I think the bite that requires the most discipline is the worm bite. People have a tendency of setting a hook as soon as they feel the tap. I always let them swim for a bit before I stick them.
I have tried several different rod types over the past couple years. I feel like if you use different action rods, you feel bites differently. Ive set on phoenix rods and the megabass levante rods. Phoenix rods are thinner and more parabolic, a mh fast, is more like a med+ and they all have that deep bend. The levante rods are all the same way...except heavy flipping rods. So i feel like when Me, personally use rods more like these, when you get a bite, or what seems to be a bite, you can kinda reel down and start to sweep into them. If it's not a bite, no harm no foul, but if it is a fish, as soon as you get a little tension and bend in the rod, you can feel that fish, and you can go ahead and sweep back, and get them. When ive used stiffer rods with less of a tip/deep bend, I miss a lot more fish, and have a much harder time detecting strikes.
i love jig fishing and have a ton of confidence in the jig... but truth be told i am addicted to the slo roll spinnerbait bite. the way the bass will typically tick it bump it and THEN comes the bite hit and the pressure on the line essentially hooking themselves needing only for my to sweep back a little keeping tension on the line. as apposed to the jig bite whereby if you arent watching that line your success will be limited as you know because with jigs more oftaen than not when the hit that jig on the fall you will not feel the bite but see it with your line taking off. i cant remember if you covered this Randy, but i know that having sharp hooks take remove the need for a hard hookset. i sharpen all my hooks when rigging up at home and during fishing so they are what i call sticky sharp.since doing so my hook up rates have gone way up. good vid sir. thank you. ps- may i offer one suggestion to help you in your tourneys. i dont know if you do this, but if you dont you may want to try it... a while ago an old explorer i knew told me about when ever he takes something in his explorations, an arrowhead or rock, he always gave an offering, usually in the form of tobacco back to the earth. he said he learn that from the native americans. so i started doing just that prior to fishing when i am greeting the water feeling it and smelling the water, i ask the DEVINE CREATOR to put me on the fish. then i make an offering of tobacco, usually, sometimes some weed and occasionally alcohol. which i will throw in the water or directly on the shore. and i will tell you what on the days i have spaced and forgotten the offering i will rarely catch anything substantial until after my offering. some call it a coincidence. but i dont believe in those, and neither does agent Gibbs, i believe everything happens for a reason. and what that old explorer told me hadnt of been told to me if it didnt hold some significance. and heck worse case scenario, it cant hurt and in your case competing for money. if i were you, i would listen to what i am saying because it is only for your benefit. and anyone elses that may want to do it. cheers, love.
Great first point you made there. The only way you build your bite detection skills is to actually get bites. You can practice casting in your back yard or the park. You can practice tying knots in your basement. You can practice reading your graph just idling around all day. But the rest only happens when you get a bite and after. I would guess getting bit represents a small portion of your casts. Low single digits I would guess. Maybe 5%. For this reason I advise all novice fishermen and fisherwomen to start with downsized tackle and go after the dinks all day. Fish nothing but a ned rig, a shakey head, a hellgrammite, etc... Not only will you increase your bite rate but you'll get practice detecting the slightest of bites. And of course some large fish will bite periodically as well.
Hope you do well at Grand Lake Randy. I’ve always loved the “thump”, the “I’m going to tear your arm off” bite you get on Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and cranks, and the I’m stopping your jerkbait right here because you paused it” bite. Good rundown, thanks.
Great stuff Randy. I’ve never heard anyone cover this in detail before. I especially liked the comment, “The more familiar you get with each lure or lures category the better you will get at detecting bites.” Now that makes sense.
In my opinion, this is one of the most important videos you've done so far. What could be more important than turning a bite into getting the fish in the boat? If people don't already know this information they need to take in every word and are guaranteed better results.
Randy, off topic question here about highland reservoirs, if they do a large draw down due to work on the dam , max depth of the lake is about 60ft and they are drawing it down 20-25ft it’s already down about 15-18ft , most of the coves are bare and no docks are in the water anymore,,, mixed species of large and smallmouth, a lot of rock and there are some shoals that are exposed or just under the surface, all the grass is out of the water , would your approach for tournament right during a cold front with some wind? It’s a clear water lake 6ft + visibility ? I was thinking topwater and squarebill in the morning and then move out deeper and drop shot them to death the rest of them day ??
I made a cast with Lucky Strike 3” yellow perch multi jointed swimbait and had a pike hit it as soon as it hit the water! Big visual blow up but I hesitated to feel him pulling back, loaded up the rod and landed him 🤘🏻 I’ve also had different types of bites on the drop shot like the hard machine gun ticks or sloppy pluck of the lure
There is one more. Several times while reeling plastic back to the boat, a fish would unknowingly grab the bait and swim at the same speed I was reeling, towards the boat. Only when the fish was close to the boat would it turn and pull on the line. If you are not fast, the next thing you will feel is the fish spit the bait out and the line go slack.
Some of the worst fishing advice I ever got was: "Hooksets are free, when in doubt, set the hook.".... I probably pulled hooks out of every bass's mouth in the lake... I have come to wind down to them and just pull, but it took a long time to develop that habit after trying to set the hook on everything.
If I get a tick on my dropshot it's always cookie cutter. The big 4+ lb bites are almost always the pressure feel. I just lift slightly and reel, never set the hook hard. No reason to on a size 2 hook. I only ever swing hard when fishing a jig. Everything else it's always a sweeping set. It's what Works me, I fish smallies in upstate ny on st lawrence. Great tips 👌
Just wanted to tell you that I enjoy your videos. They are very helpful. The one part of fishing I'm not sure of is setting the drag. What tension do you recommend for bass fishing and do you check or adjust it before actually fishing?
I hold the rod in front of the reel so my finger touches the line- I can feel just about everything telegraphed through the line. I don't just hold the rod- you lose the feel for the lure.
Great video. Line type also makes it feel different. When I'm swimming a worm on fluorocarbon and they hit it hard, that's one thing, but same situation on braid sometimes feels like they're ripping the rod out of my hand! Lol.
I have had a lot of fish drop a jig or soft plastic bait if I let them have it for very long at all if there's a lot of fishing pressure but then sometimes they pick it up and you cant hardly shake them off if you try!
Since you like to fish shallow, I’ve got the ultimate challenge for you. Pull out one of your old pistol grip short rods and catch a bunch of fish and see if you can start a new craze 😂.
The way I've learned to overcome this is to remind myself "weeds will not ever pull back". So when in doubt, pause long enough to give whatever is out there a chance to pull or move.
That was legit. More please...
Thank you again for your expericence this helps. I have notice small mouth seem to hit twice rapidly and large mouth slower pull, I live in N. Idaho.
I think the bite that requires the most discipline is the worm bite. People have a tendency of setting a hook as soon as they feel the tap. I always let them swim for a bit before I stick them.
I have tried several different rod types over the past couple years. I feel like if you use different action rods, you feel bites differently. Ive set on phoenix rods and the megabass levante rods. Phoenix rods are thinner and more parabolic, a mh fast, is more like a med+ and they all have that deep bend. The levante rods are all the same way...except heavy flipping rods. So i feel like when Me, personally use rods more like these, when you get a bite, or what seems to be a bite, you can kinda reel down and start to sweep into them. If it's not a bite, no harm no foul, but if it is a fish, as soon as you get a little tension and bend in the rod, you can feel that fish, and you can go ahead and sweep back, and get them. When ive used stiffer rods with less of a tip/deep bend, I miss a lot more fish, and have a much harder time detecting strikes.
i love jig fishing and have a ton of confidence in the jig... but truth be told i am addicted to the slo roll spinnerbait bite. the way the bass will typically tick it bump it and THEN comes the bite hit and the pressure on the line essentially hooking themselves needing only for my to sweep back a little keeping tension on the line. as apposed to the jig bite whereby if you arent watching that line your success will be limited as you know because with jigs more oftaen than not when the hit that jig on the fall you will not feel the bite but see it with your line taking off.
i cant remember if you covered this Randy, but i know that having sharp hooks take remove the need for a hard hookset. i sharpen all my hooks when rigging up at home and during fishing so they are what i call sticky sharp.since doing so my hook up rates have gone way up. good vid sir. thank you.
ps- may i offer one suggestion to help you in your tourneys. i dont know if you do this, but if you dont you may want to try it... a while ago an old explorer i knew told me about when ever he takes something in his explorations, an arrowhead or rock, he always gave an offering, usually in the form of tobacco back to the earth. he said he learn that from the native americans. so i started doing just that prior to fishing when i am greeting the water feeling it and smelling the water, i ask the DEVINE CREATOR to put me on the fish. then i make an offering of tobacco, usually, sometimes some weed and occasionally alcohol. which i will throw in the water or directly on the shore. and i will tell you what on the days i have spaced and forgotten the offering i will rarely catch anything substantial until after my offering. some call it a coincidence. but i dont believe in those, and neither does agent Gibbs, i believe everything happens for a reason. and what that old explorer told me hadnt of been told to me if it didnt hold some significance. and heck worse case scenario, it cant hurt and in your case competing for money. if i were you, i would listen to what i am saying because it is only for your benefit. and anyone elses that may want to do it. cheers, love.
Great first point you made there. The only way you build your bite detection skills is to actually get bites. You can practice casting in your back yard or the park. You can practice tying knots in your basement. You can practice reading your graph just idling around all day. But the rest only happens when you get a bite and after. I would guess getting bit represents a small portion of your casts. Low single digits I would guess. Maybe 5%. For this reason I advise all novice fishermen and fisherwomen to start with downsized tackle and go after the dinks all day. Fish nothing but a ned rig, a shakey head, a hellgrammite, etc... Not only will you increase your bite rate but you'll get practice detecting the slightest of bites. And of course some large fish will bite periodically as well.
Hope you do well at Grand Lake Randy. I’ve always loved the “thump”, the “I’m going to tear your arm off” bite you get on Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and cranks, and the I’m stopping your jerkbait right here because you paused it” bite. Good rundown, thanks.
Great stuff Randy. I’ve never heard anyone cover this in detail before. I especially liked the comment, “The more familiar you get with each lure or lures category the better you will get at detecting bites.” Now that makes sense.
Also a spinner bait bite can sometimes be a matter of the blades just stop spinning and you feel the vibration stop.
In my opinion, this is one of the most important videos you've done so far. What could be more important than turning a bite into getting the fish in the boat? If people don't already know this information they need to take in every word and are guaranteed better results.
Randy, off topic question here about highland reservoirs, if they do a large draw down due to work on the dam , max depth of the lake is about 60ft and they are drawing it down 20-25ft it’s already down about 15-18ft , most of the coves are bare and no docks are in the water anymore,,, mixed species of large and smallmouth, a lot of rock and there are some shoals that are exposed or just under the surface, all the grass is out of the water , would your approach for tournament right during a cold front with some wind? It’s a clear water lake 6ft + visibility ? I was thinking topwater and squarebill in the morning and then move out deeper and drop shot them to death the rest of them day ??
I made a cast with Lucky Strike 3” yellow perch multi jointed swimbait and had a pike hit it as soon as it hit the water! Big visual blow up but I hesitated to feel him pulling back, loaded up the rod and landed him 🤘🏻 I’ve also had different types of bites on the drop shot like the hard machine gun ticks or sloppy pluck of the lure
Excellent instruction. One of your best.
good video unfottunately Rick Clunn says even he dosent feel all of them He said its like 50 percent of the bass we dont feel again good vid
There is one more. Several times while reeling plastic back to the boat, a fish would unknowingly grab the bait and swim at the same speed I was reeling, towards the boat. Only when the fish was close to the boat would it turn and pull on the line. If you are not fast, the next thing you will feel is the fish spit the bait out and the line go slack.
Great video. Thanks!
Definitely enjoyed this video
Great tips as usual
Some of the worst fishing advice I ever got was: "Hooksets are free, when in doubt, set the hook.".... I probably pulled hooks out of every bass's mouth in the lake... I have come to wind down to them and just pull, but it took a long time to develop that habit after trying to set the hook on everything.
If I get a tick on my dropshot it's always cookie cutter. The big 4+ lb bites are almost always the pressure feel. I just lift slightly and reel, never set the hook hard. No reason to on a size 2 hook. I only ever swing hard when fishing a jig. Everything else it's always a sweeping set. It's what Works me, I fish smallies in upstate ny on st lawrence. Great tips 👌
Please do a video on how to fight/land bass after hooking them. How do you hold and adjust the rod, etc
Just wanted to tell you that I enjoy your videos. They are very helpful. The one part of fishing I'm not sure of is setting the drag. What tension do you recommend for bass fishing and do you check or adjust it before actually fishing?
When I’m doing set the hook always haha
I hold the rod in front of the reel so my finger touches the line- I can feel just about everything telegraphed through the line. I don't just hold the rod- you lose the feel for the lure.
A most educational video. I look forward to the day when I can actually catch a bass. Will be fun.
No late night😕but you in the late night room😁.Good view point Randy🤓
As a kid and the way I told my son hook sets are free larne to catch fish then start figuring out deferent bits with the deferent baits and rods
Great video. Line type also makes it feel different. When I'm swimming a worm on fluorocarbon and they hit it hard, that's one thing, but same situation on braid sometimes feels like they're ripping the rod out of my hand! Lol.
Watch your line yall
I have had a lot of fish drop a jig or soft plastic bait if I let them have it for very long at all if there's a lot of fishing pressure but then sometimes they pick it up and you cant hardly shake them off if you try!
Hook sets are free
Was that a bite? Hardest part of fishing for me.
I love when you're fishing a worm, and you feel that tap, tap, tap, and suddenly the line takes off...and you just jack em!!
I have the intuitive angling sweatshirt hoodie,protects me from mushy bites try yours an see the diff ranch,have a blessed day.
Helpful video
On the fall jig bite is my favorite bite, just feel a tick. Tighten down and swing 😏
Since you like to fish shallow, I’ve got the ultimate challenge for you. Pull out one of your old pistol grip short rods and catch a bunch of fish and see if you can start a new craze 😂.
I mistake weeds 🌿🌱☘️ for a fish all the time 😔
The way I've learned to overcome this is to remind myself "weeds will not ever pull back". So when in doubt, pause long enough to give whatever is out there a chance to pull or move.
@@davidfelton3084 thank you I'll keep that in mind next time I go out
Nice
Good luck
Take the money at Grand 💵💵💵💰💰💰
Good luck