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Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander. | I often here this said, I had a fish bump my bait. I think unless you actually see it that most times its not a musky. It may be a weed or smaller fish as a bass or walleye. I just think that if a musky wants it he will get it. Sometimes they may swipe at it and bump with there body. How often I am not sure. I don't consider these bumps hits. What do you think? |
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Posts: 186
Location: West Chicago, IL | I've seen them (muskies) bump lures a bunch of times. Yea, tons of other fish do it as well, but muskies certainly bump lures. |
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Posts: 337
Location: Central WI | I've had quite a few instances this year where muskies have bumped my bucktail. I'd reel a little faster after the bump and they'd chase it in and take the bait. It happens quite a bit. Also get the occasional smallmouth messing around too. |
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Posts: 1295
Location: WI | I've had a few really small strikes this year. For a while I wrote them all off, later on I caught a 43.5 that slurped a surface bait, a real subtle strike. Little bumps or whatever can be decent fish too. Who knows for sure until it's seen or in the net. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Happened just a couple weeks ago. I threw the lure back and it got bit, but no hooks. I saw fin on the second cast back. Went back on that fish with different lures and almost bonked it with a topraider.
My biggest problem wias with safety-pin type spinner baits. Muskies would just push them with their noses. I went to treble hook bucktails after that and now rarely throw spinner baits. m |
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Posts: 294
Location: New Jersey | I just had this happen a week ago. I was working a suick and a 47-48 incher came lazily behind the bait, i did the death rise and she came up an just bumped it with her huge head. Unfortuantely, she than swam off to deeper water and i havent seen her since  |
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| I've had muskies bumb and grab baits quite a bit this year - teethmarks in the bulldawg when you didn't feel anything, bumping baits on the 8 at the boat. I think it probably happens more than we realize away from the boat when we can't see. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Bumping fish – Fish that bumps or continues to bump the bait
A “Push” - Swipe and miss by a fish that will push the bait and reduce the pull of the bait felt by you.
When you are in-tune to what is happening you get to know what is happening at the end of your line. If I pick up a small weed, leaf, etc… on my lure I usually know it. If I have a hook hung up on the side of the lure I usually know it. You can feel the lure acting differently. It may not wiggle the same. The drag may be a little more or less. Having good equipment aids in this feeling of course.
Now seeing the fish bump the lure just reaffirms what I believe was a bump. It happens more often than most people may realize. They will also full out whack a bait with their mouth closed.
Perhaps some may think I’m nuts thinking I am that in-tune with a bait. Spending enough time with a rod in hand results in this feeling. Lots of guys realize it and use it to their advantage. If you’re an ice-fisherman you probably know what I am talking about. Besides, when I am fishing over 40, 50, 60’+ of water I think I know that I haven’t just run my crankbait into a weed! If you feel anything while suspended fishing it is one of two things. A fish, or the lure getting fowled up in some manner.
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Posts: 480
| We've had fish bump or rip a lure while fishing 50ft deep water with lure running at 20 ft down. Last week we had one pull out 6 ft of line, then nothing. What was it? Who knows? could be a muskie or pike or maybe bumped into a carp? It would be nice to have a camera down there to know for sure. |
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Posts: 1086
| I will agree with what CiscoKid has stated by being "in tune" with your gear and knowing what a clean, foul-free bait should feel and run like. That way, when something changes, you'll learn those changes over time, by their feel, vs. a bump from a fish.
Example: A lot of times when fishing bulldawgs...there's not much vibration or to that bait other than just the drag by the weight/size of the bait by itself. Countless times, when fish aren't actively feeding, I've felt them nip at the tail and you can feel that. You instantly feel a change in the weight/drag of the bait and know something is different and often times it lets go, then "tugs" again with a small nip at the tail, speeding the retrieve of the bait up and even ripping harder on that bulldawg....and again and again nipping at the bait all the way back to the boat and guess what's behind the bait? Mr/Mrs Muskie. Taking that bait into the "8" often times is what was needed to get that nipping muskie into a biting muskie. You've sped up retrieve, you ripped harder on your pulls...that didn't get the nipper to be a biter, but now with the "8", it's that change of direction...the bait trying to "flee" from the muskie... |
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Posts: 427
Location: Wausau | Yes, Yes and Yes...
Yes Muskies will bump a lure, a sucker, a planer board, even the trolling motor. Is it the fishes way of gathering more information? Yes, one can feel the slightist change in lures - like knowing if the front hook of a dawg is messed up or is it the tail caught. Yes, just this past weekend I made a vertical move with a Pounder and like a flash a big muskie helped push the bait higher by bumping the lure with a closed mouth. It happenes...stay in tune and know how to react. |
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Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander. | I to have witnessed it when jigging slowly in shallow water or deeper clear water. Have fish come up and actualyy push the creature> I think they just are not convinced its the real deal and are checking it out. Had one that actually came up under it when swimming the bait. It actually restes the bait right on it snout and swam with it for a few feet. That gets the heart pumping. Now if I could teach them to flip it in the air and catch it like my dogs do with treats.
Pfeiff |
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Posts: 16
| One of the bigger fish that I caught this year fust felt like my blade stopped spinning for a second and then started back up again.(luckily I kind of set the hook to get the balde to spin) |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Medford, WI | Saw plenty of fish doing this up in Canada this year. About half of them were opening/closing their mouths about an inch under or behind the bait, but the other half were bumping or "nudging" the bait with their snout.
I completely agree with you Travis, in that you get to know the feeling of the baits you use a lot of the time. I can tell when a bulldawgs tail is wrapped in the back hook or if the front hook is wrapped on the leader. Using the curly sue, it is even more apparent when this happens. Even though I can tell this, I always make sure to watch underneat the bait as I've had several fish follow a dawg that's completely wrapped up (back hook wrapped around line/leader and no tail action).
-Jake |
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Posts: 556
| One of the trolling videos on here last year showed this exact thing happen to the trolled bait where the following musky came up and bumped the lure without taking it. Just think--they use their snout probably the same way we would use our hands--to check thing out!! |
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Posts: 1310
Location: Washington, PA | Let's get this straight, that's called a "nibble." |
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| I have actually watched them get their head along side the lure or even with it and then bump it with the side of their head. It doesn't even seem like they are going to hit, but more like they are testing the bait to see what it is or does when bumped.
Ed Knolls |
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