Is That A Fish Or ?

[Teh]

Hey everbody, just wondering, do you guys have any special signs that tell you, when your lure hits something, if it's a fish or you snagged some grass etc.? Most times I can tell, as it starts fighting back. I'm just thinking about how many fish I may have lost, because I thought it was a limb, etc., and didnt set the hook and risk losing the lure.

Any words of wisdom? Thanks!

[roadwarrior]

You will develope a "feel" over time, but in the meantime,

ALWAYS set the hook!

[J Francho]

Set the hook whenever. Hook sets are free. Eventually you'll get a feel for what thumps and ticks are fishy.

[Teh]

Haha, I knew I'd be told that. There's been a few times I kicked myself afterwards. I only have this hesitation when slowly dragging a bait on the bottom.

[00 mod]

Swing for the fences and cross her eyes! They are free, unless you loose your lure!

Jeff

[River Rat316]

Usually the "ticks" that are fish are followed by a different feel, either no weight (the fish moved forward with the bait) slight weight, or a dead weight, the fish stayed stationary with the bait or moved off to the side. If you are dragging the bottom you will feel the lure bump a rock or whatever then almost instantly regain contact with the lure, when a fish picks it up you just loose contact with the lure and most of the time feel nothing afterward, that is when you need to regain contact, usually reeling down until you start to feel weight there and then setting the hook. Having a decent rod will help you get used to the feel of bottom contact lures.

[weezy109]

You can tell when you set the hook lol so have at it. When you bury that jig or worm shank deep into a stump though it is very embarassing and you gotta take your lumps but if you just draw water swear up and down to your partner that they "are just grabbing the tails today!".

[Ima Bass Ninja]

You always see on tv the pros set the hook and then have a fish on the line. The thing they don't show is the 20 hook sets before that one that came up empty. There's a basic feel when worm or jig fishing but not always the case, like many have said even if you think theres something there go ahead and set the hook.

[Fontana Finesse Man]

I always told my son if it feels different set the hook. Somedays it is a tick, a thump, pressure, heavy and sometimes you don't feel a thing and your line starts moving. As stated before you will develop a feel for your baits and when it is different, cross their eyes!

[Pete-K]

If it feels different for any reason I set the hook. This time of year if it goes slack set the hook, if it stops moving when it should set the hook. So for me I don't care if I set the hook 30 times without a fish, but always beat my self up for that one time of not setting the hook and feel a fish drop that bait. But to answer your question, its that feel that takes time on the water to get used to. Years ago I saved up bought a new bass boat and equipent and fished for around 7 months. Until I ran out of $$ and had to go back to work. Best deal I ever did. Priceless to save for 5 years and fish for 7 months.. Wish I could do it again. You learn the more your on the water.

Forgot to add I missed one day of that 7 months. And it was a death in the family I did fish 8 hours the evening before and fished all the day after.

Pete

[Raider Nation Fisher]

To quote Ray Lewis, "Im hitting anything that move today baby!" Until you get the feel down slam it home on everything, that feels different then what you recognize.

[Nitrofreak]

There can be no better advice than what catt can give " Drop the rod, reel the slack, set the hook "

Don't be afraid to loose lures they make new ones every day but a lost fish just may be the one in a lifetime.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

You will develope a "feel" over time, but in the meantime,

ALWAYS set the hook!

That's as good as it gets.

[IneedAnewScreenName-972354]

The feel of a bite varies to a degree depending on what type of lure you are using. If you are not sure then as a general rule- anything different=set the hook!

[J Francho]

Some JJ's Magic will get them to hold the plastic baits a little longer.

[pussiwillow]

this past weekend, the fish were bumping the bait so light and fast it was hard to be ready for it as it was so fast, quite strange as i never felt them hit it like that before, my big fish of the day took my bait off the bottom and i didnt even realize it, i mumbled to myself "there sure are alot of weeds or structure down there" then the line moved towards me and to the side and was like oh d**n, set it like no tomorrow, it inhaled the bait so deep, i hooked it through the "filet" haha right under the gills through the side of the fish had a nice hook through her, felt bad as it was a bad one to get out, but she didnt bleed more than a drop, needless to say, set on everything! fish are strange some days and some days they just straight hammer it

[J Francho]

I bounced a dink off Maico's outboard in Saranac a couple years ago, with a hard hookset, LOL.

[Ebrahim Ali]

crankbait...you'll lose contact with the bait or it will feel like someones grabed your line and shook it.

Topwater/jerkbait...trust me you'll know

Soft plastic...the lure will become heavy or you will get a spongy feeling.

Spinner...thump or hard knock

Jig...you'll lose contact with it(swimback) or a quick ''tap tap'' or that spongy feeling(generaly in winter time)

In any case STRIKE if you feel something

[Teh]

Thanks for the words of wisdom everyone. Maybe this will be a reminder for others as well.

[jiggerpole]

I think it was KVD fishing on Lay Lake where he won the tournament on a few stumps. One in particular. He would hang up and break off rather than disturb the stump. (He said "That stump has got to be looking like a christmas tree by now")

Alot of times, especially on a throw and wind type retrieve you will feel your line hit something and drag against it and you can feel your bait coming up to it berfore it hits a stump or whatever?

[james 14]

I think it was KVD fishing on Lay Lake where he won the tournament on a few stumps. One in particular. He would hang up and break off rather than disturb the stump. (He said "That stump has got to be looking like a christmas tree by now")

Alot of times, especially on a throw and wind type retrieve you will feel your line hit something and drag against it and you can feel your bait coming up to it berfore it hits a stump or whatever?

It was last year on Cataouatche using crankbaits through a stumpfield. He never did say how many he lost but I imagine there's a small fortune of chartreuse KVD 1.5s in that NW cove. No big deal since he probably didn't pay for them anyways.

Back to the OP. I think its been said enough...set the hook on anything that feels different. I set on a fish last year when bed fishing at night. I don't remember feeling anything at all...just had a strange sense that he had the bait.

[piscicidal]

If you watch Denny Brauer's jig fishing video on this site, there's a part where he responds to a question about what a jig bite feels like. Denny's response..."I don't know". This is from a guy who has caught more fish on a jig than just about any person on the planet. He says if it feels "different" he swings.

[Crankenstein Crony]

My philosophy has always been "hook sets are free" which was already stated above. When in doubt, set the hook.

[catchnm]

I don't know why it hasn't been stated more already but you simply must have a quality rod. By that I mean one that will transmit the lure's action to your hands successfully. It may be a really expensive one or not but it needs to be able to tell you more than I just feel a "bump" or a "hit". I have found that since I began to use better quality rods ($100 -$200 range) that I've caught more fish, had less snags, and all in all have become a better "catcherman" and fisherman.

[jkarol24]

If you watch Denny Brauer's jig fishing video on this site, there's a part where he responds to a question about what a jig bite feels like. Denny's response..."I don't know". This is from a guy who has caught more fish on a jig than just about any person on the planet. He says if it feels "different" he swings.

I also caught a piece from Denny and he essentially said that he sets the hook so many times in a tourney day that if you were watching him you would think he was crazy.