I was catching smallmouth in 51d water using jigs and tubes.  I didn't get anything on reaction baits, although I did have a violent hit while trying to dislodge a snag as I described in another thread.  The bite was very distinctive and the hook was well in their mouth.

 

I had one rod rigged with a 3.5" tube and another with a teaser tube.  On two casts with the small tube I had a slight overrun.  I cleared it by just stripping line off the reel.  One both of those casts when I took up the slack I had a fish on.  Here is what is strange - the other bites I had (even on the teaser tube) they had inhaled the bait.  On both of these fish they were barely hooked on the edge of the lip.

 

Was there something about the tube drifting along that caused the fish to just nip at it?

Dead sticking a tube is a great way to catch smallmouth 

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Dead sticking a tube is a great way to catch smallmouth 

Fix the backlash and answer the phone is a good presentation this time of year.

5 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Fix the backlash and answer the phone is a good presentation this time of year.

On my home lake we have a slot limit of 13 to 16in. My Grandpa caught a like 17in largemouth talking on the phone. 

I understand that dead sticking is a good presentation, but why would those fish be barely hooked when the others inhaled the bait?

43 minutes ago, zelmo said:

I understand that dead sticking is a good presentation, but why would those fish be barely hooked when the others inhaled the bait?

Were the deep bites when the bait was up in the water column vs. on the bottom with deadstick? When a bass sucks in a bait that is up off the bottom, the bait and all the water around/behind it flows into its mouth. When it is trying to suck a bait up from off the bottom, the bottom acts like a wall, and the volume of water moved is potentially less because the bottom disrupts and/or blocks flow from one direction. Might be a possible explanation…

1 hour ago, zelmo said:

I understand that dead sticking is a good presentation, but why would those fish be barely hooked when the others inhaled the bait?

No exact science to that. The fish probably ate the tube and spit it out twelve times while you were picking out the backlash , the line came tight when it was on the edge of his mouth. Your guess is as good as any 

 

it is well documented a bass can inhale and exhale a crankbait full of trebles during a constant reeling retrieve without the angler ever knowing he had a strike 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

it is well documented a bass can inhale and exhale a crankbait full of trebles during a constant reeling retrieve without the angler ever knowing he had a strike 

You don't have to be such a Debbie Downer man, can't you find a more delicate way to tell me that I am old and slow and luck plays more of a role than I will admit? 

Lord you should see my wife deadstick a tube.  Something about reading a book can make her more successful than the rest of us on the boat.  I've been blaming it in the estrogen scent on the bait, but perhaps it is her "I give up" behavior that truly wins.

8 hours ago, Sphynx said:

You don't have to be such a Debbie Downer man, can't you find a more delicate way to tell me that I am old and slow and luck plays more of a role than I will admit? 

Was that you fishing the crankbait in that movie??? ? 

11 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Were the deep bites when the bait was up in the water column vs. on the bottom with deadstick? When a bass sucks in a bait that is up off the bottom, the bait and all the water around/behind it flows into its mouth. When it is trying to suck a bait up from off the bottom, the bottom acts like a wall, and the volume of water moved is potentially less because the bottom disrupts and/or blocks flow from one direction. Might be a possible explanation…

I was going with "it's magic"...

35 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Was that you fishing the crankbait in that movie??? ? 

Man...if I didn't know any better I would think I took your lunch money in 3rd grade or something and your wanting revenge...why you gotta be throwing my business out there...they SWORE I'd get to remain anonymous...