Silly question, I know, BUT????

[abelfisher]

I read everywhere about bass hitting a lure on the "fall".  Assuming the lure is falling on slack line, how do you tell when you have a strike?  I have struggled with this concept for some time and just have to ask.  I still don't seem to feel any strikes on the fall;  not until I start the retrieve.  HELP!! :-/ :'(

[Lightninrod]

You may see your line 'jump' to one side or stop falling.  "Slack" line may be changed to "controlled" slack line where you keep the rod tip raised above the hororzontal and certainly, keep your forefinger under the line just in front(resting on) of your baitcaster reel.

Dan

[Keepin_It_Reel]

Great post lightninrod, When using a lure that noramlly gets hits on the fall like a jig i always keep my finger on the line. You will feel the hit but in the cold it is harder to feel strikes so you should see your line jump.

[Will]

You can also count. Say you are dropping a jigging spoon along a bridge piling, and you are fishing along the bottom which lays in 20 foot of water. With line diameter and lure weight the spoon drops at 2 feet per second, so it should takes 10 seconds to reach the bottom. By counting you will know something "fishy" is going on if you only counted to 8 seconds which would mean a fish may of taken it at 16 foot.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Here's where the word "tick" comes to mind

Sometimes it's just a feel, a change in cadence feeling

Sometimes it just feels like the line is made of lead all of a sudden (but subtly).  "heavy line"

[fishingrulz]

you don't "feel" he bite but your sure will when you set it! i'm asuming your talking about a worm i cast it out and let it sink then twitch it and watch your line and nothing else. the line should be slack when the worm is sitting on the bottom. try and get line with the leasst amount of memory so you can really tell. the bite will either make the line jump once or twice quick or the line will start moving as if you just casted a rock in the water. hope this helps

[mike22]

Lightnin rod hit it dead on.  Keep your finger under the line and and if you feel anything funny set the hook.  Kind of like jig fishing for walleyes, you'll barely feel em pick it up some times.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Hook sets are free!!!! Take as many as you want.  Anytime your line does something strange, set the hook.

I highly recommend everyone, if you haven't already, find the Bigmouth? video series.  I not for sure with that name, but I will find out.  It's an underwater camera man that put together a few videos of bass in the natural habitat.  If follows them from prespawn, spawn, post spawn, ...... and so on.  It also shows what a bass does when it strikes your lure.  There were countless times when the cameraman would film a bass striking a lure, and the fisherman would have no idea.  Must of the time it was on the fall. Something similar was also on Loudmouth Bass last weekend.  It changed my whole perspective on hooksets.  Those bass a tricky little devils.  It's amazing how a one pound bass can hit a lure and try to rip the rod out of your hand, then a 5 pound bass can hit a lure and you never even know it.

I think Lightninrod hit it right on the head.  This is the main reason I almost exclusively use baitcasters.  For me it seems like I can keep better contact with my bait at all times, including the fall.  Why?  I have no idea.  It's probably just a confidence thing.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Yep, it's Bigmoth by Glen Lau

http://www.questforadventure.com/bassvideocollection.htm

[Fisher of Men]

Good pick KU,

I own both of these videos and show them to my science students each year.  I've seen each at least 20 times and still enjoy watching them.  I, too, learned a bunch from Bigmouth and don't take any change in line feel for granted.  The last time I checked, BPS had Bigmouth and Bigmouth Forever on the shelf (or at least in Grapevine, Tx.) for the same price.  I wish they'd put them out on DVD.  Even though Bigmouth was made in the early 70's, I haven't ever seen any better underwater footage of largemouth bass.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Why didn't I ever have somene like you for a science teacher?

[Guest avid]

Line watching is the great bassmans passtime.  If your bottom fishing and not looking at the line, then you are surely missing strikes.  I find the softest strikes are with jigs.  For some reason bass usually strike a worm harder than a jig.  I kinda doesn't make sense because the worm looks so light.  But I know others feel the same way.  I fish my jigs on a pretty taut line with little slack.  'Worms on a slack line.  works for me most of the time.

[dabluz]

When I fish and let the lure fall, it's a controlled fall.  There is no slack line, yet the lure falls.  The further away the lure is, the easier it is to follow the fall of the lure with the rod tip.  You can actually feel the lure hit bottom.  Once you get the feel of the bottom, whenever that feeling appears different, there's a good probability that it's a fish.

[Sam]

There are three "bigmouth" videos.  

Bigmounth; Bigmouth Forever; and Feeding Habits of Bass.

Uncle Homer and Glen Lau are involved so you know they are top notch films.

Contact Wet & Wild Images, P.O. Box 480, Silver Springs, Florida 34489; (800) 661-4286.

Enjoy!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Fisher-what's an isotope? lol

DaBluz- be careful, many lures and plastics require a slack line to achieve proper action (wacky rigged senko comes to mind)

[Chris]

If I am fishing a short distance away from my jig like when I flip or pitch you can sometimes see the tick or jump in your line when the bait hits the bottom. When you lift up on your rod to feel contact with your jig and it feels different or heavy set the hook. If you see the line tick and your bait is on the bottom and you didn't move it set it. With a jig they don't hit it and spit it like a worm. That is what those small ticks are that you feel when you get a strike on a worm. They are either doing that or just grabbing it to stop it then the next tick is when they got a good hold on it then they move off with it. With a jig they got it on the first tick. You got time with a jig to set the hook but you don't need it I set it asap. If you find that you are missing a lot of fish change to a lighter jig so that they get it on the first tick deep in their mouth. Also if they are spitting it then your jig is to big and they think they need to crush it to kill it before eating it. You can shorten the trailer to make it smaller or change the weight.

[Shad_Master]

Hook sets are free!!!! Take as many as you want. Anytime your line does something strange, set the hook.

Ditto!!!