stirking bass and aftermath

[Gr8wall]

Hello all.  I was wondering if you could tell (i guess only for topwater strikes) if the strikes are from anger or hunger?  thats just curiosty. but for usefull information, i konw they say to make several cast to the same area so fish can zero in on the target, but what about after a fish has struck but missed?  do fish usually strike and if unsuccessful move somewhere else?  i know you should cast to the area just in case more bass are holding cover there, but just wondering what happens to a bass after it misses on a strike.  thanks guys and gals

[Grey Wolf]

The fish will still be there , a lot of guys will follow up with a worm after a miss.

[BASS fisherman]

From what I know, bass strikeing a topwater is not known whether it is from anger or because they are hungry. I believe it is a territorial thing, where they will attack the lure to get rid of it. Since they don't have a fist to punch with, or feet to kick with, they hit it with their tail or they bite the lure, and attempt to either hit it, or move it out of the area. That is my opinion, but I really don't know. I really don't think bass "miss". I think at times they will hit the lure with their tail, but that is to scare the creature that is bothering them. Now if a bass truely strikes at a topwater and misses, I have found more often then not they strike at it again. And rarely ever miss the second time. Just my opinion through my experience.

[NEBassMan]

i had 1 bass strike my jitterbug 3 times on the same retrieve, but wouldn't eat it.  I think he was a little mad at it, he he

[Marty]

In my personal experience, it has been extremely rare for a fish to strike a second time. If it tries to strike and misses, it will often try again, but if it strikes and contacts the lure, I hardly ever get another strike.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

As with just about all baits, the topwater bite can come from all of the above.

Hungry

mad

territorial

Reaction (fight or flight)

Easy food

[Chug Bug]

You can usually tell by the manner n which they are hooked, what it is that they are doing.  Hooked outside the mouth-slashing at it.  Inside the mouth- Feeding.

[Guest avid]

It all depends if they try to cross the picket line.  

[RoLo]

i know you should cast to the area just in case more bass are holding cover there, but just wondering what happens to a bass after it misses on a strike.

Kool Question 8-)

It's been my experience, that when a bass strikes a lure and misses, there's a better than even chance that he'll strike again.

On the other hand, if I felt the weight of the bass during the strike, it's almost a certainty that I won't get him to strike anymore.

We as fishermen typically say that the bass "felt the hook", but in reality a bass has no idea what a hook might be.

More than likely, when a bass experiences "resistance" during his attack, he may instinctively feel as though he's unqualified

to subdue or hang onto the prey, so he will opt out.

      For example, striped bass will hit an eel harder than anything else that I know. I believe the reason for this

is that stripers instinctively know that they need to whack an eel fast and hard. It has been documented that even a swallowed eel

is sometimes capable of swimming back out through the bass's gullet and out his mouth. So while fishermen believe that the fish

felt the hook, the predator may have his own reasons for snubbing a bait.

Roger

[phisher_d]

Having a second rod rigged with a follow-up bait (senko, tube, worm, shaky head...) can really help when you're fishing topwaters.  Just cast to where the blow-up was, let it sink, and hold on.

[Gr8wall]

sweet thanks for the replies guys.  i have a tournament sunday and this is some useful stuff.  i am only gonna have two rods out the first is a mh 6'6" daiwa tierra with viento baitcaster with 20lb braid and the other is a quantum m 7' rod with a light 4 bearing spinnign reel (something i have to hold me over till i can find a better setup to partner with the daiwa setup).  i was thinkingof using a frog or buzz on the daiwa setup and texas rigged worm on the quantum setup.  or (probably a mistake) popper on the quantum and frog on the daiwa?  what do you guys think?  thanks

[Shad_Master]

Over this past year there is a stretch of bank that I fished almost every night.  I found it while fishing in a tournament and they were just stacked up on the weed line.  As the summer dragged on, I would head out to fish from the bank for about an hour or so every evening.  I found that when I would first arrive, I would get hit repeatedly by bluegills on plastic worms.  But within 15 minutes or so of sundown the bite would stop abruptly and I would get nothing for 10 minutes or so.  Then about the time the sun touched the horizon, I would start to get bass strikes and lots of them.  I started carrying a buzz bait to throw at this time and found that I could get up to four strikes in a row (sometimes) before I hooked up.  This would keep up until it was dark and the "skeeters" got so thick I had to leave.  In this case, my conclusion was that the bass were moving into the shallows to feed and would strike because they were attracted to the noise and the commotion.  I could also get some strikes on a jig or a plastic worm but not as many and not as big.

[Peter E.]

Well as far as the choice of tackle keep in mind the conditions you are faced with. If the water is good and clear these presentations are great. One of the best times to throw a top water presentation is with clear water and when blue gill are suspending. Even when it is in the middle of the day as long as you got a little haze or over cast its good.

Here are some rules for selecting top water action:

Zara spook walk the dog retreive: These seem to trigger larger than normal fish and is a good all around action.

Devils horse prop bait: These baits produce the best on days with a little wind or ripple on the water.

Hula Popper popper action: These baits are great for the still calm when fish seem to be unwilling to bite.

Keep in mind that your retreive and cadence in how you reel can be a huge determining factor to the number of fish you catch. Try a few casts with a steady regular cadence, and then start to alter it. The fish will tell you the best one.

Try to use baits that are a bit bigger that what you expect to need. The water will distort the location of the bait in the eyes of the bass. Like a straw in a glass of water. When a bass misses KEEP THE RETREIVE THE SAME if it triggered the fish once it can and often will trgger it a second time. Keep in mind that with top water action and sound are the main attractions and triggers.

The things that attract the attention of a fish are: Size, Sound, Sight.

Large size will attract the attention of a fish, loud sound will attract the attention of a fish and so will bright colors.

These attractant factors taken to the extreme can spook fish though.

Size, action, speed are good triggers. Small size, irregular action, and Speed will often trigger a fish into biting.

Take this case in point for example:

If a bass say, follows a popper out but turns short of striking try a diver like a Rapala, the popper may have attracted the bass but the diving action could be what triggers.

 

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

Very informative guys, peter i really liked what you said, a lot i knew but didnt actually think about and put into words, very good paragraph

[fourbizz]

It all depends if they try to cross the picket line.  

I thought it was funny Avid You might not be able to tell if a striking bass is hungry, but you can at least be certain of his religious denomination: PROTESTant

[Tom Bass]

I always throw a lure back across the same retrieve line if I get a strike but no hookup and quite often I get a strike in the very same spot. I usually nab the bass the second time around.

[BassChaser57]

I have had bass hit a topwater so hard hat they would knock the zara spook 1 foot out of the water and I have had bass sit right under and behind the spook and watch it on the pause, as soon as it would twich again--WHAM. The walk the dog with pauses has been my most productive technique for topwateras as it is a slower presentation that allows the bass to target the bait. The conditions have to be just right before I will use a buzz bait. I have read 10% of strikes are feeding strikes, 90% are opportunity/agressiveness stikes. This is why repetitive casts work--tick em off and trigger the aggressive strike.

8-)

[Peter E.]

Thanks CrazedL.I.Fisherman, I hope it did kind of shed some new light on the situation. Like you said alot of people know the properties of a bait that they use, say how to work it, but the trick is that alot of guys don't know when to throw it.

Alot of begining anglers love to throw top water lure because of two things, they are able to keep eye contact on the lure at all times, and lets face it it's probably the most fun way to catch fish. But as these same anglers get more adept at other presentations they forget to throw these lures, and never really learn WHEN to use them to their best advantage.

Flats anglers sometimes throw top water exclusively and to be honest bass anglers could do the same and have good results also. We just don't do it.

[boondocks]

Something that I'v noticed while fishing topwaters also is that if you have a fish blow up on your lure and go through the whole cast back technique(with the same lure or a different one) and you still are not able to get a bite, give the fish a little time(10 minutes should be plenty) and go back through with the topwater that originally got its attention, and WHAM zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz ohh thats a BIGGUN!!!

[justfishin]

I think that bass sometime strike in anger,and sometimes for food. I will say one thing, if you don't " sore lip " them, there is a big chance they will stike again. Smallmouth are famous for the strike and miss. I use a lot of Zara Spooks on big smallies and when they miss them I usually just keep working my lure back to the boat and then throw a wacky worm or fluke back to the general area and 75% of the time they will hit them. I always have a backup ready. Good luck.

[Painter Dude]

I love topwater! BLOWUPS are so exciting that your first instincts are to go right back with the same  as soon as possible. But if I can control myself I have better luck backing it up with a senko or other soft plastic.

[Peter E.]

Well Rays777 if you will go back to my first post on this thread it goes into depth on why it might be best to follow that strike up with a senko or something along those lines.

[flyhatch]

this summer in the evening while i was getting lots of misses on a spitin image at pretty much the same spot

i finally hooked up and it was a catfish

go figure....