was this a bite - lmb

[fishhugger]

i'm using a brightly colored little squarebill - lite blue on top, chartreuse on bottom... to me, colors that don't exist i my lake.  and i haven't used squarebills much, so i'm kind of just experimenting. it's january, between rains, the water is muddy, and the bite is slow in the sf bay area.  other guys are using drop shots, so i figure i'm using the wrong technique.

  the squarebill is pretty interesting, since it seems to contact the wood and rocks, and bounce off, generally, etc.  it's the floating kind. they're fun.

so about 10' from me, i *think* it hits wood, then there's this rapid bite, then it's gone.  it's like that rapid tugging, and gone.  i figure it had to be a bite, unless it was the squarebill tumbling somehow, and me pulling too hard. 

thanks in advance!

happy squarebilling

[ol'crickety]

I think it was a hit because I've fished squarebills and seen bass take them into their mouths and reject them right by my canoe. 

[Bankc]

It sounds like it.  Usually the difference between a bite and a snag is a bite will pull the lure back, where as a snag just stops the lure.  But sometimes it can be hard to tell.  And there are tons of other "bites".  Like sometimes you'll notice your lure moving off the side when it shouldn't.  Or maybe you're letting it sink and it should have hit the bottom by now, but didn't.  You might even be reeling in a crankbait and noticing that it's not vibrating like it used to.  There's no one good way to describe a bite, as there are hundreds of different things that you can see and feel that might indicate a bite.  A good rule of thumb is that if you don't know what you felt or saw, treat it like a bite and set the hook.  I've caught a lot of fish by setting the hook when something weird happened that I didn't know what it was.  I generally only don't set the hook when I feel something familiar, like a tree stump or weeds.  

 

Often times if you feel a bunch of rapid little pulls, it means you got bit by something like a perch, bluegill, or some other small fish like that.  They tend to feed by snipping at the fins of the bait to immobilize it before eating it.  Bass, especially largemouth, tend to just swallow the bait whole, so you usually don't get the rapid little bites.  

[GRiver]

I haven’t fished many crank baits, I made deal with myself to try more this year. 
It seems when I think it’s a strike, it’s weeds and when I think it’s weeds, the line starts going left or right. “Oh heck” it’s a bite. 
So now I just give a quick little hook set jerk. I’m more wrong than right, but until I get better, I’ll just keep trying.  

[WRB]

Crank baits have a wobble/wiggle action when swimming through the water. When that cadence changes reel faster and sweep the rod back. Most of the time changes in vibrations indicate a bass has the lure for a few seconds, if you don’t react quickly the bass rejects it or turns with it....set the hook.

Tom

PS, citrus Shad color

[Bankc]

11 minutes ago, GRiver said:

I haven’t fished many crank baits, I made deal with myself to try more this year. 
It seems when I think it’s a strike, it’s weeds and when I think it’s weeds, the line starts going left or right. “Oh heck” it’s a bite. 
So now I just give a quick little hook set jerk. I’m more wrong than right, but until I get better, I’ll just keep trying.  

I don't recommend the "quick little hook set jerk".  I know why you do it, because I do it too.  You don't want to run the risk of burying the hook too deeply into a stump or whatever and lose your lure.  But it becomes habit, and then you find yourself doing that when you get a known strike and wind up losing a lot of fish because you didn't set the hook deep enough.  It's a problem that still plagues me if I'm not paying close attention and thinking of it when I get a bite.  And then you have to option to either horse the fish in as quickly as you can and hope they don't get a chance to fight back, or try to reset the hook, which often creates a large hole in their lip which allows the fish to throw the hook more easily.  It's better to just give it one good hookset in the beginning and hope it was a fish, than a weak hookset and hope you can get the fish in.  

 

So what about wasting a ton of money on lures?  Well, unfortunately, that's part of the game.  Buy cheaper lures if need be.  Bass Pro and Academy both make great crankbaits and stuff under their house brands.  There are no magic lures, but there are magic times and places to fish.  The more you fish, the more you'll get the hang of what a stump, grass, or whatever feels like.  So the more lures you lose, the more you'll learn, and the less often you'll lose lures.  But you'll always lose some lures, because the places that you're most likely to lose a lure are also the place that you're most likely to catch a fish.  

[Woody B]

Do you have White Perch in your area?   They kinda tap tap tap,  and short strike also.  I get a BUNCH of White Perch hits, and catches on moving lures with yellow/chartreuse.    If I think it's a fish I set the hook.  If I lose a lure doing this it's just something that happened.   Also, make sure your hooks are sharp.   

[casts_by_fly]

hooksets are free. If you think it’s a fish, set the hook. 
 

specific to crank baits (and most moving baits) they will have a wobble or whomp or cadence that you feel. A spinnerbaits blades, the wobble of a chatterbait, the bb’s rattling inside a red eye shad. If that feeling stops while you’re reeling it in, set the hook. It’s either a fish or grass.  If it’s fish you’re good. If it’s grass you rip it through. Over time you’ll get better at predicting which is which by feel, but the action for you is the same. sometimes a fish will just grab it lightly and the only thing you’ll feel is the stop of the feeling. 
 

rick
 

 

[BigAngus752]

If one of your hooks gets in some slime on a rock it can feel almost like a "pull" and sometimes even the most savvy angler will sweep on it, but in every instance of that you'll see some slime on your hook.  If you felt a "pull" and had nothing hanging off of your lure when you got it back then you should carefully read Tom's @WRB comment above.  If something is suddenly different, set the hook.  I can't tell you what percentage of my biggest fish were caught because I swung when I didn't feel anything.  Literally.  It went from feeling like "something" to "nothing".  

[GaryH]

I always live by. When in doubt set the hook. 

[fishhugger]

thanks for the great replies! 

 

where i fish, there's lots of wood and rocks.  i lose most of my squarebills - i assume on wood. i get a quick tick, and i might instinctively pull, and i'm stuck. i have been trying to ignore the wood 'bites', lol.  

 

i guess i have to really recognize these wood 'bites' and not even give a little jerk. they're just a soft but distinct tick.

 

but i will try to monitor the wobble wobble of the square bill better. it does at times - disappear.... i'll try a sweep set... i assume relatively gentle. i'm using a medium spinning rod.

 

i do not think there are white perch in the bay area... i assume blue gill, but i am guessing the bite i got was a small lmb...  it was definitely a kind of few quick tugs, then gone....  i've only caught lmb there.

 

so, a sweep hook set is to the side, not up above you?  and i *guess* you run squarebills in shallow water, or by downed trees, objects, etc?  i'm assuming square bills are for fairly shallow water, like less than 10'?

[WRB]

No...crank the lure faster to load up the line and rod then sweep back firmly to hook set.Jerking the rod doesn’t move enough line to get a good hook set.

Tom

[Pat Brown]

Crankbait bites are super weird but you know it's a fish when it starts to move around on ya!  😉

 

I fish a lipless crankbait 75% of the time when I fish a crankbait and sometimes you feel the bite, most times you don't.

 

In my experience, when I am bumping cover, it will not throw any amount of slack in my line.  If I feel even the slightest hint of slack in my line after a bump I'm setting the hook.

 

Hope that helps.

[Catt]

 

[Susky River Rat]

I set the hook on everything that feels different. I use a hard hook set on everything right or wrong. Sometimes it’s a pile of leafs sometimes it’s a bass.  That’s the beauty of fishing in my opinion you never know what that hookset could bring. A smile, a cuss word or ten, disappointment or a surprise. 

[Bankbeater]

Sometimes, if you are casting around brush, a small limber tree branch will get caught between the lip and the line tie,  It sort of feels like a fish pulling back on the bait until you clear the branch and the crankbait comes free.

[fishhugger]

great and thorough information - thank you.

[ol'crickety]

Others have said this, but I'll reiterate it: You don't feel all bites, but you can see some of the bites that you can't feel if you watch your line between the rod tip and the water. If your line goes sideways, that's a fish. It can even go a little limp, which a lure that's being retrieved can't do on its own. It takes a bass taking your lure and swimming faster toward you than you're retrieving. 

 

I've taken many people fishing who don't watch their line and I had to say, "You've got a bite."

[cyclops2]

Line watchers DO catch a lot more of the experienced, previously caught, fish. 

[Functional]

I love the bites when it feels like suddenly your line was cut and it goes completely slack......except when that's actually what happened and you start cursing toothy fish. 

[BensBaits]

I think this was already said but perhaps it wasn’t a bass. It definitely sounds like a bite but maybe it could’ve been a trout, sunfish etc. Where I live we have a bunch a slime darts (pickerel) swiping at and picking on lures including my square bills . Usually feels kind of similar to what you described, an aggressive pulling but nothing to show for it. They’re aggressive enough to hold onto it without touching the trebles sometimes other times they engulf it to the point I’m cutting up my fingers trying to get the lure out. Either way hopefully this bite is a sign of more things to come!

[@reelChris]

On 2/23/2024 at 7:19 PM, fishhugger said:

where i fish, there's lots of wood and rocks.  i lose most of my squarebills - i assume on wood. i get a quick tick, and i might instinctively pull, and i'm stuck. i have been trying to ignore the wood 'bites', lol.  

Get either this:

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strikezone_Pocket_Knocker_Lure_Retriever_3pk/descpage-SZPPK.html

 

or this

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Eagle_Claw_Lead_Lure_Retriever/descpage-EC.html

 

and get your lures back.

 

[FrnkNsteen]

Can't tell you how many bites have come right after a "tick" on the line. Pretty common to get bites right after your bait toches off on something.

 

I was fishing an OG Slim on a heavily flooded Rainy Lake a couple years ago so we were fishing up on the rocky islands and flooded trees. Felt the bait "tick" off a rock or branch, then the line loaded up. After a lengthy fight that told me it was more than the average smallie, a rather large muskie came up next to the boat with all but the back hook hanging out of his mouth. I'm guessing he was following the bait and nipped at it when it bounced off the cover.

 

My advice is to pay special attention after those ticks and set the hook on any irregularity after. You'll get some hookups, and if you miss one, just say "OHHH! BIGGUN!!..... MONSTER!!!......That's what I see all the pro fisherman doing! 😁

 

 

[Alex from GA]

I use the Eagle Claw retriever with jack chains hanging from it also.  It works over 50% of the time.  As for using a square bill I don't have any.