What am I missing???? lol

[Catt]

A lot of what anglers believe is stretch is actually a bow in your line both above & below the surface. This is especially true when casting any distance. We have to remove this bow before anything takes place. 

 

I've been told I will miss bites simply because when a bass picks up my worm/jig off the bottom I want feel it because of stretch. 

 

That's simply untrue!

 

I've also been told my hooksets will not be solid because of stretch.

 

When I sethook yes my Big Game starts to stretch but my rod starts flex overcoming that stretch. Next my rod starts to rebound & I turning the handle the whole time moving more line.

 

It all works in unison y'all 

[Gera]

On 5/15/2022 at 9:30 PM, BrianMDTX said:

“hooksets are free”.  Well, maybe not 100% free,

Nop, I hookset a Vision 110 into a what I thought was a good one, it was a big laydown. it was definitely not a free hookset. 

[JustJames]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:13 PM, Catt said:

 

It's a fine balance between tension & slackness that comes with experience.

 

The idea is to feel the bass before it feels you. 

 

This is the reason I don't wait to see the actual line movement. You know like anglers wait to see a couple feet of movement, aka let em have it. Sorry but I done set hook!

 

This bass here all I saw was like someone strummed a guitar string. It vibrated where the line entered the water but with tiny rings about an inch in diameter.

 

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook...11.3#!

 

Listen to the old wise guy ???. Once you master the tension, feel and know the difference you will catch a lot more and bigger bass than just waiting to feel the tap or watch the line alone. 
I’m not as good and far behind @Catt but I’m learning. One of these days.???

[OG SmashSauce]

Hey all!

 

I wanted to update this post with what happened on Saturday.

 

I went out to Island Lake in Shelton, WA at 5am with a COMPLETELY different mind set of when I normally go out. I took everything that was said in this thread and used it all I think...lol I had a spool of 12lb mono, so I put that on my rod, I kept an open mind and really focused on every cast with my finger under my line. If I felt ANYTHING diff I set the hook. I feel like I set the hook 200 times that morning lol.  I watched for any movement in my line, I watched to see if my line stopped dropping short when in deeper water and so on. Just a complete overhaul from the way I normally go about bass fishing and I wanted to give you guys a huge THANK YOU!

 

All and all on Saturday morning from 5am-9am I caught 23 bass. I dont know whats considered decent here in western washington but I caught ***.07lbs, three around 2.75 lbs and about seven 2.5lbs.  All the rest were in the 1lb range. But I literally had the single best fishing expercience of my life! this weekend. I couldnt go out today but I mean......I thought I loved bass fishing before and now that I have fresh knowledge, I feel like I want to go out every day I can and try to perfect everything Ive heard.

 

Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks again!!!

[PaulVE64]

At this point i no longer think about why i hookset, or what flips my switch but my ratio is pretty good so ima just keep on swinging.

[dodgeguy]

22 hours ago, OG SmashSauce said:

Hey all!

 

I wanted to update this post with what happened on Saturday.

 

I went out to Island Lake in Shelton, WA at 5am with a COMPLETELY different mind set of when I normally go out. I took everything that was said in this thread and used it all I think...lol I had a spool of 12lb mono, so I put that on my rod, I kept an open mind and really focused on every cast with my finger under my line. If I felt ANYTHING diff I set the hook. I feel like I set the hook 200 times that morning lol.  I watched for any movement in my line, I watched to see if my line stopped dropping short when in deeper water and so on. Just a complete overhaul from the way I normally go about bass fishing and I wanted to give you guys a huge THANK YOU!

 

All and all on Saturday morning from 5am-9am I caught 23 bass. I dont know whats considered decent here in western washington but I caught ***.07lbs, three around 2.75 lbs and about seven 2.5lbs.  All the rest were in the 1lb range. But I literally had the single best fishing expercience of my life! this weekend. I couldnt go out today but I mean......I thought I loved bass fishing before and now that I have fresh knowledge, I feel like I want to go out every day I can and try to perfect everything Ive heard.

 

Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks again!!!

That's awesome !!! But just remember even pros get skunked sometimes. 

[OG SmashSauce]

2 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

That's awesome !!! But just remember even pros get skunked sometimes. 

Lol oh ya I’ve had tons of those days.  I will say I switching to 12lb mono felt sooooo much better.   When I get my new rod I’m gonna try ur route with braid and see how that is :)

[dodgeguy]

12 hours ago, OG SmashSauce said:

Lol oh ya I’ve had tons of those days.  I will say I switching to 12lb mono felt sooooo much better.   When I get my new rod I’m gonna try ur route with braid and see how that is

I use 50lb 832 in yellow and color the last 5feet black. No leaders.

[OG SmashSauce]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:57 AM, dodgeguy said:

I use 50lb 832 in yellow and color the last 5feet black. No leaders.

Can you get that on amazon?

[MN Fisher]

25 minutes ago, OG SmashSauce said:

Can you get that on amazon?

Ask and ye shall receive

https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Advanced-Superline-50-Pound-300-Yard/dp/B009GYH25C/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1WD1WHWYU8O6Z&keywords=sufix+832+braid+yellow+50&qid=1653611136&sprefix=sufix+832+braid+yellow+50%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-2

[OG SmashSauce]

Just now, MN Fisher said:

Ask and ye shall receive

https://www.amazon.com/Sufix-Advanced-Superline-50-Pound-300-Yard/dp/B009GYH25C/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1WD1WHWYU8O6Z&keywords=sufix+832+braid+yellow+50&qid=1653611136&sprefix=sufix+832+braid+yellow+50%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-2

thanks man!!

[Darth-Baiter]

I think the OP should drop down, way down in line-strength.  I found lighter line allows a bait to swim more naturally, and the advantages go the other way as well.  lighter line allows the person holding the rod to feel the thump.

 

I have 12 flouro on most of my setups.  there is no better shot of fun-adrenaline that feeling that mysterious tick-tick on the end.  "wait, what was that?!"  set hook!!

 

I didn't read much about the OP's favorite fishing method.  but there is no mistake when your rod-dragging a Texas rigged weighted worm, and a bass sucks it in.  feels like a quick game of tug-o-war.  act fast. 

13 hours ago, OG SmashSauce said:

Can you get that on amazon?

careful.  with total 50lb braid, my experience is that any snag you can't free at the lure is a big deal.  in a kayak, I dont think I could snap that line.

[ghost]

Use braided line. I feel most what's going on with any lure I use and feel when a bass picks up or hits my lure especially soft plastics. 40 lb Power Pro, 10 lb mono diameter is my standard line size. 

[Bassun]

I, admittedly, didn't read all of the comments - but I literally just went through this discussion a week ago.  It doesn't matter what line, rod, reel etc. you are using.  NONE!  If something feels funny, set the hook.  Period.  End of statement.  If you feel like you set the hook into a log, hold that pressure until you are POSITIVE it is not a fish.  Worst case you set too early, or spook a fish yanking a limb around, or lose / break gear - it happens.  But EVERY SINGLE SET you attempt - you are gaining experience and feel.

Now as for feel, eyes closed works.  You said you are fishing a lot of plastics.  Here is what I would suggest.  Focus on feeling the bottom.  Is it rock?  Mud?  Grass?  Is it small pebbles or larger chunk?  Are there big rocks and logs down there too?  Start letting your mind draw a picture of what the lure is doing and what the bottom looks like based on what it feels like.  If you can see what the bottom looks like even better!  Try holding your rod at different COMFORTABLE angles while you feel the bottom.  You will find the one (or ones) that suites you best.   As you get used to "seeing" what you lure "feels" - those odd feelings will start to stand out more.  Like if you are on a pea gravel bottom and there is no grass or anything else but small rock, and suddenly your feeling goes "soft" -- you know that is most likely a fish.  In grass, that same feeling would not stand out as much. 

 

But focus on building a mental image of what the bait is doing, and what the bottom composition is based on feel -- and in a few months you will be well ahead of the game!  And if you feel like you are not making enough contact to feel the bottom well --- slow down.  Honestly, fishing plastics "slow down" is almost always a good piece of advice anyway lol.  Good luck and tight lines!