Bites on the fall

[NCthompson]

how do you detect bites on the fall? im especially talking about a senko.

[Mobydick]

Watch your line. Thats what a lot of people will say. My line lays on the top of the water, I watch it to see if it twitches or anything. You can detect the slightest movement by watching it.

[Cajun1977]

sometimes youll see the line move, sometimes youll feel a thump.    a good rod  will help pick up alot more bites.  i noticed  the amount of bites from going to a high quality  shoot thru the roof.

also if you start feeling like a machine gun is shooting your lure  then its a bluegill,  i been dealing with this alot lately

[Guest avid]

Line watching is one of the most important skills a new basser needs to develop.  With senko's, jigs, and virtually all slow moving or deadsticked lures the "hit" can be so subtle as to be undetectable.

YOU WILL NOT FEEL IT>   Seriously.  The bass don't bite the lure they just inhale it.  but they can't inhale a lure and have the line still act in a natural manner.  Any twitch, movement or sensation, that does not look natural may mean a bass has picked up the bait.  You can wait a moment to be sure, or you can crank down and set the hook.  Waiting is not the problem it used to be.  If you have slack in the line on a weightless plastic, the bass won't spit it out. But it's your call.

the key is not to "feel" the strike, but to "see" it via the line.

[Catt]

There are very few times I see my line move & I don't feel it  

If you want to really learn how to feel a bite fish during a New Moon in total darkness with no lights.

It will absolutely scare you   8-)

[Senko4life]

It's all about watching the line

[NCthompson]

how can you tell the difference from the wind moving your line, the current, or maybe getting stuck in grass. i know you have to watch it, but ive never really watched the line when a fish bit, or even someone elses so its going to be tough.

[Catt]

I'm telling y'all if you truly want to learn what a bite fells like on Texas rigs, wacky rigs, Carolina rigs, jigs, or any slow moving bait y'all gotta give night fishing a try.

It will totally chance your thought process  

[Guest ncbass24]

how can you tell the difference from the wind moving your line, the current, or maybe getting stuck in grass. i know you have to watch it, but ive never really watched the line when a fish bit, or even someone elses so its going to be tough.

If you think you have a bite, wait a few seconds and set the hook. Swings are free.

[John J.]

Indeed, what everyone said, watch that line. If you are fishing with texas rig, drop-shot, etc. feel for the thump. If you ever need practice, a good place to try it out with be at a pond or somewhere that has a good stock of bass.

And remember, the heavier wacky baits fall faster, so your line will sink a lot faster. What I do is watch for my line to twitch and then start running away. If the line appears to dissapear inch by inch, it is just your senko/lure sinking.

Good luck!  8-)

[Sam]

One of the obstacles of a bite on the fall is that you are not expecting it and are fooling around with your reel or scratching yourself or talking to your buddy or looking about the area for your next cast.

You have to be ready from the start of the cast to set the hook.

This past Wednesday evening I went to a local pond on the way home and just for fun decided to throw a Pop-R.  It was 9 PM, very little light, and I was just throwing to get to fish that day, not expecting anything to happen.

The Pop-R hit the water and bam!, he hit it.

And I missed him as I had too much slack in my line.

So I threw back and on the second cast he hit it again and I landed him.

About 10 minutes later I threw to the same general area again and wham!, he hit it just as it hit the water.  I landed him, too.

I have had Senkos and Zoom finesse worms and Scum Frogs hit the water and keep on moving.  One time I thought the Scum Frog just sank when I casted it until the line started running away. Sorry to say I was not ready and missed him.  That bass inhaled that bait as it hit the water with no warning.

You have to be ready for this to occur on every cast; be it a good cast or a bad cast.  When that bait hits the water it is open season for the fish looking for an easy meal.

So keep the slack out of your line and watch your line, closley.  Set that hook hard and make sure you don't fall down or throw yourself out of the boat when setting the hook. It can be embarrassing.

[NCthompson]

alright thanks for the advice. i guess i dont want to set the hooks so much because I dont want to lose a bunch of senkos by ripping them setting the hooks on nothing. I just lost 5 of my senkos in about 2 hours of fishing the last 2 days on logs and one time it got snapped in half i guess by a crab.

[Guest avid]

There are very few times I see my line move & I don't feel it

Actually during the daylight I leave enough slack in the line so I can see and not feel it.

Problem is it's pretty windy here on the coast and I have to tighten up.  That's where the sensative rod and braided line come in handy.  

Night fishing for me is mostly top waters, so it's all about sound and feel.

I'll use a worm sometimes but still try to keep a little slack in the line.  this way when he picks it up he does the cranking part for me, and all I have to do is set the hook.

[RoLo]

Actually during the daylight I leave enough slack in the line so I can see and not feel it.

Problem is it's pretty windy here on the coast and I have to tighten up. That's where the sensative rod and braided line come in handy

That's about as good a summation as you'll ever find! (more there than meets the eye)

"Semi-slack" line has become a household expression among fishermen, and as Avid suggested, even if the line is lying

in loose coils on the water, it won't matter if you're watching the far end of visible line on the surface.

Maintaining a slack line removes all line-drag and gives the lure the most seductive descent. In spite of that fact,

I confess that I prefer to feel the bass strike, so I fish accordingly. Rather than use a semi-slack line,

I normally fish more of a "near-tight" line, a subtle but importance difference.

Try This:

Tie on a heavy weight (say 1oz), step outside in your backyard, cast the weight onto your lawn, then slowly crank out

all line-slack until the line is as straight as possible. Now drop the rod only slightly so the tip-top guide moves just 1-inch

toward the weight. You will notice that one-inch of slack line has put about 8 to 10" of belly in the line,

as measured from the original taut line to the bottom of the droop. It's not easy to do and takes a little practice,

but as the lure is falling, if you stay just behind a tight line by limiting the line-sag to 10 inches,

you will "feel" the vast majority of strikes whether it's windy or calm.

Roger

[.ghoti.]

All you guys new to the sport, go back and read RoLo's tip again.

Nicely put, Roger.

Cheers,

GK

[Bassn Blvd]

Line watching is one of the most important skills a new basser needs to develop.  With senko's, jigs, and virtually all slow moving or deadsticked lures the "hit" can be so subtle as to be undetectable.

YOU WILL NOT FEEL IT>   Seriously.  The bass don't bite the lure they just inhale it.  but they can't inhale a lure and have the line still act in a natural manner.  Any twitch, movement or sensation, that does not look natural may mean a bass has picked up the bait.  You can wait a moment to be sure, or you can crank down and set the hook.  Waiting is not the problem it used to be.  If you have slack in the line on a weightless plastic, the bass won't spit it out. But it's your call.

the key is not to "feel" the strike, but to "see" it via the line.

Sorry Avid but I totaly disagree.   Learning to worm fish by feel rather than line watching is much more valuable.  Even if your just starting out.  I can feel hits on the downfall and while the worm is at rest on the bottom.  I've taught myself to feel the line against my finger as i hold the reel.  When the fish hits, I can feel the weight of the fish and tell you what direction he is swimming (most of the time) with my eyes closed.  Too me. watching the line move across the water means you have too much slack and are probaly missing alot of bites.

[Guest avid]

worm fishing with weight such as the standard t rig is different, for me at least, then weightless senko fishing.  Just the way you developed your sense of touch so that you can feel the slightest pickup, I can detect the slightest unnatural movement.

I think this is a "to each his own" scenario.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

All I do is watch my line.

[Catt]

To me it doesn't matter if it's a Texas Rig, Jig-N-Craw, Carolina Rig or a Senko I use the same technique to feel the bite. The key here is to pick the one you're comfortable with and use it because the only wrong way is the one you aint comfortable with.

Each of us has little quirks that work for us because it makes us comfortable  

My nephew holds his rod in his left hand above the reel with the line between his thumb and forefinger; his hand stays in this position even after setting hook.

[Matt Fly]

You better use any method you can.    There are days that wind makes it harder to line watch, or feel, you use both.  

Matt

[Shad_Master]

If you happen to be of a certain age, like me, it can be hard to see your line under a lot of different conditions - this is why I am not as good at it as I should be.  The alternative is to have low stretch line that signals the bite (flourocarbon or braid).