sensitive hands a gift or a learned thing?

[JuniorFisherJJ08]

I feel its almost like a 6th sense. When im fishing i never watch 1thing in particular but everything as a whole just makes sense 2 me. Its almost a gut instinct it really is quite weird. Anyway im sure you can learn 2 an extent but its like sports you can only make urself so good, the rest you have 2 be born with.

[Catt]

If anchored and casting into 15-20'with a 5 mph or less wind I can feel a ¼ oz bullet hit bottom; sometimes if the conditions are right I can feel a 3/16 oz.; I don't mean I can estimate the time.

I can feel the thump as it contacts bottom; that's what new moon night fishing teaches you

[steezy]

I never hold or touch the line, thats why I bought the high end sensitive rod.  Plus if I'm touching/holding the line then I'm not as prepared to set the hook.

If I get a hard hit I will feel it in the rod and see the line become real tight. If I get a subtle hit I will still feel it in the rod and probably still see the line move when the fish tries to run with the bait.

Not the same for everyone, but thats how it works for me.

[Fishing Cowgirl]

This is a great topic!!  

[aceman387]

having not fished for a long time i wondered if stress or fatigue would effect sensitivity because alot of times i will go fishing right from work and after a long day my focus isint there and like Catt said about fishing at night i have tried closing my eyes as I'm reeling in a rubber worm  or jig as i reel in slowly . I'm improving .most of the time i fish local forest preserve lakes that are packed with people and you re stuck in you re little casting area i didn't want to look to goofy looking like I'm sleeping standing up but I'm trying alot of what you guys said thanks for the responses , this place is the best!

[EastMarkME]

This is a great topic!!

I think so too.

Some great thoughts about a critical part of converting bites to landing fish. I am a intense line/tip watcher but never put a finger on the line. I may try it next time out. I want/need badly to increase my hookup percentage and love to learn and improve. I miss too many.

Mark

[WRB]

having not fished for a long time i wondered if stress or fatigue would effect sensitivity because alot of times i will go fishing right from work and after a long day my focus isint there and like Catt said about fishing at night i have tried closing my eyes as I'm reeling in a rubber worm or jig as i reel in slowly . I'm improving .most of the time i fish local forest preserve lakes that are packed with people and you re stuck in you re little casting area i didn't want to look to goofy looking like I'm sleeping standing up but I'm trying alot of what you guys said thanks for the responses , this place is the best!

List your tackle, maybe we can give you some specific techniques to try. Similar to what Catt listed.

rod:

reel:

line:

worm/hook:

presentation: T-rig, C-rig.

jig/trailer:

other lure you like to use:

Fatigue is a big factor when fishing some lures and presentations.

Where on the lake you fish is far more important, bass are not evenly distributed throughout any lake, they prefer specific places.

WRB

[bilgerat]

I try to keep a finger on the blank just forward of the handle.

Try this: Go to a pond with a decent amount of shallow water. Place some large rocks, logs. sticks, whatever into the water. Then slowly drag your worm or jig over them to get the feel of different things. Try to have a decent amount of line out, not 2' in front of you.

You may also have too much slack in the line which would inhibit you from feeling a small tap.

[Fishing Rhino]

The finger on the line.

Years ago, I used to troll for stripers using a spinning rod.

I, and those I fished with would let the line out with the bail open, using the index finger to stop the line from spooling out.

We did this to feel when the worm rig (live seaworm/sandworm, not plastic) began to tick the bottom.  

Once the bail was closed, we still used the index finger to feel light hits, especially when a fish would strike the lure coming up on it from behind, and creating a momentary slack in the line.

When "bottom jerking" for cod or tautog, we'd hold the boat pole abover the reel with three fingers, middle, ring, and little, then hold the line between the thumb and forefinger.  It wasn't so much holding the line as letting it pass under the thumb and over the index finger, with a gap between them.

I think that technique would work well for dropshotting, which is similar to bottom jerking.

Drop shotting is my next brave new world to conquer, or at least fight to a draw.

[Poolie727]

I never hold or touch the line, thats why I bought the high end sensitive rod. Plus if I'm touching/holding the line then I'm not as prepared to set the hook.

If I get a hard hit I will feel it in the rod and see the line become real tight. If I get a subtle hit I will still feel it in the rod and probably still see the line move when the fish tries to run with the bait.

Not the same for everyone, but thats how it works for me.

I place my thumb on the spool (baitcaster obviously) for that extra bit of feel when working a worm/jig. In my younger days I used to palm the reel so that I could run the line between index finger and thumb but at least for me, I can't set the hook as well holding the rod like that.

This is a great topic. To me, a bite usually feel obvious which concerns me that there may be this whole level of 'subtle' strikes that I'm not feeling or processing. I practice occasionally in our swimming pool (much to my wife's displeasure) by placing a couple rocks in the shallow end and pulling a worm though them so I can visualize what I'm feeling. That works great for bottom structure but doesn't help me much for knowing just how softly a bass can pickup my worm.

[WRB]

It comes down to how you program your brain. If you learned to fish holding rod and cupping the bait casting reel line feedback came through the reel & rod. If you learned to hold a rod in front of the bait reel and ran the line over your index finger, line feedback was directly through your finger tip and rod if the middle finger rested on the rod blank. Spinning reels, it's a lot more difficult to feel the line unless the reel is stopped and the lure is moved with the rod while a finger rest on the line. The one exception with a spinning reel is the stitching retrieve and the reel isn't evolved, you retrieve the line by hand.

When fishing jigs and soft plastics, I feel the line. Most other presentations like crankbaits, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, top water lures, I rely on visual clues and the rod to determine strikes.

Everyone develops their own style and once programed stay with it.

WRB

[vatech]

Neither... lots of lotion and dedicated moisturizing.

A real thought though... I'd say about 1/4 fish that I catch, I don't necessarily feel him there at all. This is probably a bad thing, but I become very egotisical and convince myself I'm omniscient and just KNOW when my lure is in a fish's mouth. In these moments I will pull my rod back and set that hook and occasionally I come out being right.

I think it comes down to conditioning, getting use to the moments when fish usually do strike so you're more ready for it and honed in to feel something if something does occur.

You feel your spinner bait hit a stump and deflect, you stop your retrieve to let it flutter and act stunned. You didn't feel anything but gosh, isn't that just a signature moment when they usually take it? SET THE HOOK.

[Koop]

Man I knew a Masseuse with the most sensitive hands. She got closed down, something about rubbing a cop the wrong way

lmfao  ;D

[Cire]

I've been thinking about this question for the whole week (kinda sad I know) and I now believe that it is a learned thing. I think that we all have the sense of touch, we have to learn how increase the level of our sensitivity to touch.

One example I can think of is an adult that goes blind after being able to see. The other senses will become more sensitive such as touch. I have tried to feel Braile with my fingers before and I could not feel the difference. Did the person have the gift of touch before they went blind or did they learn to use the sense more?

Another question to think about, why do some people close their eyes to hear better? Or when fishing at night, because they can't see they can feel the bite better? I have also noticed that when I'm getting distracted fishing by feel, I will close my eyes and my sensitivity to touch goes up (or maybe that I can concentrate more).

I believe that the real good fisherman have learned how to concentrate on the sense of touch with all of their other senses functioning fully and are not is distracted by all of the other inputs.

My 2 cents,

Eric