While retrieving and a fish shows up (you see a fish following or there is a wake or a boil or you get a bump) do you momentarily stop the retrieve, continue with the same retrieve or add a little more action to the retrieve to get that fish to strike.

i've found a slow down entices a strike... where as a quick stop sometimes triggers a refusal... then on the other hand...it's all about presentation. That might be when then fish bangs a Huey and slaps the bait with it's tail to stun it.... not being quite sure... then Bang.

sometimes exactly what they want is for the Pause to happen and then they explode on the bait.... with a grab and run hook up.

Depending on the conditions(amount of line out,plug,roughness of water)but I'll usually stop it,and let the fish come back for another shot at it.Twitch it a little like a stunned baitfish.

i think you should always vary your retreives while fishing. in the bump, nudge, or miss sceniario i like to stop for a sec, wiggle then speed up and then slow then hit. always vary retreive speeds and actions.

My thinking is the fish has been watching the bait longer than you know buts needs a little more incentive to strike. I'm prone to increase the retrieve speed to "flee" mode and that usually (but not always) leads to a strike.

I am usually tempted to stop everytime that happens. I dont know if it increases my chances. But they often do come back and slam it.

Okay now. So far its a mixed bag of responses : stop, slow down, speed up, twitch, but the common theme throughout seems to be to change the retrieve from it was originally. Any takers for continuing with the same retrieve?

it depends on the type of hit. Sometimes i've found that the bass will just tailwack the plug and knock it 5 feet in the air. If that happens i'll just let the plugs sit there and more times than not they will just suck it right off the surface. Othertimes say fishing a needlefish they'll swing and miss and keeping a steady retrieve will draw another strike.

The natural reaction of a baitfish would be to speed up. I will usually change the retrieve in some way, usually with some pops and twitters to make it look like a scared baitfish. As has been mentioned, if they follow and don't strike they are probably unsure it is food, so some sort of change is appropriate to change their mind.

I seem to think that the second strike is from a different fish, So when I get a strike, bump or nudge I always set the hook with out even thinking, I don't like it but that's my first reaction. This usually pulls the plug out of a second strike range and if there was 2 or 3 fish together then 1 of the others gets the plug. I usually stop the plug and take up line slack and star to slowly retrieve back to the rate I was reeling to begin with

i always continue my retrieve the same way i was doing before, like nothing has happened, it has worked well for me.
in the past i would pause or slow it.
it also helps you keep your focus and not trying to set the hook before you feel weight.

think of how many swirls, boils and splashes you dont see hear or feel at night, and you just keep the same retrieve because you dont know theyre there...

Two totally different scenarios. During the day, if a fish hits and misses a surface plug, you got a very good chance that fish will turn and try again. Pause a moment, twitch once or twice, and restart your retrieve. Follows, unfortunately, are a whole different issue. Those fish a sniffing and not aggressively eating. My success rate with fish over 15-20lbs that follow a plug more than a few seconds is very low. Nothing I do (including scents) seems to work. Once you can see them, they can see you, and the longer they follow the closer to the boat they get, and the farther away from their feeding location they end up. Nowadays, I sometimes try killing my retrieve early, letting the fish sink away before the boat spooks him, then throwing a different style plug (usually a pencil/spook/flaptail if I've been using a swimmer) back in the same spot. Better yet, mark the spot and return later in the day, a few hours often makes a huge difference.

Interesting question and one that I continually play with in my mind on the boat as I fish. I have tried every way possible and I gotta say it seems like one of those things that depends on the day and condition. I've teased big bass LITERALLY to the side of the boat. To the point where you can't retrieve any more and you got the rod tip IN the water and they're still looking at it. I think it was last year or the year before I had a 30+ pound fish LITERALLY bounce off the side of the boat I had him in so close.

Personally I've never understood this and I am a TOTAL topwater junkie. I hate fishing sub surface and sometimes will curtail my fishing until the topwater bite is going. Each and every time I've seen this it never ever seems to follow any kind of reasonable pattern. One day you can pause and then twitch, the next day you can speed up, and the next day you can mix it up any way you want. I've seen fish turn away and seen em take the lure on the next twitch. I guess that's why I like it so much.

I agree with what George said here too, that's one thing that always seems to work is throwing something just a little bit different.

One day I was fishing Nashwena and had a 28 lb bass hit a popper that was just sitting there on top, while I was looking in the other direction a a big bloofish blitz about 1/4 mile away. Must have been following and I never seen it or he just came up and whacked it, in any event after I cleaned my drawers from the explosion 20' from the boat I landed a nice fish.

Good thread.

I just carry on .. figure If they're going for it ,,I got the right retreive to attract them .. Sometimes if its small fish,,(justplaying) I'll speed up the retrieve so they'll miss it on purpose .I like the top water explosions and like to see how many times I can get them to blow up on a plug .. My personal record is like 6 times . This is when there's alot of fish the same size and it becomes almost boring .

slow down

This may be one of those instances when thinking gets in the way of fishing.

this is an awesome thread. I gotta tell ya the truth, I seem to ALWAYS screw it up when a fish boils or something around my plug.
So what I have tried to do is just stay calm and continue my retrieve as before, I figure that the current retrieve attracted them in the first place, so why change it?

Depends on the plug/place.

A perfect example is a certain shallow water eelgrass spot I fish in the Spring.I almost fish exclusively with Salty's 1.25 poppers (yes,olive/white!) at a snail's pace.When a fish misses it the first time around I stop the retrieve and nine times out of ten the fish comes back.Many quality fish taken this way.

Other places I do other things,but that would be a novel and my typing sucks.

the quick twitch and stop for me has worked but more often than not with the follows i find that the bass are just following and not in eating mode...

If they hit it, they like what it was doing. Just repeat the performance. If they just follow, that's another story. Sometimes, speeding up the retrieve will cause them to grab it to prevent it from escaping. If not, switch lures. That may help, but may not.

It depends what lure I'm fishing with. Plugs or topwater lures I usually stop for split second then twitch then retrieve fast or at the same pace as when the fish first struck. With storm shads and other swimmers I slow down almost to a stop and twitch. My thoughts are if the fish is whacking it, it's trying to stun it so it can eat it. So I give it what it wants and slow it down as if it where stunned or injured from the whack. Who knows though. This is another informative thread that helps to get feedback on.

Sunday's OTW show featured live lining bunker. It was interesting to watch the bait become skitterish and then make short swimming bursts as they sensed the presence of a predator fish. This said, it would seem better to imitate this natural action with a plug under similar circumstances.

While retrieving and a fish shows up

you ask her to join you for dinner. :rotfl: