Favorite reaction strike retrieves or odd-ball retrieves that produce 2025
Junk Fisherman reply :
One of my major goals this year is to improve the number of reaction strikes I get and changing up retrieves on lures when they are not producing. Too often I use the same retrieve for a bait and never deviate regardless as to the results. So as the title says, what are your favorite retrieves that get reaction strikes or are there any odd retrieves that you find working that you are willing to share? Thanks for any advice.
scaleface reply :
When bringing spinnerbaits by cover i like to let them just fade away by slowing down slightly and lowering the rod slightly . I'm not killing the bait and letting it helicopter . That slight change draws a lot of strikes . The blade will flash at a different angle before disappearing , its visible to me . I get the same results when I have to let go of the handle for a second to adjust the trolling motor .
ohboyitsrobby reply :
I suppose it'd be deep cranking into trees and brush and when I feel the brush stop and let it float back up. I've caught a lot of fish that way. Lost a few crankbaits too.
MIbassyaker reply :
Working a floating topwater, I'll do an aggressive series of pops or twitches followed by a longer than usual pause...and then a tiny single twitch. Doesn't always work but there are times when almost nothing else will. Do the same with fluke-style baits.
Smokinal reply :
A few off the top would be stroking a jig
And I'll always remember KVD saying he never just brings a spinnerbait back on a straight retrieve; there's always a pause of the handle, a quick turn of the handle; anything to break up the retrieve.
And one last thing, and not really anything different, but a lot of pros say that most guys overfish a dropshot. And I find myself getting more bites on a DS when I just let it sit and let the water move the bait.
FCPhil reply :
Fish a topwater walker with sharp jerks an a brief pause between each. Rather than a steady walking retrieve it’s a walk-pause-walk-pause... the walks have got to be real abrupt.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Ripping a bladed jig. It's kind of like fishing a jerkbait fast but it's still moving a bladed jig pretty slow. Since they aren't a bait that deflects well off a lot of cover without hanging up it helps to impart your own "deflection". The bait will dart erratically as the blade stops working for a split second and dart back the other way as the blade begins working again.
portiabrat reply :
Fishing a jerkbait as fast as possible is effective and a great forearm workout.
Burning heavy spinnerbaits and chatterbaits with a few added rod pumps to get a burst of speed also works well. To avoid blowing baits out of the water, it helps to use a long rod and keep the tip in the water. I've had days when it was impossible to fish a spinnerbait too fast.
Pausing a crankbait when it hits weeds and ripping it free is a good technique. Popping tubes and drop shots out of snags is good too.
J.Vincent reply :
The Eye of The Tiger Retrieve
Paul Roberts reply :
Every post has focused on two key ideas, if not the exact words: accelerations, and pauses. There must be something to them... 
Team9nine reply :
On 2/24/2019 at 12:28 AM, Paul Roberts said:Every post has focused on two key ideas, if not the exact words: accelerations, and pauses. There must be something to them...
My super-duper, double extra “top secret,” never fails retrieve...nah, I’m not telling ????
MIbassyaker reply :
On 2/24/2019 at 12:28 AM, Paul Roberts said:Every post has focused on two key ideas, if not the exact words: accelerations, and pauses. There must be something to them...
Speaking of accelerations and pauses, got any new TNF installments on the horizon?
Paul Roberts reply :
On 2/24/2019 at 12:39 AM, Team9nine said:My super-duper, double extra “top secret,” never fails retrieve...nah, I’m not telling ????
Why... funny you should ask, Brian. Yes! It's one an old Indian told me about once upon a time. But apparently, its not such a secret anymore: "Every post has focused on two key ideas, if not the exact words: accelerations, and pauses."
On 2/24/2019 at 1:37 AM, MIbassyaker said:
Speaking of accelerations and pauses, got any new TNF installments on the horizon?
Oh, I'm accelerating alright, in a few too many directions. Between regular life, and video shooting, I haven't fished, or released any videos at all. Regular life has been less than regular of late too. I've begun to wake with one eye first, just to see that the house is still there. My wife changed schools the week before school started, and that has been huge; Previous teachers always seem to think the incoming teacher will want all their junk. Some recent surprises have included: the flu running through the family, food poisoning?, and my son wrecking his knee, again. "Papa, can you come pick me up? I think I may have really done it this time." We've had a dr's appt just about every week since the end of summer. I keep thinking that next week will be the end of the tunnel. It's been downright painful watching the time go by, taking another deep breath, and just attending to the really important stuff.
Short answer is, yes! I've simply been prioritizing my time on getting the next documentary out. It's on the development of behavior in LMB, from egg to adult. Some work to be done yet there. Right now, I'm trying to optimize the resolution out of my shots of 9mm long bass feeding on sub-mm zooplankton, the size of... well, you could stuff an awful lot of them into a grain of rice. Luckily, I've had only one complaint that my vids don't have enough "BIG BASS" in them. Here's to hoping for a spring release date. 
MIbassyaker reply :
Looking forward to the new doc, whenever it hatches!
Paul Roberts reply :
On 2/24/2019 at 3:45 AM, MIbassyaker said:Looking forward to the new doc, whenever it hatches!
That was good.
Me too, believe me.
Do1982 reply :
In the summer afternoon heat, on flats of lily pads, I like to run a swim jig with a keitech trailer right on the top. I keep the retrieve high and fast where the thump of the trailer is making a wake every time it comes off a pad into the water.
Kind of like Scaleface was saying up there too, when I hit a patch of open water I'll let the jig just swim down into the open water. Once I get back to the other side of the open water it's high and fast again.
I do this at times when popping or walking a frog just isn't coaxing them out of their hidey holes, or a buzz bait just doesn't have the chance to get buzzing. Hot afternoons when the dragonflys are popping but it seems otherwise quiet just try to irritate them with a swim jig.
Bankbeater reply :
A lot of times when I am working a crankbait over the tops of vegetation the rear treble will snag on a piece of plant and stop moving. When I am trying to pull and shake the bait loose, I'll get a strike.
Glaucus reply :
Smashing squarebills into rocks and getting hammered on the deflection. Yo Yo retrieve for lipless crankbaits. Killing a spinnerbait after bumping brush/wood. Working a whopper plopper like a popper in certain situations.
WRB reply :
Since don't have a clue what pace or retrieve will produce strikes I alway use the tried and true method... eliminate what doesn't work by trail and error.
Tom
papajoe222 reply :
Retrieving a spinnerbait just under the surface and occasionally letting the blade break the surface and killing it for a second before resuming.
primetime reply :
I will sometimes swim a big ribbon tail worm in open water, on top, over cover, pretty much any time I am bringing it back from a cast, I will try and keep it at a steady pace and kill it just before bringing it in in case something follows.
Swimming worms work when you swim them...Sometimes as good as a horny toad.
Pacoac10 reply :
On 2/24/2019 at 12:10 AM, J.Vincent said:The Eye of The Tiger Retrieve
I taught my wife a jerkbait cadence to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles going to a go go. Twitch on go works for early part of the year when you have to pause longer.
WVU-SCPA reply :
1/15 oz head and a trd fished like a faster moving jerkbait. Allows you to hold a desired depth and a variety of species can't stand the pause. With a little work the bait can become very erratic.
Choporoz reply :
LuckyJ96 reply :
Burn and kill a lipless crankbait. You'll get SAVAGE strikes. And mixing up popping, Pausing and walking a pooper. Typically the cadence is pop-pop pause, walk a foot or two, pause again. I caught a downright stupid amount of bass on top water like that last year right up until it got too cold to do anymore. One more I do with a big Swimbait is I'll take a glide bait like a S-waver 200 and I'll keep it high in the water and wake it. It's a topwater action that pretty much nobody uses. that "S" motion on the surface is deadly!
On 2/23/2019 at 10:15 PM, scaleface said:When bringing spinnerbaits by cover i like to let them just fade away by slowing down slightly and lowering the rod slightly . I'm not killing the bait and letting it helicopter . That slight change draws a lot of strikes . The blade will flash at a different angle before disappearing , its visible to me . I get the same results when I have to let go of the handle for a second to adjust the trolling motor .
One of the Spinnerbait retrieves i do exclusively with a double willow configuration is to fish it just beneath the surface in skinny water waking it, but give the reel a quick jolt and make the blades quickly break the surface before continuing. Looks just like fleeing shad if you've ever seen them popping. Kills em in skinny water and works great on schooling bass. Especially Spots.
soflabasser reply :
There are times that reaction bite techniques get you bass when other techniques do not work, so it is always a good idea to keep a open mind when it comes to how you retrieve your lure.
1201vilbig reply :
Many years ago, I was fishing with guide Bill Fox (RIP) on Toledo Bend in February. I was a total noob to lipless cranks. Bill told me even in this cold water, I couldn't fish it fast enough. Of course, this was before high speed reels. So I experimented with 5 or 6 hard cranks, then I would rip it as hard as I could, then repeat. Like LuckyJ96 said, the strikes were brutal on that very brief pause. It still works today. I also use that same retrieve on jerk baits if the normal cadence is not working.
RHuff reply :
There are two reaction retrieves that seem to work for me.
1) When cranking a chatterbait, spinnerbait, lipless crank, or buzzbait letting it "flutter" for a second by the target will sometimes result in hard strikes. Big fish and non-aggressive fish seem to like this and will key in at times.
2) When fishing a jig, any of the above mentioned baits, or even a popper as I come past the target I will actually burn the bait a little back towards my boat. This will entice aggressive fish to strike in an attempt to not to allow the bait to get away.
I always share my secrets because I wanna see everyone catch fish, but #2 is deadly when flipping a laydown tree or bush. Flip the jig or plastic into the tree and when you work it back up to the surface don't ever just lift the bait out of the water back to the boat. ALWAYS swim it back. Many times fish will key in on the bait and not commit but as they see the bait attempting to swim away they will ambush it by not allowing it to get away. Bass will never pass up an easy meal.
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