when your plug/lure gets bumped?

[Rip-Plugger]

years ago I remember plugging with swimmers or with a smiling bill.
during those sessions our lures got bumped.
we often wondered why/what was going on with that.
one morning myself and Malibu Kenny were fishing from a dock that was about 8 feet high and we were picking up large gators on smiling bills.
my curious thoughts on the point in question were revealed to me during this outting.I was using a chartreuse bill with orange pork rind.
as I was getting kind of close to the next cast I could see my bill about 2 feet under the water.
suddenly a monster gator swam up behind it,inhaled it and then blew it out before I could set the hook.
this took a fraction of a second and no matter what I did I could not swing quick enough to get a hook in them.
the other hits I got while it was farther out and unseen were total slams with an occasional bump.

another thing is I have seen with my own eyes a bass do something like that but,it felt the same.
I was using a bomber long-a15 and saw a bass come behind it and smack it's mouth an inch from the lure,I felt the "bump" and saw it too.
also,I have seen hickories hit the barrel swivel thinking it is some kind of shrimp or whatever but,those hits feel different,kinda like plucking a guitar string.

anyone ever see any of this?



R-P

[jigfreak]

I see it a lot when either the water is cold or we have a set of decent days of fishing and then a few days of a cold snap and the bass and blues seem to shut off with the temperature drop. They get sluggish and non-committal with plugs. Rubber and bucktails you can do a little better. with the plugs they seem to know it's not quite natural and are hesitant. They will bump it and sometimes several times not committing. When that happens I try to hit them hard and stick that hook. If you are seeing fish snagged in the head or back when you do hook up that is probably what is happening.

[surfstix1963]

It happens a lot with needle fish they tend to tap those at night before taking it mainly blues, especially if it's s a topwater needle,bass do like to stun their prey so it may be the tail tapping it before they come around and take it from the head.When the fish get picky the only thing I found is to stop the plug for a few seconds if it sinks or suspends some they usually grab it.

[storminsteve]

I WISH i could have got a bump last night.

[jigfreak]

When the fish get picky the only thing I found is to stop the plug for a few seconds if it sinks or suspends some they usually grab it.

Good point I do that as well. With the cold winds the ocean temps have dropped a bit. Not much but enough to make a difference. Also when you feel that hit be ready to strike asap.

[vpass]

Had many night that all I would get bumps. I always believed that the fish were just checking the offering and never comitting. when I hook into hickories I just think they're the cause of the bumps. Very intersting that Rip had a visual of what is really going on. Very cool.

[seamonkey]

when I hook into hickories I just think they're the cause of the bumps.

I never thought of that we don't have a lot of hickory shad except for the inlets. So you are getting them on the open beaches up there? cool

[dogfish]

another thing is I have seen with my own eyes a bass do something like that but,it felt the same.
I was using a bomber long-a15 and saw a bass come behind it and smack it's mouth an inch from the lure,I felt the "bump" and saw it too.
also,I have seen hickories hit the barrel swivel thinking it is some kind of shrimp or whatever but,those hits feel different,kinda like plucking a guitar string.

anyone ever see any of this?



R-P

Fish are smarter than we think. If it doesn't feel natural to them they will spit it out.

[Rip-Plugger]

I never thought of that we don't have a lot of hickory shad except for the inlets. So you are getting them on the open beaches up there? coolwell,up here they are mostly in the rivers where marshes are,they eat the grass shrimp that flush out when the tide ebbs.
I have caught them outside in the harbors too.
when they hit the barrel it feels like a dull thud,whats actually going on is they grab the barrel and when they turn they pull on the line and lure then they let go and it feels like your line got plucked like a guitar string.
also they seem to show less fear of bass feeding near them as they hang out with the school sized fish and they take off when gators show up.

[Rip-Plugger]

Fish are smarter than we think. If it doesn't feel natural to them they will spit it out.
what is smart is how they inhale and blow it out in like a 25th of a second,it is so fast that you think your lure hit a rock.
I believe they may be tasting it when the do that although they can also taste on the outside of their mouth with the mouth closed using the lips.
another important thing too is when I saw the gators do that they never turned until the lure was out of the mouth during the inhale they always followed it straight till it was out then turned away.

R-P