The first thing is to be sure your hooks are really sharp. Also, before you set the hook on any fish, the line, the rod tip and the fish must be semi-perfectly tight. Slack line prevents the action of the rod from being transmitted to the hook.
Any strike on an artificial plug is a direct take…that is, the bass intends to swallow it directly. You can be sure the fish is not about to hold the plug in its mouth, play with it and then swallow it. I know there are exceptions with plastic lures and jigs…bass tend to hold on to them longer.
But they won’t do this with hard lures. Fish quickly realize these baits aren’t real and spit them out. Yet it takes longer than you think.
When a bass opens its mouth to hit any bait or lure, he is also swallowing water. In fact, the bait really floats into his mouth and it will continue to float while the excess water is being expelled through the gills.
Usually, a fish won’t detect an artificial lure until it has ejected the water and clamps down on the bait.
The major mistake made by fishermen using artificial baits is to set the hook too quickly. Now, don’t misunderstand and believe that you have LOTS of time. You don’t. But you do have much more time than you would expect. So, if you think you are missing fish that you should be hooking, hesitate a little, because it does work.
I am missing fish quite often. Have any useful bass fishing techniques?
