Bites Coming On The Initial Drop/splash? 2024
Giggidy564 reply :
I fish a small river close to my house and all of my bites are coming on the initial fall. In my past 3 trips, all of my bites have come on the initial drop, miliseconds after it hits the water. Could it be that they aren't interested in my lure or what? I have been using zoom ultra vibe worms, flukes, and trick worms. Has anybody had this happen to them?
kikstand454 reply :
Happens all the time.
Just means you're making well placed casts to aggressive fish! Reaction strikes- Fun huh?
Giggidy564 reply :
On 10/21/2014 at 12:47 PM, kikstand454 said:Happens all the time.
Just means you're making well placed casts to aggressive fish! Reaction strikes- Fun huh?
You got that right.
Paul Roberts reply :
Very common. Lures don't fool fish most of the time. They have to do something special at just the right time. Splashdown can offer a suite of "special" -attractors and triggers:
-The splashdown itself can be attractive to bass. This is the main reason it's suggested you wait for a bit before starting your retrieve with topwaters, waiting for the fish to get there.
-The water's surface is an "ambush point", in two respects: it obscures your lure just enough that they don't get to see what's "wrong" with it. Secondly, and this is in operation with topwaters and when you are taking your bait out of the water (like for another cast) -it looks like the bait is about to escape.
-Bass can see surprisingly well above the water. When they are aggressive, they can be attracted to the speed of a lure zipping through the air. They may chase it to the splashdown area, then smack it.
-Bass LOVE falling baits. It's a trigger. Works beneath the water too. Pull the bait up, and then let it fall.
riverbasser13 reply :
Sounds like you are right on point. When I fish the river most of my strikes come on the fall. If I'm targeting shade lines or trying to skip under bushes then I pretty much expect it every time. Way to get 'em!
Djf3864 reply :
Probably the most common time to get a hit is the initial splash or the subsequent fall of the lure.
Get a higher gear ration reel so you can throw more casts and catch the fish while they are biting!
BigMoneyGrip reply :
I have this with Senkos. I think it is the "ploooop" sound it makes. Other plastics sound different and I don't get as many instant strikes. Put a Senko on, ploooooop, and set the hook.
geo g reply :
I often get strikes on the initial drop with a senko or fluke, especially when throwing into the pads. Sometimes as soon as it hits the water there will be an explosion and then a hook set.
Driftb reply :
I re occasionally, member a number of years ago when I committed to use and learn the jig and trailer. In this case it was a chigger craw. I had fished jig-and-pig, and also jiigs with other trailers with mixed results for years but never really had much confidence in that style of jig. I had decided that I needed to commit time to the method so I was ready to spend the day deep jigging with some heavy jigs. On my first cast a heavy fish crashed the jig as soon as it touched the water. It turned out to be a three or so pound fish, and that was the wasy the day went. Some fish took the jig on the bottom, others mid water, and I had a couple more reaction strikes as soom as the jig hit the water. So now I have confidence in the jig.
einscodek reply :
You dont even have to be that accurate if you have an aggressively hungry fish
It will race to investigate any splashdowns from 10 feet + away and youd be surprised how fast
BasshunterJGH reply :
It happens all the time fishing with senkos, tubes, dropshots, etc. Caught a 2 lb smallmouth the other day 3 seconds after my dropshot rig hit the water.
lectricbassman reply :
Ive had bass hit a fluke and even a buzzbait as it touches down. I believe the fish can see it coming and are there anticipating splashdown before it happens. I often forget that bass are excellent predators and its awesome to me that they can do this
Felixone reply :
As I am still relatively new to this it hasn't happened to me much, but it did a couple weekends ago. I was finishing new water. I paddled out to a likely spot. One of the little quirks I have picked up is my first cast isn't intended to catch fish. I typically cast to open water, and just reel right back. I don't really know why I do this other than it is a simple test of my equipment. Well this time it worked. That cast no sooner hit the water and bam a fish hit it. As I wasn't intending to catch a fish the hit spooked me. It almost seemed like the fish hit before it even hit the water. I just saw the huge splash, and then the tug on the line. I set the hook, but the fish swam down into some weeds and threw the hook so I never got to actually see it. Still it was an exciting 10-15 seconds. I thought for sure it meant I was in the right place, but unfortunately all I managed to land that day was a couple of pickerel. Still it is moments like this that keep me going back.
buzzed bait reply :
went on Sunday afternoon and 8/10 of the bites came on the first turn of the reel handle.... just one of those hyper aggressive days!
Daniel Lin reply :
I once cast a spinnerbait on a baitcaster out with my right hand and was going to let it helicopter a little bit to running depth before beginning the retrieve. It just so happened that instead of my usual transition to left hand before splashdown for a long cast, I was trying to scratch a bug bite with my left hand and a fish struck moments after the lure hit the water.
Felt like a boss when I set the hook one-handed, thumbing the reel on an open clutch. Although I'm sure anyone who's done any fair amount of flippin' and pitchin' has done more than their fair share of that too.
Jtrout reply :
Happened to me during the summer for a month on trigged worm
everythingthatswims reply :
This happens with swimbaits sometimes... "Woah! A trout fell from the sky, I'm gonna eat it!"
RSM789 reply :
Skipping Senkos under docks often leads to immediate strikes once the bait stops, although I did have one bass who caught the lure in mid air between skips. I am guessing she was 1/2 bass, 1/2 border collie.
Ozark_Basser reply :
A bait just entering the water just gets them to react sometimes instead of getting a real good look at it when it's on the bottom. I was working a paddle tail swimbait a couple of days ago through some grass patches. When I popped the bait off the top of some taller grass into a hole, I had a keeper bass literally jump out of the water to grab the swimbait midair.
WRB reply :
Did you know it takes over 500 milliseconds for your brain to react to a strike!
River bass live in an environment where the current brings them food or it falls on the surface, they can't wait or it will pass bye.
The difference between a so so angler and good angler who fishes underwater soft plastics and jigs is strike detection. The majority of strikes go undetected by most bass anglers.
Tom
guitarglynn1 reply :
It always amazes me when bass do this. A good percentage of the Bass I catch with spoons it is like that. Spoon hits the water and that initial flutter, or even just that initial splash is all it takes before a bass has grabbed it up.
jib5jab reply :
What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?
Paul Roberts reply :
On 10/23/2014 at 10:29 AM, jib5jab said:What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?
Often, yes. If they are biting, I'm not one to argue, as long as my catch rate and quality are satisfying. If not, I start looking beyond the initial drop -fishing casts out for a longer period.
Being ready to detect takes on the initial drop is something I have to be purposefully aware of though, as they can be easy to miss. Keeping in touch with your lure, where it is at all times is important, but often esp so on the initial drop.
Again, dropping lures are a real attractor/trigger for bass and this is so even beyond the initial drop. Make purposeful use of this trigger by fishing baits in pulls and falls, being ready for a take -often it comes at teh bottom of the drop. Takes can be just having your bait not make it bottom, (watching for slack), line movement, a tap, or mushy weight. I usually maintain slight tension on the drop, esp with heavy lures bass are apt to spit. (FC lines excel at semi-slack sensitivity.) With soft plastics that they'll hold longer I may have the luxury of “weighing the line” at the bottom of the fall, feeling for life or weight that indicates a fish. This also allows me to fish more slack in the drop, which allows the lure to fall more vertically –helpful in some places.
How fast a drop can matter, which is a matter of lure sink rate and line diameter.
Senko lover reply :
I love when this happens, especially when it's your first cast. That's where it's at!
This happens occasionally with weighted worms, a lot more with senkos, but the most with topwaters. I'll chuck a popper out and a bass will explode on it right after it hits the water. Often time they miss because there's still the initial splash and they can't see the thing too well, I guess.
Bass are ambushers. That's why we cast to cover. They sit under a log or into the current and wait for baitfish to come along and ambush. When a well-placed cast puts a lure right in front of their nose, they ain't refusin' it.
RipzLipz reply :
On 10/23/2014 at 10:29 AM, jib5jab said:What do you guys do when they are only biting pn the initial fall? Just cast out, let it fall, and then reel in quick and tepeat?
Have been having this happen on strip pits right after ice out with jig and craw for the past 2-3 years. My last 2 PB were caught on the initial fall after the cast, the biggest being a female that was holding off a steep ledge, on which there was a male on bed on the shallow side. Yes, we do cast out, make a few hops if no bite on the initial fall and reel back in without fully working the jig back to the boat. This bite will slow way down once the air temp gets over 60° or 65°F.
ClackerBuzz reply :
also your chances of getting a splash down bite go up exponentially if your casting within the drip line of a tree. 'stupid praying mantis bug thing just couldn't hold onto it's branch...gulp'
primetime reply :
Anytime you are fishing an area with overhanging trees, I try to create a loud splash as they are conditoned to falling lizards, frogs, and other insects etc. from the above trees, I have witnessed many Bass inhaling Lizards and beetles that fall out of trees after a squirel shakes a branch....
If I am having a tough bite, I often try using a loud splash to get attention or stir up activity, sometimes it works, sometims it spooks em, but I have had days where a loud entry was the key to success....
hatrix reply :
I have day where things got tuff and the only way you can catch them is on the initial fall. They will get in a mood where unless it drops right down on them you wont get bit and they are only feeding up. Usually it probably doesn't even matter what the bait is or so it seems. You catch 5 fish on a number of different baits and they only things you can pattern is the initial fall. There is times of the year where I can basically call it when beating a bank with something that floats and you know where fish are holding. It is not so much before you ever do any thing like a bait that sinks but as soon as you start to walk that spook or frog or crank that square bill they grab it.
As for the person talking about setting a hook free spool. I think about 2 years ago there was around a week straight on this lake where the spook bite was just insane. It was probably the best bite I have ever been on. Well I clipped the seat on a cast and it was a nasty one so I sat down on the deck and was about to start picking it out and my brother says something hit the spook and I was like ya whatever it doesn't even matter we catch so many. He just looked at me all funny so to be a ass I thumbed the spool and set the hook over my shoulder with the bait behind me and then my line pulls right to the knot and its pulling hard. The fish wen't almost 6# and was the biggest fish of that whole streak anyone caught. That was one of the fishing moment I will always remember. It was just such random crazy luck and out of the hundreds of fish the fish I didn't care about because we were killing it every day I was going to let go.
scbassin reply :
Some of the time they will see the shadow of your bait & they hit it as it hits the water.
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