I love to work needle fish cant get enough of the top water action, one problem I was fishing yesterday and had a pretty big fish slapp my lure , I saw the tail comeup and smack it, I must of flinched a little then started to reel in again but the bass was gone , what is the correct way do you stop and act like he stunned it or to keep on moving ? Sugg. Please

set the hook when you feel the weight of the fish...

Some people say stop working the lure altogether while others say continue working it.

I usually stop it, then when I see a little swirl I give it a real quick twitch, that works for me.

Both ways have worked for me. On Fri morning I was working a plug that was getting wacked around and after not hooking up a couple of times I stopped the retrieve and let it sit and twitched it a little. That worked. But I've also hooked up while continuing to reel it in. If there hungry and it's a good realistic presentation they'll take it. That's where experience and technique take over. I'm a novice for sure and probably could hook up more for sure with better technique but that only comes with more time on the water. Keep trying and don't give up.