When to set the hook? 2025
Weedless reply :
I know this may seem like the most basic question, but how long do you wait before you set the hook? Obviously if they are pulling your line you set it right away. However when I texas rig and jig fish, I first feel the bump, I then tighten any slack and see if its taunt or extremely limp or another bump before I set it...Since hook sets are free, does anyone just yank as soon as they feel the first bump? My way is extremely successful, but I am just wondering if I am missing out on those fish that only bump it one time. I also just told my self (to make me feel better about it) that if it was only bumped once, it was just a perch since the lake I fish is loaded with perch and do follow and bite everything I throw out there.
J Francho reply :
Wait? Set the hook when you think you feel a fish. Waiting just gives them time to reject the bait.
scaleface reply :
Dont play tug of war . Reel down the slack and sock it to em .
Fishinthefish reply :
Hooksets are free, missed fish are heart breaking. Often, and carelessly.
Dtrombly reply :
With jigs and other bottom baits I set as soon as I feel them bite, I connect most of the time, and occasionally my jig comes flying back at my face.
newriverfisherman1953 reply :
I set the hook when I feel them bite, or I think I feel them bite.
WRB reply :
Mike Gardner. a well known west coast pro angler who help to organize the US Open in '81, wrote a fishing book called "Fish have no hands". Tom Mann pro bass angler and lure maker who invented the Hummingbird wrote a book "Think like a Fish" and in this book he states "Fish don't have hands". The theme is set the hook when it's in their mouth!
Top water lure we can see the fish strike and sometimes they miss, the lure isn't in their mouth. Underwater lures we usually don't see the bass strike so we go with feeling or seeing the line and we know the lure is in their mouth. The only question sense fish don't have hands is when to set the hook because we want the hook in their mouth.
Hook set timing isn't an exact art, it changes on how aggressive the bass is, the size of the lure and bass and our ability to detect strikes. I don't recall who first said "swings are free" regarding hook sets but it's better to be fast then slow at setting hooks.
Tom
Bass_Fishing_Socal reply :
Don't let @Cattsee your post, he will come with those three taps rule again lol.
first tap, fish bite your lure
second tap, fish rejected your lure
and third, a tap from him "why don't you set the hook"
Seriously last time when I fish with huddles ton, I felt the tap but not strong tap I kept reeling in without setting hook. I felt second tap a few second later. I immediately looked behind me if @Cattaround to give a third tap.
Bankbeater reply :
I've had bass hit a jig hard and immediately drop the bait. When the bass are biting like this I just deadstick the jig after the first bite and wait for the second bite. Usually on the second bite the bass takes it all the way and starts swimming off with it. It's like they want to try and kill it before they eat it.
Glenn reply :
Part of the challenge of setting the hook, is detecting the bite. Is that a weed, rock, bluegill, log, or fish?
Here's how to solve that problem:
The Maestro reply :
It becomes instinctual with practice. Bass can pick up a bait so subtly that it's practically imperceptible. Sometimes the "thump" is actually the fish spitting the bait and that's why there's nothing there when you set.
Catt reply :
I don't wait on nothing ????
Drop the rod...reel the slack...set the hook!
Bluebasser86 reply :
Only time I wait is if I'm not positive it was a bite or not, and that's only with soft plastics that they tend to hold onto longer. With a jig, I'm swinging at anything I think might be a bite.
Weedless reply :
I am starting to rethink life at this point......
The entire 19 years I have been fishing, I am starting to realize how many fish I could have caught if I set the hook on the first bite.........
I guess I always thought and visualized it like pan fishing with a bobber and a worm, they toy with it before they actually take it.....and now all of my fishing family is telling me I have been doing wrong all these years.....
I do feel very comfortable determining what is a bite and what is rocks/stumps/weeds etc..........
....boy, I thought I caught a lot of bass before, this year is going to be insane!!!!!!!!!
TOXIC reply :
Why is there never a right answer? 
It depends on the conditions. the bait, the line and the species. I set the hook totally different on a senko, than a swimbait, than a topwater bait, than a dropshot. Some baits, you have to let them run with it or re-position it but if you do that with a senko for example, you will gut hook them. Sometimes, it's one and done and others it takes multiple hits.
Oregon Native reply :
These stories take me back to fishing Lake Powell many years ago. Myself and a friend were pre-fishing for a State Team tourney and didn't want to sore lip the fish for the tourney so we just covered our tubes with smelly jelly and tried to see how close we could bring the fish to the boat with no hook in their mouth. We used a very small hook buried in the tube. It was crazy fun....the water was clear and we would feel the bite and reel really slow while the fish was tugging away....remember having several fish come almost to net range. Do I do this now....NO.
hawgenvy reply :
I am convinced that there is such a thing as setting the hook too soon. When I started jig fishing a couple of years ago I missed so many fish by jerking a hookset as soon as I felt something, which is what I had read I was supposed to do. I later learned to reel the slack first and set only after I begin to feel the weight of the fish. Then I started catching. Surely I still miss a few but at least I'm not jerking the bait out of their mouth every time.
Weedless reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 12:29 PM, hawgenvy said:I am convinced that there is such a thing as setting the hook too soon. When I started jig fishing a couple of years ago I missed so many fish by jerking a hookset as soon as I felt something, which is what I had read I was supposed to do. I later learned to reel the slack first and set only after I begin to feel the weight of the fish. Then I started catching. Surely I still miss a few but at least I'm not jerking the bait out of their mouth every time.
Sooooo, apparently Greg Hackney and I have the same daddy, because he described how I fish to the "T". But most of the other replys on here differ from him.....I understand there are different circumstances and different situations that require super quick hook sets or wait a while before a hook set, but this is interesting....I feel like there is two major different mentality's on a super basic principle of fishing, when to set the hook.
Right now its pretty much my Pro brother Greg Hackney, hawgenvy, and me with make sure you feel the weight before you set the hook and all others say reel the slack and set....
Score:
Team "weight" - 3 (I have a Pro on my team)
Team "Life is too short, just rip" - 14
scaleface reply :
I know what a tap feels like and that calls for a swift hookset . Sometimes the fish is just on there and that takes experience on when to set the hook. .
Todd2 reply :
I starting reeling and drop the rod immediately and set when the slack is out. If the bite is at the end of a long cast, I reel into the fish a little and then set.
Weedless reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 9:18 PM, scaleface said:I know what a tap feels like and that calls for a swift hookset . Sometimes the fish is just on there and that takes experience on when to set the hook. .
So you are saying you can tell the difference between types of taps/bites?? That is impressive.
I am 95% with difference between fish bites and bumping structure....but WOW. There are hard bites that feel like they will rip the rod out of your hand and then there are super soft bites that make you question if that was just the caffeine making your heart flutter or that was a fish....I am not sure how you know how that translates into how much of the bait is in their mouth and how long they are going to like the bait it in their mouth??
I guess I just need to tell my wife I need to fish more to learn this!!!
scaleface reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 9:29 PM, Weedless said:So you are saying you can tell the difference between types of taps/bites??
A tap as the lure is "dropping" is most likely a bite . A lot of bites are never felt .
J Francho reply :
It is VERY rare that a largemouth bass nibbles at a bait. It happens, but usually they gulp it. There are a ton of videos out there that show this. The problem is when they gulp the bait, and do not pull on the string. I've seen this first hand, flipping a jig. If I hadn't seen the violent strike, I would not have known there was a fish on. The only other perceptible evidence of a bite was a tiny bit of line movement. I was using braid. Nothing was transmitted back through the blank or into my hands.
Junger reply :
Does anyone double set a hook on a thick wire hook?
Sometimes when I'm frogging and I don't think I have a good hookset, I'll reel down quickly and set it again.
Hawkeye21 reply :
I still haven't figured out when to set the hook with my hollow body frog.
J Francho reply :
When you don't see the frog on the surface, set the hook.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 10:42 PM, J Francho said:When you don't see the frog on the surface, set the hook.
This is the same I do. As soon as I see the splash and don't see my frog, I swing on them, and I don't miss many.
Catt reply :
So to those who wait to feel the weight!
What do y'all do with the bite where the bass inhales your jig without any tell-tale signs or line movement & proceeds to sit on it?
J Francho reply :
@Catt, those are exactly the bites I referred to above. It's the worst when you only feel them spitting the bit on you. Ugh.
Weedless reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 10:52 PM, Catt said:So to those who wait to feel the weight!
What do y'all do with the bite where the bass inhales your jig without any tell-tale signs or line movement & proceeds to sit on it?
When I Jig fish, I work it across the bottom slowly, so I always usually have some sort of tension to it, and as i move my tip slowly up I will feel weight....thats when the decision comes to play.....is that a fish or did i slide under a stump....so I remember that I buy the $2 Jigs at walmart and dont care about losing it that much vs play with it to see if it moves and risk it spitting it.......Thats when I come out of my shoes..... because I kinda know where the majority of the stumps are at my locations I fish.
Usually, when there is weight to my bait that I didn't feel a bump too usually means a bass came from behind (i believe) and came toward me just a little.
Todd2 reply :
On 1/27/2018 at 12:14 AM, Weedless said:so I remember that I buy the $2 Jigs at walmart and dont care about losing it
Ahh..yes $1.96 Arkie jigs..you're speaking my language. The Bluegill color is what fooled my PB.
Catt reply :
Bassmaster University video titled “Denny Brauer on flipping and pitching”, in it Denny answers viewer questions and one question was “what does a jig bite feel like?” Denny’s answer was “I don’t know but I know what it doesn’t feel like!”, he went on to say he felt 100% confident that not a single bass wrapped it’s lips around his lure and he didn’t take a shot at it.
His next commit was “observers in my boat might think I’m a complete idiot because I set hook 20 times but only landed 5 bass so the other 15 times I didn’t have a clue want was going on and they may be right but one thing for sure the other 15 times were not bass.
When in doubt, drop the rod, reel the slack, & set the hook!
scaleface reply :
When one is fishing a Texas rig or jig through brush . If you a feel tap as you are lifting , then that is probably a limb . If you feel taps when it is falling , reel down and set the hook . I dont palm the reel , I hold the rod in front of the reel with the line running between my index finger and thumb . I feel I am pretty good at detecting strikes but still have at least half go undetected . If my line feels heavy . Ill drop it and "weigh" my line trying to put as little pressure on the fish/snag as possible .
WRB reply :
Nobody wants to admit they miss detecting strikes but we do more often then we know.
Tom
Catt reply :
On 1/27/2018 at 3:59 AM, WRB said:Nobody wants to admit they miss detecting strikes but we do more often then we know.
Tom
Greg Hackney says he doesn't ????
hawgenvy reply :
There is practically no way to know how often bass bite and spit out lures undetected. There was an classic documentary, from the 70s maybe, about fishing for bass. It featured a scuba diver filming spinnerbait fishing in a clear lake or river in north Florida. Most of the bites were undetected, and that was with a moving bait!
If anyone can find a link to that video, please let us know. It was really excellent
The Maestro reply :
On 1/26/2018 at 10:33 PM, Hawkeye21 said:I still haven't figured out when to set the hook with my hollow body frog.
It's all in the timing. When I see the line going straight down into the water I know the fish has it. Hi-vis yellow line and a yellow or white frog helps with this. Then it's a matter of reeling up the right amount of slack based on the distance and the way your rod loads up. I then use a hook set that is as straight up and in front of me as possible (as opposed to the over the shoulder style). This ensures the frog collapses and the hooks find the roof of the mouth.
On 1/27/2018 at 11:18 AM, hawgenvy said:There is practically no way to know how often bass bite and spit out lures undetected. There was an classic documentary, from the 70s maybe, about fishing for bass. It featured a scuba diver filming spinnerbait fishing in a clear lake or river in north Florida. Most of the bites were undetected, and that was with a moving bait!
If anyone can find a link to that video, please let us know. It was really excellent
I gotta figure they weren't using the braided line and rods available today but still it is amazing.
hawgenvy reply :
This classic bass fishing documentary from 1973 is very good. After 11:00 it shows underwater footage of undetected bites on crankbait and spinnerbaits.
The Maestro reply :
On 1/27/2018 at 11:49 AM, hawgenvy said:
This classic bass fishing documentary from 1973 is very good. After 11:00 it shows underwater footage of undetected bites on crankbait and spinnerbaits.
Incredible! 2 treble hooks on a moving bait completely in it's mouth and it doesn't get hooked. Equally amazing is how you were able to find and share some obscure fishing video from nearly 50 years ago in a few minutes. I'm going to watch the whole thing when I have time.
hawgenvy reply :
Bigmouth Forever is an amazing documentary, mostly about the habits and life cycle of LMB, with great underwater footage. Supposedly, the narrator is Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone guy. Everyone should watch it in its entirety.
Listen to the sound bass make when they engulf a baitfish.
Weedless reply :
Did anyone else notice that the bass only engulfed only the skirted part of the spinner bait and avoided the blades in that video?
scaleface reply :
The way Homer Circle holds a rod I'm surprised if he can feel anything .
J Francho reply :
You all realize the hooks are bent closed on much of that footage. And it's from the 80s, not 1973.
Owen_007 reply :
for me when gaining confidence in jigs, I first felt the bite, reeled down the slack until I could feel the weight of the fish, and then dropped the hammer. I got 100% of the fish that bit and held on, If I'm having on if those days where I just am missing hooksets, I do that to get my confidence back. I will also probably start my season out doing that. Couple weeks in I seem to develop a rythem of reeling slack, dropping and hammering, and I only miss a couple once and a while, but that's fishin.
scaleface reply :
On 2/2/2018 at 10:16 PM, Owen_007 said:Couple weeks in I seem to develop a rythem of reeling slack, dropping and hammering, and I only miss a couple once and a while, but that's fishin.
I'll often start out a day messing up and missing fish but develop a rythem as the day goes on .
Oregon Native reply :
I actually think I've put things in my mouth and rejected them so fast I've amazed myself!!
Especially vege's when I was younger!!
frogflogger reply :
When in doubt - set the hook
WRB reply :
The nothing bite is more common then the something bite.
Tom
FishDewd reply :
I have a question for you guys that may seem kinda silly, but how does one "watch the line" to tell if you have a bite or not? I've never been able to do that. It's either too windy to tell, my line sinks, or I just simply cannot see where my line is in the water. I go mostly by bumps or if I feel pressure that I know isn't a snag, reel down into to verify, then set the hook.
Can't Catch Bass reply :
On 2/17/2018 at 6:31 AM, FishDewd said:I have a question for you guys that may seem kinda silly, but how does one "watch the line" to tell if you have a bite or not? I've never been able to do that. It's either too windy to tell, my line sinks, or I just simply cannot see where my line is in the water. I go mostly by bumps or if I feel pressure that I know isn't a snag, reel down into to verify, then set the hook.
I use chartreuse or bright yellow braided line with a flourocarbon leader. The bright line floating on top the water helps to detect if something is moving your slackened line.
FishDewd reply :
That could help. I have a dark kind of green spiderwire braid on my casters right now. I've tried powerpro before but just didn't like it much. Wish spiderwire had a red or yellow in the same texture as the ez braid. I usually do okay with mono as a mainline since it floats, but since it tends to sit in a big curly que on the water it's still hard to notice a change.
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