gw hunter you have to hold the rod. The small hits were prob eels or bunker. Dead sticking is the way to feed the fish not catch em. Ditch the clams and use bunker from now on. We had a good nightt. Bunker came in and some nice stripers. Fish to 21lbs. 8 fish between the 3 of us all keepers. It was hot for 2 hours and died down as the bunker left. Kept the smallest 3 fish 10-14 lbs. Put your time in and you will catch. We fished for 7 hours last night.