Strike Seen or Unseen - Which are you better with...

[islandbass]

or less likely to lose?

The more I fish, I think I am seeing that I am far better at hooking up when I don't see the strike. I rarely lose one when I don't see the take.

When I see the strike, I think I tend to get too excited and react too quickly. This has cost me some really nice fish, including my first catch with my Joker crankbait.

It's irksome to say the least. What say you?

[swilly78]

Im not great with topwaters, I think Im to impatiant.....So Unseen for me.

[alwayslooking]

sometimes when using the frog,,i'll see the wake coming,,lets me conciously think about giving the xtra second before setting the hook,,but then, when fishing topwater, i always see the strike, never take my eyes off the bait, lost a few because i would look away,,(looking for next casting spot) right at the boat

[D4u2s0t]

I said equal.  Just have to have enough patience when you see it.

[J Francho]

Doesn't matter to me.  Frogs gave me trouble for years, until I fished them a lot.  Seen or unseen, both require concentration to stick the fish.  Also, many unseen strikes are actually seen - by line watching.

[chubaka]

Unseen for me because whenever i see a strike i get way too excited and i set the hook way too early.

[mrlitetackle]

i agree with some of the posts....

though i love topwater, and the hits are great.......

i as well get a little overzealous at times, and yank the darn bait straight away from the fish.

.... :-/

[GRiver]

I react too quickly when I see it.

[iceintheveins]

I do well not pulling the lure away from a fish on a topwater take, but I think overall I still do better on unseen strikes.

[angler1]

Unseen for me.

[SirSnookalot]

Unseen

I try and make an effort not to look at a topwater lure, but it's difficult not to.

[Lund Explorer]

Not that it always works, but I try to make a game out of a topwater bite to see how long I can wait before the hook set.  I found that using a casting bubble and spider for bluegills in the spring makes for great practice.  It is amazing how many times a bass will inhale the bubble (with no hook attached).  Patience is really the key.

[Catt]

It's all good

[senile1]

Unseen

I try and make an effort not to look at a topwater lure, but it's difficult not to.

That takes part of the fun out of it!    I guess I'm about the same either way.  

[NasTMcfingas]

It's all good

It's not whether or not I see the strike, but rather when I feel the fish. It seem like it took me forever to learn the proper time when to set the hook using frogs.

[MALTESE FALCON]

I'm pretty consistant with my hook setting. I don't think I'm any better either way.

Falcon

[6pointbuck2003]

i tend to react to fast if i see the bite with a soft plastic.

[RoLo]

When I used to fish with nylon monofilament I was a big "line-watcher", but braided line has made me lazy.

By limiting the line-sag to about 3" per yard, very few if any pickups will go undetected with braided line.

The least perceptible pickup is when the bass moves toward the angler, but this removes all resistance from the lure,

which raises the odds that the bass will still be holding on when the slack line is mended.

As soon as I perceive a pickup, the first thing I do is lower the rod to remove all resistance from the lure.

You know what the next this is.

Roger

[aarogb]

I get way to excited when it comes to topwater baits.

[Bassn Blvd]

I'm equally as good except when it comes to frogs.  I hate frogs. The frog comes flying at me 100mph every time I set the hook.

[Catt]

It's all good

It's not whether or not I see the strike, but rather when I feel the fish. It seem like it took me forever to learn the proper time when to set the hook using frogs.

Seen or unseen he breaths on it he's mine  

[looking4structure]

I'm way to impatient with top waters and when i see the strike i set the hook way to fast.I catch way more fish with the unseen strike.

[Bankbeater]

I have really never thought about it.

[Shimmer]

Definately unseen.

Yesterday was a great example, I was just flippin a jig maybe a foot out into muck around the edge of a pond when all of a sudden I'm guessing around a 7lb bass jumps out of the water to get my jig as I pull it out and lands on the shore. /heartattack

I throw it back in twice and he smacks the heck out of it and thrashes around in about a half a foot of water...it scared me half to death and thus missing two hooksets. I tend to get overly excited when I see the fish :-/