When to set the hook?

[Bassackward]

       First of all, I just want to thank everyone who posted on the "hook in the gullet" post.  I have caught two fish in the past week with the hook in the gullet, and successfully removed the hook from both going through the gills.  My question is if I am waiting too long to set the hook.  When using a worm(senko) I will usually let the fish take line for 2-4 seconds after I feel the first bump.  Is this correct, or should I be setting the hook right after I feel the bump?  Do the bass usually inhale the worm before starting to swim, or do they gradually eat the worm as they are swimming away?

[Catt]

This is the way Shaw Grigsby put it to me, its call the three tap theory.

The first tap the bass has inhaled your bait

The second tap the bass has exhaled your bait

The third tap I'm tapping you on the shoulder asking you why you didn't set hook!

[BassinAssassin171]

It depends on how long the worm is and how you are rigging it.  The past week I've been having a lot of success fishing a 5" Swim-Senko rigged weightless but hooked Texas style.  The hits normally come on the fall, but it doesn't matter when they hit it: what I (and Mike Iaconelli) do is give the worm a small tug to ensure that there is actually a fish there.  After that tug, the fish has had plenty of time, rear back on him!

[XcoM274]

After I feel it bump once or twice, even very subtly, I slowly reel or pull back a little, (emphasis on slow), and when you feel like your line is heavy give it the biggest jerk you can muster. Its a lot easier to learn if you use a Texas rig with a bullet sinker for starters. Weightless worms are very hard to detect hits on, especially in the cold.

[BassinAssassin171]

I find them quite easy to detect.  On one twitch you feel the light little weight of the worm jerking in the water, on the next you feel the increased weight of a bass' jaws clamping down on your Senko

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

I find them quite easy to detect. On one twitch you feel the light little weight of the worm jerking in the water, on the next you feel the increased weight of a bass' jaws clamping down on your Senko

Agreed.Unless they swim at you : See the hook  in the gullet post  ;D

[BassinAssassin171]

ah yes but i believe you know how to deal with that now correct?

[Catt]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap  

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

[HesterIsGod]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

x2. Bass often inhale a lure and then spit it out quickly, set the hook before they spit it. Even if you set the hook too early the fish will often get excited and eat it again.

[jrhennecke]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

x2. Bass often inhale a lure and then spit it out quickly, set the hook before they spit it. Even if you set the hook too early the fish will often get excited and eat it again.

x3.  Hooksets are free.

[Yakfish]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

X3  

[bocabasser]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

x2. Bass often inhale a lure and then spit it out quickly, set the hook before they spit it. Even if you set the hook too early the fish will often get excited and eat it again.

x3. Hooksets are free.

JR i fish with a guy who says that a lot----hooksets are free!

whenever i feel anything out of the ordinary, i whack 'em.

[Paul Roberts]

I hate it when I damage the fish I catch, which can be a common thing with soft plastic baits. Also, I get to do a lot of sight fishing in the clear shallow ponds I fish, so I'd ended up with a problem at the other end of the spectrum missing fish. What I suspected was happening, and my response to it, has been born out from research on bass feeding behavior. Bear with me; It's interesting, and practical:

Bass mouths are adapted to suction feeding. Suction feeding is a two-part action: Water, with the food, is sucked into the mouth, THEN the water has to be expelled out through the gills. This is important in people missing strikes I believe. I know it has been for me.

The trick is, you have to wait for the bass to expel the water before you set up. This can be less a problem with fish you don't see take because by the time you've detected, the deed is done especially with larger fish. But on a short line, when detection is instantaneous, and on sighted takes, this becomes a key issue.

There's a third part too called handling time how long it takes for the bass to get control of the prey before they ingest it, or spit it out. Handling may involve further suction (gobbling) and crushing bites (with tongue against pharyngeal teeth). Handling time is important for anglers when we use a long lure like a plastic worm and is dependant on the size, and aggression, of the bass. I've noticed that with a 5 Senko (a bulky worm), a roughly 15 bass often takes a couple gobbles to suck down such a worm, which you feel as multiple taps. With really small fish you may feel rapid multiple taps as the small fish attempts to gobble up the length of the worm. I often gently pull the bait away from such fish. With large bass handling time is minimal. Line watchers will see the suction events as a flicks' in the line. On the dead weight' feeling, the fish has already engulfed it. When the line skating off, the deed is done and he's moving off with the bait.

Usually the complete action, with a say 15 bass, is like this: Suck, getting half the worm in, then suck once more to engulf it, then expel the water, then bite down. If I set up anytime prior to the water being expelled, I'll likely pull the bait from them. I have to wait until the bait is in, and then allow them the added second to expel the water. They then bite down on the bait, which is the optimum time to set the hook. Again, the biggest problem, for me and I assume others, has been when sight fishing (seeing the bass take), or on a short line when detection is instantaneous. You have to wait until they go through the process: inhale, and expel the water. This takes a good full second, or two. If I don't see the take and it's a ways out I may miss the sequence and simply feel weight, or see the line moving.

Deep hooking appears to be part of the game with soft plastics. Often, if the bass don't feel you or the weight of the line, they choose to ingest. I don't know any sure way around it. Sometimes you don't detect in time. Sometimes it's a very aggressive hungry fish that ingests right away. Sometimes it's a big one that needs no handling time you can't always tell whether it's a 14 incher or a 20 incher. Salted and formulaic (PowerBait) baits are more apt to be ingested, in my experience and others. (See this particularly interesting post: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html) Some waters in Colorado even have a ban on salted lures like Senko's.

I feel somewhat responsible to be careful in fishing with soft plastics, especially the new salted and formulaic baits, (which we can't seem to get away from). I went barbless with my soft plastic baits last year. Studies have indicated that barbless hooks do not always save fish that are deeply hooked (see discussion at:  http://www.bigindianabass.typepad.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/10/  But I counter that barbless hooks decrease time spent trying to extract any hook, especially important with gill or esophagus hooked fish.

Anyway, glad you're interested in the issue, as I know we share water here in Colorado. That simply gorgeous 5lber you took last week deserves to swim again. You'll see her later, I'm sure.

[fishinfiend]

Awesome post Mr. Roberts. I will keep your advice in mind next time

I'm fishing.

[Bassackward]

Awesome article about the skinny fish.  Thanks for the post

[Paul Roberts]

Oooops! Sorry Bassackward, confused you with another "BassAckward".

[Bankbeater]

I set the hook as soon as I start to feel the tap tap tap.

[ba7ss3in]

I don't waste much time with setting the hook. Quick snap

[Americangirl]

Bass do not have hands; so where do y'all think the worm is when y'all feel the tap

Drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!

you took the words right outta my mouth

[SuskyDude]

I set the hook instantly, or very close to that, with most soft plastics. Some of the larger ones (senkos, worms, etc) I may wait a second or two. Literally. Not this 3-5 seconds I've heard people mention. Thats way more time than needed, and can result in missed or gut-hook fish.

As soon as I feel a bump, I drop the rod tip, and pick up slack until I can feel there is something still there. Then I let er rip. Total elapsed time from bump to set is usually a second or less. Sometimes you have to do a little more feeling around for the fish, but not five seconds.

Gut hooked fish needn't be common with soft plastics. Pay closer attention.

[BassinBoy]

Quote

This is the way Shaw Grigsby put it to me, its call the three tap theory.

The first tap the bass has inhaled your bait

The second tap the bass has exhaled your bait

The third tap I'm tapping you on the shoulder asking you why you didn't set hook!

Sounds good to me!  The way I do it is the first tap I feel is when I set the hook, but that only if my line is already tight.  If I lift up on slack line and feel that my lure is heavy then I keep the line tight and wait for a tap to make sure it is a fish.  Sometime my line will just swim away and I know to set the hook.