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Posts: 392
Location: Northern Illinois | I'm having a slight problem (I think) with one of techniques I use to trigger fish. I twitch floating crankbaits on the surface by giving the rod tip really quick short snaps to make a floating crankbait dive 6 inches or so to give the water a splash with its tail and some noise. It seems to really immitate a dying fish. I wait a few seconds or crank some before I do it again (or maybe do it a couple of times). It seems reliable to trigger a bite, and I have caught several fish doing it, but I have also lost several fish doing it. This past weekend I just missed a huge muskie doing it and I think I probably snapped it just as he tried to hit it (he made a splash like an M80 went off in the water). Maybe I should wait longer in between the twithces/snaps or slow/shorten the snaps? Or is that just the way it is??? |
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Posts: 209
| Longer pauses can help. With straight retrieve lures, fish usually come up and just grab on, but with baits that stop and go, they often try to lunge right as the bait comes to a stop. It's the actual process of the bait changing from moving to stationary that triggers them, so if you give them a slightly longer window to attack they will be less likely to miss. |
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Posts: 463
| I'd say if you are getting fish to react, then you are doing something right. Keep doing what your doing, sometimes they miss. |
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| Another tip that may help is don't keep your eyes glued to the bait. Sometimes we can't help but to react too soon on a blow-up. Everyone has done this at one time or another. By only looking at it when you need to be sure you are working it how you want to, there may be enough delay time for you to not over-react. The biggest pike I have ever caught was using a buzzbait and I wasn't watching the lure at all. |
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Posts: 692
Location: Pelican Rapids, MN | The pause is like the calm before the storm. If I twitch hard a couple times I'll let the crank bob on top for a few seconds, then give a really short twitch with a little more slack line to ensure it doesn't dive. If there's an interested fish below that is usually enough to get him to commit without taking the lure out of the danger zone. |
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Posts: 392
Location: Northern Illinois | Thanks for all the tips; I think they will really help me keep the lure in the zone longer. Also, in retrospect, I probably was too anxious in setting the hook when I heard/saw all the commotion but wasn't really sure he latched on yet. It's both exciting and a little unnerving when you are on a dead calm bay, with some fog rising off, and maybe only the sound of a loon in the distance, and you're twitching a big ole crankbait and just waiting for that strike. The two days before we had lazy follows off of phantoms and medium buctktails but couldn't trigger them. The next morning I thought I would give them a meal they couldn't pass up. After the lazy follows, I wasn't really expecting the total violence that ensued. |
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Posts: 41
| similar to what fishblood said. I have had really good action on one of my gliders this year but ive missed a ton of fish. fish are rolling on it, I set the hook and pop the bait comes out. after going 1-22 onthe bait this year i had to come up with abetter way of hooking them. What i have been doing is whating till i feel the fish heading away from me to set the hook. almost like a sucker.
just had one last weeked that swang at it and missed instead of setting the hook i gave it one more tap, pause and the fish turn around and inhaled it. |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | swing and a miss. just part of topwater fishing, they miss it. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | Nerves of steel, patience of a saint...piece of cake! |
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| Personally, I would say its better to watch the lure. Most of the fish I lose are from not paying attention. When bass fishing frogs I have to look. A lot of the time they will miss the frog once or twice. When I'm paying attention and watching the frog, I can see if the fish missed it or took it under, and then I can let it sit or reel down and set the hook. If I'm not paying attention and I just hear the sound of the fish trying to eat it, that frogs coming back to me in the air almost 100% of the time (without the fish of course). Even if the fish didn't miss, I pull it away from them before they can take it properly and I can get a good hookset. Learn to watch the lure and be patient. Count to three or five or something if you're having trouble pulling to soon.
From hours and hours of frog fishing I can tell you that it is majority practice being patient and setting the hook properly. One a week long trip to Canada, it can take a day or two to get into the rhythm, but once I do my hooking percentage goes up from 30% to 80%. Having the right gear is essential too.
For your situation personally, I think it's sort of hit-and-miss. Develop a pattern the best that you can, but that can be really hard, and you will likely lose a few more fish along the way. |
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Posts: 138
Location: Utah | This thread came just in time for me...I've been experimenting with top-waters and used the tips in this thread to help improve my presentation and the result was this nice Tiger Musky bumped out at 45.75". Got her on a Weagle...about 1/2 hour later had another behemoth launch out of the water but missed the lure.
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 15 Oct TM.jpg (173KB - 164 downloads)
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Posts: 173
Location: Probably Minnesota that time... | Congratulations, that is an awesome fish, beautifully marked and with Size!
-Chris
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| Some days I twitch a Slammer harder and deeper, and some warm evenings its at the top spitting a bit of water. Catch a lot of northerns the 1st way and bass the 2nd. Great weed technique. |
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