Feeling A Bite When Dragging The Bottom? 2024
Gunnerntyler619 reply :
Today I was dragging a finesse jig across some rocks and I realized that I wouldn't know if I had a bite because the rocks feel similar to a bite. How would I know if a Bass picked up my lure during a drag??
kikstand454 reply :
Experience. Really, that's the only way to explain it. Describing the bite will sound exactly like ticking rocks to you. You will know, and when you hook up a few times successfully, it will start to become ingrained in you what the difference is.
Gunnerntyler619 reply :
Ok thanks buddy
TNRanger reply :
It's a good question and I still struggle with it on c-rigs as well.
OntarioFishingGuy reply :
If you think its a bite than stop the bait. If you feel a tick when the bait is stopped, its a bite. If the bait is smaller, the fish will take it in one gulp, so you will have to use feel on that, but with a bigger bait or around lots of smaller bass, they will grab the tail, then take the whole bait, so if you stop it, and feel the tick again, swing for it!
Felix77 reply :
Pay attention to what the jig feels like when dragging on the bottom. When something feels different a bass could have picked it up. I lift up on it if I suspect a pickup. Feels heavy ... set the hook!
Long Mike reply :
Felix is right on. Under those conditions, a bass can take your bait and then spit it out, and you would never know it. Another suggestion is to watch your line. If it moves in any direction other than your line of drift, set the hook.
geo g reply :
Good quality rod, and sensitive line will help you feel the bite. Rock and vegetation may feel like a bump, but they will never pull back. If you feel a tick, or a pull back, take up any slack, and set the hook. Hook sets are free!!! The more experience and time on the water, the better you will get.
papajoe222 reply :
It's one thing to know what to watch or feel for and a whole different ballgame when it comes to actually doing it. As kikstand454 mentioned a lot of it comes down to experience. Overall time on the water experience and experience with whatever you happen to be using. There are guys that know their crankbaits so well that they swear they can feel the difference when a fish is following their bait.
The first time I fished a deep, rocky point with a jig I was setting the hook every time it hit bottom only to have it hit bottom again followed by another hook-set on my part. When I finally hooked up with fish on about the fourth hook-set I was certain that I'd just missed the fish on the first three!!! 
BTW, this is a great way to work a jig over rocky bottom in the summer and early fall.
EvanT123 reply :
Did you catch any fish while dragging that jig? The reason I ask is once you start to catch fish dragging over rocks you will soon recognize subtle differences. Like others have said time on the water is the best teacher.
2 quick stories.
I was dragging a tube over a rocky flat the other day and bamm felt a fish. Set the hook and it didn't budge. It was a rock or wood. Happens to everyone lol.
Again dragging a tube over a different rocky flat boat came by and had to jump up and move over about ten feet rod in one hand. Went to shake the tube. Lifted up and didn't feel it go back down. Set the hook fish on!
In my experience working a tube I find the bites either to be a quick tap or a subtle difference in resistance between you and the bait.
SirSnookalot reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 7:35 AM, Gunnerntyler619 said:Today I was dragging a finesse jig across some rocks and I realized that I wouldn't know if I had a bite because the rocks feel similar to a bite. How would I know if a Bass picked up my lure during a drag??
Rocks don't swim, at the slightest tautness in the line set the hook. Braid is a big equalizer, in a wind keep the rod low to the water and your line as straight as possible.
hoosierbass07 reply :
Along with feeling a bite on the bottom, how in the world do you tell what is on the bottom while dragging a lure? I see it mentioned in videos and on TV how bass fishermen can tell wants under the water - rocks, sand, grass, limbs, etc... just by dragging a lure. They make it sound like they have X-ray vision. lol. I'm always skeptical when they go on and on how can find out want is on the bottom by simply dragging a lure. If it's possible I would like to know how its done.
Alonerankin2 reply :
Back to the earlier post..( experience ) mud has a feel, silt has a feel, rocks have a feel, weeds too..
Go throw you're jigs, and feel you're environment
Loop_Dad reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 7:56 PM, hoosierbass07 said:Along with feeling a bite on the bottom, how in the world do you tell what is on the bottom while dragging a lure? I see it mentioned in videos and on TV how bass fishermen can tell wants under the water - rocks, sand, grass, limbs, etc... just by dragging a lure. They make it sound like they have X-ray vision. lol. I'm always skeptical when they go on and on how can find out want is on the bottom by simply dragging a lure. If it's possible I would like to know how its done.
After fishing different waters with your set up over different bottoms, you'll come to learn how they feel like. If you see rock pile on a bank, the chances are the rock pile continue to the water. Cast pass that. First you feel nothing probably when your lure is moving on the muddy bottom. Then you come to the rocky section. If your set up is correct (heavy enough lure + sensitive enough setup, especially line), then you will feel the definite differences. Repeat that over different stuff and you have something to compare when you fish new water. It is harder if the lure is lighter.
Catch and Grease reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 10:22 AM, Felix77 said:Pay attention to what the jig feels like when dragging on the bottom. When something feels different a bass could have picked it up. I lift up on it if I suspect a pickup. Feels heavy ... set the hook!
*2, if it feels different than normal its probably a fish...
kikstand454 reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 7:56 PM, hoosierbass07 said:Along with feeling a bite on the bottom, how in the world do you tell what is on the bottom while dragging a lure? I see it mentioned in videos and on TV how bass fishermen can tell wants under the water - rocks, sand, grass, limbs, etc... just by dragging a lure. They make it sound like they have X-ray vision. lol. I'm always skeptical when they go on and on how can find out want is on the bottom by simply dragging a lure. If it's possible I would like to know how its done.
A jig is great for this, but I think the ultimate technique in reading the bottom is the c-rig. Everything down there feels different. Mud, wood, sand, rock, mussels. ...hell I've ridden with a guy who could tell what TYPE of grass was growing. You just get a feel for it. Its no different than anything else you learn through your senses.
Experience+positive affirmation= knowledge.
senile1 reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 10:41 AM, geo g said:Good quality rod, and sensitive line will help you feel the bite. Rock and vegetation may feel like a bump, but they will never pull back. If you feel a tick, or a pull back, take up any slack, and set the hook. Hook sets are free!!! The more experience and time on the water, the better you will get.
Rocks and cover can seem to pull back if your boat is not perfectly stationary. 
Wind and current can create illusions. That's where anchoring in some manner (talon, powerpole, regular anchor), or just awareness of what is going on with your boat, is handy.
Catt reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 10:22 AM, Felix77 said:Pay attention to what the jig feels like when dragging on the bottom. When something feels different a bass could have picked it up. I lift up on it if I suspect a pickup. Feels heavy ... set the hook!
Dead on 
When asked what a jig bite felt like Denny Brauer replied, "I don't know! But I know what it doesn't feel like! I set hook on every thing!."
roadwarrior reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 11:11 PM, Catt said:When asked what a jig bite felt like Denny Brauer replied, "I don't know! But I know what it doesn't feel like! I set hook on every thing!."
Classic!
CarolinaBoy4Life reply :
I had the same issue when I first stated fishing Jig's, Carolina Rig's, and Texas rigs. Like everyone here has already stated experience will teach you the difference in bottom contour and will help you determine bottom composition.
Gunnerntyler619 reply :
Thanks everyone for your replys
Steveo-1969 reply :
I don't have anything else to add that hasn't been said. Bottom-contact baits are my favorite way to fish, but beware... it's highly addictive!!!!!
Rock... rock... log... branch... rock... <thunk> FISH!!!!!!!!
WRB reply :
The ability to determine a jig strike is what separates the men from the boys and very few are good at it fishing rocky structure.
There isn't an easy answer to this question when dragging a jig through rocks, so don't drag it, slowly swim it only touching bottom and pausing every foot or so. You fish the weight of the jig on controlled slack and keep in touch and focused very second. You rarely have enough time to hesitate hook setting with jigs, if you pull against the line to feel weight you just missed a strike and should have already set the hook!
No rod or rod line combination will make you a good jig strike detector if you haven't mastered the art of knowing what your jig feels like all the time, so you know what it shouldn't feel like when a bass has it in it's mouth. Feel your line to determine how the resistance of the jig feel like, it's known as weighing the jig. The classic tick bite you detect is often the jig being rejected instead of being engulfed.
Carolina rigs use a soft plastic worm or creature, you don't feel what is going on with, you feel what the sinker is doing. You can give slack line to a C-rig and bass often swallow the soft plastic, that almost never happens with a jig. 2 very different lure presentations.
I was jig fishing with a friend a few years ago and he tells me there are a lot of rocks here, I tell him it's a clay bank with no rocks you just missed several strikes!
Tom
FrogTosser88 reply :
I am pretty much in the same boat.. I'm not very good with a jig. Sometimes there is no mistaking the bite. Then theres the "aww crap I'm snagged on a rock" and it turns out to be a fish... I just try to stay focused...
Also a shaky head might be a good way to get the hang of jig fishing.
Its alot lighter , so you can feel the bites... not as good for dragging amd feeling the bottom.
Amarley reply :
1. Watch your line. I sometimes don't feel anything but the line jerks or starts moving.
2. Hook sets are free
3. Small fish peck your lure a few times the big ones inhale it. Great jig fisherman know what that feels like. Takes practice, I'm still not there. Fish with a good fluorocarbon line and a nice jig rod.
Mike2841 reply :
The best word I can think of is it feels organic. I don't know if that makes sense to you or not. Also there's a lot of times when something just feels off or different. Any time I think there is even a remote chance of a bite I set the hook
STPC reply :
On 8/14/2014 at 7:56 PM, hoosierbass07 said:Along with feeling a bite on the bottom, how in the world do you tell what is on the bottom while dragging a lure? I see it mentioned in videos and on TV how bass fishermen can tell wants under the water - rocks, sand, grass, limbs, etc... just by dragging a lure. They make it sound like they have X-ray vision. lol. I'm always skeptical when they go on and on how can find out want is on the bottom by simply dragging a lure. If it's possible I would like to know how its done.
^^^^This....but I wonder what fishermen said about what they "thought" the bottom structure/composure was before electronics...
It's easy to say what something feels like when you already know what it is you're in contact with.
STPC reply :
I though there would be more replies/answers to this...but I guess when you already know the bottom composition it's easy to say what things feel like. Any of the more seasoned veterans from before the time of on-board electronics around here??? I would like to know their opinion/experience on this.
kikstand454 reply :
The problem is you're looking for a description of something that isn't a constant. Truthfully, i feel a jig bite isn't MUCH different from a t-rig bite. Or any other bottom bite for that matter. Because they're all the same by being inconsistent. Lol. Theres no one way to describe it to you because there isn't just one type of bite. You have to experience it enough to know. Its learning the lure.
As for reading the bottom, I can easily tell what is on the bottom while dragging a jig. Even better with a c-rig. Everything down there feels exactly the way you would expect them to. Rocks are hard. Wood has a "thunk" feeling. Sand is soft but firm. Mud is mush. Mussels kind of feel like rocks, but you will feel the "hollowness" of them and occasionally feel the sharp edges. Etc. Again, experience using the lure leads to learning the intricacies.
mayer74 reply :
Wow, this has been an educational read. I've learned a lot. I love it when folks ask questions I didn't know had.
Mike L reply :
On 8/15/2014 at 4:18 AM, WRB said:The ability to determine a jig strike is what separates the men from the boys and very few are good at it fishing rocky structure.
There isn't an easy answer to this question when dragging a jig through rocks, so don't drag it, slowly swim it only touching bottom and pausing every foot or so. You fish the weight of the jig on controlled slack and keep in touch and focused very second. You rarely have enough time to hesitate hook setting with jigs, if you pull against the line to feel weight you just missed a strike and should have already set the hook!
No rod or rod line combination will make you a good jig strike detector if you haven't mastered the art of knowing what your jig feels like all the time, so you know what it shouldn't feel like when a bass has it in it's mouth. Feel your line to determine how the resistance of the jig feel like, it's known as weighing the jig. The classic tick bite you detect is often the jig being rejected instead of being engulfed.
Carolina rigs use a soft plastic worm or creature, you don't feel what is going on with, you feel what the sinker is doing. You can give slack line to a C-rig and bass often swallow the soft plastic, that almost never happens with a jig. 2 very different lure presentations.
I was jig fishing with a friend a few years ago and he tells me there are a lot of rocks here, I tell him it's a clay bank with no rocks you just missed several strikes!
Tom
You think you know something because you've done it the same way for years....
You think you can compete with anyone who holds a rod...
Until you read something like this..
Great Post!!
Mike
TorqueConverter reply :
When in doubt pick the bait up a little bait and feel the amount of resistance required to pick it up and the weight of the bait. If it feels abnormal then set the hook. Rod sensitivity is important and it goes beyond simply how well it transmits vibrations and taps. The weight and especially the balance of the rod is a big part of the sensitivity of the rod. A tip heavy rod, I don't care how sensitive the blank material, is going to make it difficult to feel the weight of the bait when you pick the bait up off the bottom.
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