you want really, a senko, a jig or a Texas rig. As long as it’s not a moving bait the follow up should work. 

[mrpao]

I always use a trailer hook on my spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.

There has been many times when the trailer hook was what hooked the fish.

[Sphynx]

15 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

This is my belief too. But if I  stop the spinnerbait or slow it down, it never turns into the fish coming back to hit the bait a second time. 
 

OP, I suggest having a follow up bait tied onto another rod if you’re getting out there with more than one setup. I almost always have one ready on another rod when fishing a moving bait. For me, the follow up is usually a ned bait. I throw it where I felt the bass “stun” my spinnerbait and 99% of the time it results in a hook-up. Your follow up bait can be anything you want really, a senko, a jig or a Texas rig. As long as it’s not a moving bait the follow up should work. 

Once the fish strikes your spinnerbait the game is up, they aren't going to be fooled into thinking it's a fish after they hit it once, I imagine that while they may not know what it exactly is, they know well enough that it's no baitfish, and will move on, trailer hooks can be a great addition to the bait, just be careful around wood and brush because they get hung up a lot more with one than without one, if your fishing open water though there's no reason really not to include a trailer hook, it isn't as though it will hurt your presentation. 

[MickD]

I've had this happen and have concluded that something about the presentation isn't quite right.  Try changing size (smaller), retrieve as has been mentioned, and as important, the color.

[LCG]

1 hour ago, MickD said:

I've had this happen and have concluded that something about the presentation isn't quite right.  Try changing size (smaller), retrieve as has been mentioned, and as important, the color.

X2. I had this happen a lot last season, always caught them on the outside of their lip, when they swiped at it.

 

This year I changed to a smaller size and it has caught me almost as much Bass as a weightless senko this season. 

[Catt]

18 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

It’s like the lure has been “nocked” forward for lack of a better term.

 

Us old timers call it knocking slack in your line.

 

Try changing the rate of retrieve 

 

To slow down & still keep the spinnerbait just under the surface hold your rod tip higher.

 

I wouldn't  necessarily go with a lighter spinnerbaits but rather one with smaller blades. 

 

Trailer hooks, sometimes I do, sometimes i don't. 

[throttleplate]

5 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

IMO trailer hooks hurt more then help by limiting the action and trailers you can use and making the bait more susceptible to hang ups. 

occasionally my kaitech trailer tail gets stuck in the trailer hook. I have been making my spinners look smaller by cutting the skirts and using small mr twister grubs for a trailer and not using a trailer hook.

[Skunkmaster-k]

If they’re hitting the blade a lot of times you can see scrape marks 

[keagbassr]

I would definitely try a trailer hook.

 I get this alot with buzzbaits in the spring where they swat at it with their mouths closed and i end up with them hooked under the jaw on the trailer hook.

[Sphynx]

42 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

occasionally my kaitech trailer tail gets stuck in the trailer hook. I have been making my spinners look smaller by cutting the skirts and using small mr twister grubs for a trailer and not using a trailer hook.

Sacrilegious though it may be I almost never use a trailer on a spinnerbait, a trailer hook sometimes, but I don't really throw any paddletail or anything else back there, for the places I fish all it does is add to the cost of a fish by burning up soft plastics that would have been better used on a jig head, because they bite the spinnerbait just fine without one.