missed the fish.

[I.rar]

so i missed what was probably my PB largemouth today. i was fishing a creek that came off this lake. i was throwing a 3.5" bass magic swimbait under some trees. as i was reeling the bait back in , i was about to lift it out the water when this huge fish , probably 6-7lbs , came out of no where and inhaled it .... i set the hook too early  > > :'( :'(.

he saw me , i saw him and he was gone. we made eye contact and everything. i had to leave shortly since i was running late to meet up with the woman. i made a couple casts right after with the same bait , then a spot remover but i think he took off and so did i.

my question is , when you guys miss a fish , what do you follow up with? same bait? slower presentation?

[JigMe]

I go with slower presentation, and use power worm.

P.S. sqhertz started another topic, lets see how many pages this one gonna go.... : I am kidding! ;D

[Paul Roberts]

I go with slower presentation, and use power worm.

P.S. sqhertz started another topic, lets see how many pages this one gonna go.... : I am kidding! ;D

What's interesting is how easy it is to  miss sighted fish in close.

[WRB]

Sometimes the bass is focused on the lure and doesn't appear to see the boat and will go under the boat and wait for the baitfish to return.

Try the old musky trick and leave the lure in the water and make figure patterns with the lure next to the boat, if the bass is still around it may return and strike again.

Your next option is to leave and return about 2 hours later and repeat the same cast and presentation with the same lure.

WRB

[I.rar]

i was fishing from the bank. the way we looked at each other , i know he saw me. he did the ' oh crap! ' thing and took off. that would of been my personal best.  

ill see about going back tomorrow. since it has been getting cooler and fall is almost here , the fish should be getting up in those small creeks , right?

[WBFishing]

That is jacked up, sorry man.  I had the same thing happen to me about 2 weeks ago.  I was out at a lake and figured out the fish were on a shallow topwater presentation.  i missed this fish under and overh hanging tree. I know he had to be at least 6.  I was throwing a SkitterWalk.  He came out and crushed it, I se t the hook to fast.  I fished around the cove some more and trolling motored back a half hour later. I made the same cast, same retrieve, I let the bait sit still and reached down for a smoke.  THE WATER EXPLODED and I missed him again.  I had caught a 2.5 and a 3.3 on the day, but i was upset about that one.

Normally on my topwaters, I follow up with a fluke or senko.  I just drop anything else back in the same spot and dead stickor slow retrieve  most of the time, ie shakey head, drop shot, texas rig.

[WRB]

A swim bait swimming from deep towards shallow water is a good presentation. The bass apparently use the bank to trap the baitfish.

Try standing about 15 feet back up the bank and get down low so you blend into the background.

WRB

[I.rar]

A swim bait swimming from deep towards shallow water is a good presentation. The bass apparently use the bank to trap the baitfish.

Try standing about 15 feet back up the bank and get down low so you blend into the background.

WRB

i was thinking of this , but there is a lot of trees and brush at the spot i was at so im not too sure if i could stand that far back. but i will do the stealth approach next time im out there (probably today).

the creek is about 6-8ft wide and gets wider at some parts, and around 3-5ft deep. today i may try a 5" soft bodied swim bait on my BC rig and a spot remover on my light spinning rig.

[32251]

Most of the tme, you won't have much luck throwing the same lure back unless the miss was very clean and the fish was not hooked.  After trying another cast or two I would have switched to a plastic and cast to the same area and fished it back VERY slowly. I have found that works to throw something very slow after a miss like that.

Come back to that spot in a few days.  You will get another chance.

[joshuaryan]

I hate the feeling of losing a big one, but that's just part of the sport.  To answer to question, I follow w/ the same stuff because of the timing issue.  

[BassDeaton01]

I think it depends on if the fish felt the hook or not. Normally if I miss a fish I cast to the same spot just to see. Normally they won't hit it again but sometimes they do. If the fish felt the hook normally he will be spooked for a while so I just chalk that one up to a lost and try for him later on or the next time I come back. Don't sweat losing it because there will be plenty more PB's to catch for you. It is just part of it. Good luck!