What to do on a HIT???

[Saltheart]

With bait , you usually give them a little time. Sounds to me , based on your description of what happened , your hook point is buried in the bait and not exposed to stick the fish's mouth. That may be as set up or it may be clear when set up but gets buried during the cast. When bait fishing using normal hooks , you usually want a very solid hook set , to the point where it will rip the hook through the bait and into the fish.