Missed Jig Bites 2024
deep reply :
I'm hoping Tom (WRB) will post an answer to this, but anyone else qualified to do so, please help me out.
I recall Tom posting that (I'm paraphrasing): A. Over 90% of jig strikes go undetected by the average angler, and that, B. He (Tom) can detect at least some of the missed strikes and can try to catch those particular missed bass.
By jigs, I strictly mean casting jigs fished horizontally on a long cast.
My problem is that I'm feeling only two or three half-bites or might-have-been-bites for every jig fish I catch (I'm not even sure these are bites to begin with). I almost always fish the same weight jig, and fish jigs a fair percentage of time on the water. I'm pretty familiar with the bottom I'm fishing. I'm watching and feeling the line, which is a premium fluorocarbon.
So, obviously I'm missing bites. How can I improve my strike detection ratio?
Also, how can I try to catch the fish I miss? Tom wasn't clear on this. Throw back a worm maybe?
Thanks,
einscodek reply :
Yer gonna have to practice concentrating on feeling your line and keep it semi tight
with other lures I set the hook accordinglky depending on what the fish is giving me
With jigs I am on edge and set the hook as soon as I suspect a bite
00 mod reply :
Deep, just use a swimbait trailer. Seems you have those down pat! 
Jeff
1234567 reply :
Jeff I wad thinking the same thing. Deep seemed.to have them dialed in some time back with the hudd!
PersicoTrotaVA reply :
Hooksets are free. If it feels like a fish, wack 'em.
Sam reply :
Jig fishing can produce many nice bass but here is some input for you to consider:
1. Bluegills and small bass can drive you nuts by hitting your jig.
2. Bottom structure can fool you.
3. As you are doing, always keep your finger on the line.
4. As stated above, hook sets are free so "give 'em a whack."
5. Know the crawfish colors in your neck of the woods and if they change during the year. Mimic them as best you can.
6. Sometime you need a large profile in warm water and a compact profile in cold water. Your "pig" will control this profile.
7. Place a short piece of a finesse worm the color of the skirt on the hook close to the jig's head. Then add the trailer. The finesse worm will keep the pig from twisting.
8. Concentrate. Jig fishing can be slow and you can lose your concentration. Step back; look all around; take a deep breath; shake any cobwebs out of your head; and hit the water again.
9. Call your game and fisheries and ask for the "crawfish expert." Ask the individual how the crawfish act in the water. Do they scoot fast when approached? Do they like to hide in wood? Are they the burrowing species? Are they in the grass? Then mimic both the color and how they move.
Good luck and posts some pics of those giants you will catch with your jigs.
Catt reply :
The greatest instructional tool available to the anglers wanting to learn "feel" bites is night time!
I don't mean a couple hours here & there, that will only teach you frustration
Start with the spawn & fish the entire year until the next spawn, I promise your bite detection & hookup ratio will increase two fold!
desmobob reply :
All the above plus, use the most sensitive rod you can afford. It's startling how much more you can feel through a great rod.
Tight lines,
Bob
Darren. reply :
I've just started fishing a jig again in October,
normally I don't, but it was staring at me every
time I opened a particular box of lures, LOL.
Anyway, I've been experimenting and have found
that a slow drag across the bottom is the best
in my waters. By best I mean most productive.
I keep my index finger just under the line. Like
Sam said, it can be very very slooooow.... 
When I get a strike, I react on instinct, it seems.
After the fish I try to replay what I felt. As well,
when I get a short strike, I reel in and throw a
worm. Have caught the shorties this way.
Catch and Grease reply :
90%.... That's seems like a huge number and a little over exaggerated.
So if I'm fishing for 2 hours and get 20 bites I'm only gonna notice 2 of them?? Idk that just seems like a lot.
Trek reply :
I jig fish a lot. I think as a rule your not going to get as many bites but the ones you get are better fish. Not always. As for bites jig fishing is different. Your not going to get that big pop that your always going to want. Sometimes you go to lift it and it's just heavy or you can't feel the jig at all. I had one this year pop it hard and I set the hook and the fish was gone. I reeled it in and she was under the boat, when we netted her she was our 5.3 pound kicker. So a large fish can move very fast. With small fish picking at the skirts and larger fish bitting so different I don't know how anyone would know while jig fishing that your missing bites. I've had small rock bass and blue gill pop my jig and run with it. Some you hook and they fly over your head and some you miss and wonder. But they all felt like a bass. That's just jig fishing.
A-Jay reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 6:40 PM, Catt said:The greatest instructional tool available to the anglers wanting to learn "feel" bites is night time!
I don't mean a couple hours here & there, that will only teach you frustration
Start with the spawn & fish the entire year until the next spawn, I promise your bite detection & hookup ratio will increase two fold!
~ X2 ~ This is a Game Changer.
Nocturnal Operations will also improve one's casting/ presentation accuracy quite a bit.
When you can place your bait in tight spots in very limited to no light conditions, day light angling gets much easier.
A-Jay
Ozark_Basser reply :
I can see how it's fairly possible to miss a good portion of jig bites when you're fishing deep but not shallow.
WRB reply :
There are so many myths regarding bass fishing, the applies with missed jig strikes is you can tease that bass into striking again by making more casts with the same jig until the bass gets angered into striking, other than bed fish.On 11/1/2014 at 9:19 AM, deep said:I'm hoping Tom (WRB) will post an answer to this, but anyone else qualified to do so, please help me out.
I recall Tom posting that (I'm paraphrasing): A. Over 90% of jig strikes go undetected by the average angler, and that, B. He (Tom) can detect at least some of the missed strikes and can try to catch those particular missed bass.
By jigs, I strictly mean casting jigs fished horizontally on a long cast.
My problem is that I'm feeling only two or three half-bites or might-have-been-bites for every jig fish I catch (I'm not even sure these are bites to begin with). I almost always fish the same weight jig, and fish jigs a fair percentage of time on the water. I'm pretty familiar with the bottom I'm fishing. I'm watching and feeling the line, which is a premium fluorocarbon.
So, obviously I'm missing bites. How can I improve my strike detection ratio?
Also, how can I try to catch the fish I miss? Tom wasn't clear on this. Throw back a worm maybe?
Thanks,
The bass decided to strike your jig tentatively because it wasn't committed or detected something wasn't right.
Missed strikes tell you a bass is there and is interested just not enough to kill the jig. You have a few choices to make, change trailer size, jig weight to increase or decrease the rate of fall or change color combination and change the angle the jig moving into the spot the strike occurred.
During the fall and winter my first reaction to a missed strike is a few choice words followed by picking up a heavier jig with smaller trailer, moving my position to change the angle and give it another cast or two.
My next move is away from the spot to let it rest about 20 minutes by fishing a nearby spot and change to either a different color combo of the same jig, swimbait or big worm and try again.
Jig strikes from big adult size bass can be very difficult to detect because a jig is a small size lure going into a largemouth, the bass doesn't bit it, it vacuums it in. The tick you sometimes feel is a series of crunches the bass does to kill the prey, after the jig is in it's mouth. If the bass decides something is wrong the jig goes back out just as fast as it went in. If you think you are detecting a high % of jig strikes, then you should be catching a high % of large adult size bass!
If you want to test your strike detection skills try bed fishing with a jig and close your eyes. Bed bass are very aggressive and it's still difficult to feel a strike until the bass swims away with the jig to get it out of the nest before spitting the lure out.
Fishing at night will sharpen your senses and improve both jig and worm strike detection, bass are also more aggressive at night.
Tom
Comfortably Numb reply :
Couple things since I know you and fish with you.
#1 you fish from shore and are throwing into rather deep water this time of year (20'?). You fish flouro. Braid and a flouro leader is MUCH more sensitive and better hookset with lest stretch
#2 You are a line watcher.
When we fish from the boat in shallower water you are a great jig fisherman and you pitching and flipping is top notch.
I think in your situation a carolina rig would be a much better option. You are using the wrong tool for the job.
WRB reply :
Fishing jigs from shoreline means you are working uphill most of the time, difficult in the fall and winter.
The major points are your best bets and can be fished parallel or slightly down hill depending on where you stand near the base if the point.
A 3/4 oz jig with 3" to 4" trailer should give you a better feel and easier strike detection than a 1/2 oz for example. The problem is hanging up the heavier jig more, the lighter weight 1/2 or 3/8 will get through rocks easier.
Tom
Catt reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 10:07 PM, A-Jay said:~ X2 ~ This is a Game Changer.
Nocturnal Operations will also improve one's casting/ presentation accuracy quite a bit.
When you can place your bait in tight spots in very limited to no light conditions, day light angling gets much easier.
A-Jay
Once your nerves settle down, your eye sight adjusts, you ignore those strange sounds, then will you "sense" the environment!
Don't be afraid of the night be afraid of what hunts in the night 
OkobojiEagle reply :
Cut off the weed guard...
oe
Mike L reply :
On 11/2/2014 at 8:58 PM, OkobojiEagle said:Cut off the weed guard...
oe
Or trim the longer guards to the barb.
I did this to a few of my older Booyah's and it improved detection.
Mike
deep reply :
Thanks everyone. Night fishing is not something I like to do a whole lot, not sure why; just don't like it. But I can suck it up.
On 11/2/2014 at 8:58 PM, OkobojiEagle said:Cut off the weed guard...
oe
My custom jigs don't have one to begin with!
deep reply :
I'm curious though, why would strike detection be better with no weedguard? The bass holds on to the bait longer?
Comfortably Numb reply :
On 11/2/2014 at 10:14 PM, deep said:I'm curious though, why would strike detection be better with no weedguard? The bass holds on to the bait longer?
Yes.
OkobojiEagle reply :
There is better opportunity for the bass to hook itself.
oe
Comfortably Numb reply :
I still say its the wrong tool for the job. Shallow fish will eat a jig dood. Deeper less active fish may not.
Catt reply :
On 11/3/2014 at 3:17 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I still say its the wrong tool for the job. Shallow fish will eat a jig dood. Deeper less active fish may not.
Can't fish deep down south without a jig tied on
iceintheveins reply :
Jig fishing just takes a little getting used to, the bites aren't all that hard to detect. Generally it will be a small movement of the line (which means you have to be a line watcher). It can be just a little twitch. Ticks and taps are common too, as is a weightless feeling if the bass inhales the jig and moves toward you. Most jig bites will feel like this. If in doubt you can always set the hook. But with a sensitive rod and good line watching tactics, you will notice most jig bites, I promise. They aren't much different than a plastic bite when you are pitching or flipping.
Bass_Fanatic reply :
On 11/3/2014 at 3:17 AM, Comfortably Numb said:I still say its the wrong tool for the job. Shallow fish will eat a jig dood. Deeper less active fish may not.
A football jig is one of the best deep water baits around...
primetime reply :
I am not certain about the % of strikes we do not detect, but some fish can flare their gills and inhale a lure and exhale that same lure in one swift motion that may cause a slight jump in the line, but even if it did, you would never have time to swing. I mess around in a clear pond with all kinds of lures and baits and have seen fish do this but usually they will hold it for a bit longer if not just curious and looking to feed. Line watching is key and I will see my line jump before feeling anything and I just swing.....If my line starts swimming to the side then that is just a great feeling because that usually means a good hookset and not an empty one.
iceintheveins reply :
Go out and tie your lure to something and have a person slightly tap the line about five feet above the lure with a pencil with your eyes closed. That helps as well and has been a good tip for me.
Bankbeater reply :
Around here, in the winter, sometimes you will feel one single tap, and that is all. I stop moving the bait, and if the bass is interested it will bite again in a few seconds. If I don't get a second bite, I start working the jig again.
Choporoz reply :
I've dedicated a lot of time on the water this year to improving my jig fishing. However, much of my fishing has been on bigger, deeper water (than other waters I fish...lol). Is it possible to successfully fish a jig in deep, windy conditions? I'm not getting it done very well. Moderate success with a swim jig, but I'm really struggling on the bottom.
boostr reply :
I rarely see my line move or twitch when I'm jig fishing. I usually keep my index finger under the line, for some reason I can detect strikes so much better this way. I can feel the slytest taps, and caught some nice fish... but that's just me.
Catt reply :
The jig bite where ya feel that classic tap or the one where ya see line movement are the ones y'all should not be missing!
The majority of my jigs bites when casting, flipping, pitching, & punching come with NO line movement or tap, nothing until I apply pressure & feel resistance, at this point I set hook, most anglers simply apply more pressure, at which time the bass spit your jig.
deep reply :
Lots of great inputs. Thanks everyone.
A little bit about me. I have been fishing jigs for close to 4 years, caught lots and lots of fish on them, pitching and casting. More than I caught on plastics and hardbaits combined I think. So yes, I know how to detect the tell-tale signs of the jig bite. Most everyone is good with detecting the obvious bites. Those are the easy ones and are smaller fish.
There's one slight problem though. I target bigger fish, and inspite of fishing jigs a lot, only 2 of my top 10 (these are all 7#+ NLMBs, not giants, but biiig fish) are on jigs. (One came off a bed, the other 7 are on 8" hudds.)
Now, Tom tells me jigs and worms are more appealing than swimbaits for neutral bass. So I should be catching more big fish on jigs than swimbaits. (Worms are well, another can of worms. Never caught anything really big on them, maybe I'm missing worm bites too.) But I'm not.
Bobby Uhrig reply :
Put some freakn goo on it
boostr reply :
^ Good stuff right there
camo reply :
On 11/4/2014 at 10:23 PM, Choporoz said:I've dedicated a lot of time on the water this year to improving my jig fishing. However, much of my fishing has been on bigger, deeper water (than other waters I fish...lol). Is it possible to successfully fish a jig in deep, windy conditions? I'm not getting it done very well. Moderate success with a swim jig, but I'm really struggling on the bottom.
What depth are you mostly fishing and what size jig? The common thing to do while fishing a jig in the wind is to upsize so you can still feel your jig. Also fishing a jig very deep requires in my experience a different rod then pitching and flipping shallow waters.
WRB reply :
There are jig lakes and swimbait lakes, sometimes it's a seasonal period where bass are feeding on crawdads instead of baitfish, it's important to recognize when and where to use what lure.
For example Casitas use to be a great pre spawn jig lake and winter swimbait lake, today it's more of a worm and crankbait lake. Why...the forage base has changed from planted trout to Threadfin shad and the crawdad population crashed.
I love to fish jigs and still try to force feed bass what I prefer fishing memories, then change tactics and start catching bass.
Castaic has a different problem, few trout plants, lots of strip bass and a decent crawdad population along with a threadfin shad. Jigs still catch bass at Castaic consistently.
Need a good crawdad population to have a consistent jig bite!
Fishing jigs for over 50 years you develop a 7th sense for strike detection, it helps if you stay focused, can't be talking and looking around at nature, bass know to bite when you lookin the other way!
Tom
deep reply :
On 11/7/2014 at 11:38 AM, WRB said:There are jig lakes and swimbait lakes, sometimes it's a seasonal period where bass are feeding on crawdads instead of baitfish, it's important to recognize when and where to use what lure.
..
Need a good crawdad population to have a consistent jig bite!
Tom, short of talking with a fisheries biologist, is there a way to determine if a reservoir has a good crawdad population?
Maybe I can use a crawfish trap (I don't even know if that's legal here- need to find that out).
Thanks,
Hattrick7 reply :
In my limited experience if you're familiar with a trig bite I find it to be the closest thing. Sometimes it's a very subtle tick to a good thump. Sometimes hitting a rock, stump or other bottom contour May kinda feel like a bite. In those instances I will reel in slack to feel the bass weight. You can tell pretty quickly if it's a bass or maybe just stuck on something.
I agree the hooksets are free thought but that can lose you a lot of jigs if you swing away on everything. I would not cast as far if you can do that so you can get the feel for bites.
If you're dragging it I would say it's pretty similar to a trig bite. If you're casting/pitching to targets and they hit it on the fall it'll usually feel like a subtle tick. If you feel that tick before you know it hits bottom swing for it I'd say it's in the bass mouth at that point.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 11/8/2014 at 9:27 PM, deep said:Tom, short of talking with a fisheries biologist, is there a way to determine if a reservoir has a good crawdad population?
Maybe I can use a crawfish trap (I don't even know if that's legal here- need to find that out).
Thanks,
Put a tub of chicken livers in a nylon stocking and set it out in a rocky area along the shoreline with a line tied to the bank. Make sure it has a couple hours to soak and come back and check it after dark. If there's a good crawdad population the bag and surrounding area will be covered with them.
ChrisD46 reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 4:06 PM, Sam said:Jig fishing can produce many nice bass but here is some input for you to consider:
1. Bluegills and small bass can drive you nuts by hitting your jig.
2. Bottom structure can fool you.
3. As you are doing, always keep your finger on the line.
4. As stated above, hook sets are free so "give 'em a whack."
5. Know the crawfish colors in your neck of the woods and if they change during the year. Mimic them as best you can.
6. Sometime you need a large profile in warm water and a compact profile in cold water. Your "pig" will control this profile.
7. Place a short piece of a finesse worm the color of the skirt on the hook close to the jig's head. Then add the trailer. The finesse worm will keep the pig from twisting.
8. Concentrate. Jig fishing can be slow and you can lose your concentration. Step back; look all around; take a deep breath; shake any cobwebs out of your head; and hit the water again.
9. Call your game and fisheries and ask for the "crawfish expert." Ask the individual how the crawfish act in the water. Do they scoot fast when approached? Do they like to hide in wood? Are they the burrowing species? Are they in the grass? Then mimic both the color and how they move.
Good luck and posts some pics of those giants you will catch with your jigs.
Regarding tip #7 - can you provide more detail - as to how long the piece of finesse worm should be ? Should it be touching the trailer ? Still trying to understand how this will set up will keep the pig from twisting ?
Senko lover reply :
I am by no means a tenured jig fisher, but I'll pass along some advice by someone who is.
Rick Clunn said that the problem with most average anglers is that they lack the power of total concentration.
I've found that to be really true with both worms and jigs. Focus on your line. So many little pulls and bites go undetected by people who wait for the bite to reach their rod.
Fishes in trees reply :
My first chunk of advice would be to lighten up. Primarily, fishing is supposed to be fun. I don't know about you, but I don't find super concentrating and focusing on each jig movement to be a lot of fun.
Just chill out and maybe you'll catch a few more fish. Taking a different approach, I found over the last couple of years that my jig fishing improved after I switched to a home made jika rig ( which is just a way to fish a soft plastic kind of like a jig) compared to fishing a more traditional jig.
J Francho reply :
For some of us, analyzing and discriminating subtle issues is actually fun. Solving them can be even more exciting.
Siebert Outdoors reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 6:40 PM, Catt said:The greatest instructional tool available to the anglers wanting to learn "feel" bites is night time!
I don't mean a couple hours here & there, that will only teach you frustration
Start with the spawn & fish the entire year until the next spawn, I promise your bite detection & hookup ratio will increase two fold!
Exactly. I think years ago Catt and I talked about this before in a topic. Night fishing will teach you how to feel and fish a lure especially jigs. Eliminating your sight makes you hone in on feel and concentration.
WRB reply :
Couldn't agree more with the exception the OP is a bank fisherman, easy to night fish from a boat, not so easy or safe at night for the bank anglers.On 11/25/2014 at 1:20 AM, Siebert Outdoors said:Exactly. I think years ago Catt and I talked about this before in a topic. Night fishing will teach you how to feel and fish a lure especially jigs. Eliminating your sight makes you hone in on feel and concentration.
Tom
Team9nine reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 9:19 AM, deep said:
I recall Tom posting that (I'm paraphrasing): A. Over 90% of jig strikes go undetected by the average angler, and that, B. He (Tom) can detect at least some of the missed strikes and can try to catch those particular missed bass.
My problem is that I'm feeling only two or three half-bites or might-have-been-bites for every jig fish I catch (I'm not even sure these are bites to begin with). I almost always fish the same weight jig, and fish jigs a fair percentage of time on the water. I'm pretty familiar with the bottom I'm fishing. I'm watching and feeling the line, which is a premium fluorocarbon.
So, obviously I'm missing bites. How can I improve my strike detection ratio?
On 11/4/2014 at 11:41 PM, deep said:
Now, Tom tells me jigs and worms are more appealing than swimbaits for neutral bass. So I should be catching more big fish on jigs than swimbaits. (Worms are well, another can of worms. Never caught anything really big on them, maybe I'm missing worm bites too.) But I'm not.
No offense here, but there are 4 pages of replies and a whole lot of worry over what is nothing but assumptions on your part at this point. You have no way of knowing if you're missing any jig bites at all, outside of the possible flubbed hookset now and then on what you were certain was a bite. Even if you did, there's not much you can do about it. Even the pros couldn't detect some bites when scuba divers went underwater and watched them fish (we've all seen the videos and read the stories). You only have so much control over the situation. If you're using good equipment and are comfortable with your skills and awareness in this regard, don't worry so much about what may not even be taking place underwater.
Similarly, the concern over a lack of big "neutral" jig bass is again, based on an assumption. A "bass is a bass" to a certain degree, but local waters, forage, weather, etc. trump that. In every environment, bass have to adapt to the situation they're in. You live 2500 miles away from Tom on opposite ends of the country. The expectation that your big fish percentages on a given bait should match his, or follow some prescribed formula, seems a bit silly. Some lakes are simply not good jig lakes. Maybe your bass suspend much of the year. Maybe they're highly baitfish oriented. Maybe because you bank fish, the areas you can reach aren't conducive to a good jig bite.
You are obviously doing something right if you're catching multiple bass over 7 lbs. for your area of the country. I'd be focusing more on what IS working and how I might be able to expand on or better capitalize it, than trying to figure out why something is not working as well as you think it should, IMHO.
-T9
deep reply :
Hey T9, thanks for your input, and I really mean it. About being shorebound, it's by choice. First off, I really only fish two reservoirs, both under 50 acres (smaller than Dixon for you Cali guys). One is closed to ANY kind of watercraft. The other doesn't have a boat ramp, but you can carry your boat into the water. Which is exactly what I did for about two years, when I had a kayak. I sold it, because I found I was catching as least as many fish from the banks, and definitely much bigger fish. (Both reservoirs have very good shoreline access all around.)
Now that I know a little more about fishing, I'm tempted to own a kayak once again, just to have different casting angles, and the help of a fishfinder. Won't help me any with the first lake though.
Almost all reservoirs round here are closed after dark, except one or two. I'll try there (next year) once the weather warms up a little.
WRB reply :
Most of the time for me a jig bite is intuitive, meaning I am anticipating a strike where I know the bass are located during the retrieve. Catt mentioned a slight pressure difference or resistance to the line and you better be focused to set the hook instantly. Big worms give you more time than a jig, lots of soft plastic for the bass to chew on, same with soft swimbaits. When a bass eats a jig and keeps it in it's mouth, you shouldn't miss that strike. Bass are very aggressive at night and eat jigs most of the time without spitting them out quickly, lot easier to detect a strike when the bass really wants the jig, in lieu of striking it and rejecting it.
Tom
Catt reply :
Night fishing from the bank is as easy & safe as from a boat.
The bite most anglers miss is the one where the bass inhales your jig & does not move. There is no thump, bump, tap, or line movement. The bass simply sits there with your jig in its mouth until you apply enough pressure thinking you hung & then it spits the jig.
WRB reply :
Poisonous snakes hunt at night around the water edge, you can't see where you are walking, that can be dangerous, safer in a boat.
The bigger the bass the more difficult the strike can be to detect, big bass have big mouth with no reason to move like a smaller bass that runs off with your jig to get away from other bass.
Standing on shore is solid and not moving like a boat in waves, is a advantage to detecting strikes.
Night bass fishing is a good experience, everyone should do this.
Tom
Fishingintheweeds reply :
I've missed jig bites that I KNEW I reacted slow on, because I wasn't paying close enough attention (and I've learned to pay better attention)...but is it REALLY possible that "we" are really missing that many?!
But now, I will say, since I've really been focusing on working just jigs, I HAVE felt a couple of different times, where something just felt different, and a little off, from anything else I was expecting. I wondered then if I had just missed a fish...but what to do next?
Before you reel back in and throw something weightless or smaller...at that point when you realize you may have just missed a fish, or it had picked up the jig but spit it out...what do you do? Hop it and leave it? Just kill it there? What has experience shown to be the best? Or, do these fish just not come back at all?
Todd2 reply :
On 9/12/2018 at 12:18 PM, Fishingintheweeds said:at that point when you realize you may have just missed a fish, or it had picked up the jig but spit it out...what do you do? Hop it and leave it? Just kill it there? What has experience shown to be the best? Or, do these fish just not come back at all?
I just kill it and wait with intermittent shaking..works sometimes. If that doesn't work, I'll throw a worm at them. If that doesn't work, I move.
Catt reply :
On 9/12/2018 at 12:18 PM, Fishingintheweeds said:...at that point when you realize you may have just missed a fish, or it had picked up the jig but spit it out...what do you do? Hop it and leave it? Just kill it there? What has experience shown to be the best? Or, do these fish just not come back at all?
Each individual fish is different, some come back & hit it... some don't.
Just try whatever & see what happens! ????
OperationEagle reply :
Ok with bite detection being difficult at best...with some good discussion on how to be better at it, shouldn’t we then focus on how to get MORE BITES to take swings at the begin with?
Thoughts and suggestions?
NHBull reply :
Again, this is one of those old threads I don’t mind revisiting.
This year, my primary bottom contact rods have been MBR style rods with a fast action and braid to FC.......and I swing at everything! And put more in the boat than ever before.
while I may be in the minority with this non JWR rod, it works for me.....
Fishingintheweeds reply :
On 9/12/2018 at 9:00 PM, Catt said:
Each individual fish is different, some come back & hit it... some don't.
Just try whatever & see what happens! ????
This is true.
Catt reply :
On 11/1/2014 at 10:07 PM, A-Jay said:
~ X2 ~ This is a Game Changer.
Nocturnal Operations will also improve one's casting/ presentation accuracy quite a bit.
When you can place your bait in tight spots in very limited to no light conditions, day light angling gets much easier.
A-Jay
Darkness covers up an angler's presence & most of his mistakes!
Y'all really wanna get better turn the lights out!
J Francho reply :
Come to the dark side!
This is an actual picture of Catt:
mattkenzer reply :
Aahh ..... use a rod that lights up at night.
Fishingintheweeds reply :
On 9/12/2018 at 10:42 PM, Catt said:
Darkness covers up an angler's presence & most of his mistakes!
Y'all really wanna get better turn the lights out!
I tell people the fish start biting good for me when the mosquitoes start. Not that the fish care if the mosquitoes are after me or not....
Catt reply :
My day starts when the sun finds its home in the Western sky!
islandbass reply :
He who knows not the power of the dark side knows nothing...
(Per James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader voice)
Night time fishing rocks! It is a lot of fun. Imagine...
It’s pitch black. New moon. A bull frog croaks from the shadows, unseen but heard. In my hands, I wield my weapon of choice, a bc rig. Left hand on the butt, right thumb on the spool, I proceed to make a cast and toss my spinnerbait into the darkness along an edge of lily pads.
Auditory skills and experience take over as I focus on the sound of the whizzing spool. The waning spin of the spool is my signal to feather the spool to a stop.
In the darkness, my lure splashes down and my thumb does not feel a single single loop of overrun. I begin my retrieve. I key in on the speed of my retrieve, picturing in my mind how the combination of willow and colorado blades are spinning. About halfway through the retrieve, I feel my lure get violently smashed and instinctively, I pull back to set the hook.
The hook is driven in. The battle begins. The bass valiantly fights, but this time around, I score the winning point, in the dark to boot.
And the prize is the larger bass in the image I hopefully posted successfully.
The power of dark side fishing is not without its rewards or joy. So if you haven’t yet, “Do it!” (with senator palaptine’s voice, lol).
Fishingintheweeds reply :
So, about the bites...plenty of times, you won't feel that tap-tap. But in the case that you do, it seems like it would be good to understand what the fish is found when you feel that tap-tap.
If you do feel that, do you immediately set the hook when you feel the first one? Is that the fish picking up the jig? Is the second tap the fish crushing it? Or, is it the fish spitting it out?
For me, I don't know if I could describe what I do or when but I don't think that I'm not the best with a jig. But I was fishing in very windy conditions today, in deep water, on the end of king casts...feeling was really all I had to go on. But later, I started to think about anything that I felt or moments where something was a little different and what the fish was doing when I felt these things and if understanding that would help detect more bites.
I'm sure the possibilities of things the fish could be doing are endless but is there anything along these lines that you've found useful to understand?
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