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Thread: Light bite? What gives?

  1. #1
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    Default Light bite? What gives?


    I had a chance to to fish for about 3 hours Saturday before a previous engagement so I put in at a local lake at about 9:30 am. The week before it had been high 80's with afternoon thunderstorms but today was about 70 deg, overcast (cloudy with brief sun breaking), water temp was 76 at the surface with pop-up showers developing around me (but not raining on me), the water was pretty clear for around here (4 foot visibility?) and the cloud cover cleared around 1 ish (so passing pressure system).

    All fish seem to be holding at the points....I'm assuming post spawn. I was marking crappie stacked up at about 7 feet in 9 FOW on weeds/structure and the bass seemed to be holding just past them in the weeds, right along the bottom at 10 FOW or so.

    Thing is, I was getting bites every other cast but everything was SOOO light that I had a problem hooking up. I tried changing lures, changing colors and changing presentation and the bite seemed to mainly be on Chartruese marabou jigs (especially tipped with meal worm) and a green pumpkin curly tail grub on a jighead. I hooked up with one little 14" smallie with the grub.

    I tried setting the hook early, I tried counting to 3....I tried light set and hard sets....

    Is it the fish just coming off spawn? I was marking some larger fish but maybe only the small (bait stealers) were eating? Could it be the temp change or even just the middle of the moon cycle?

    The one time that the bite "picked up" was the first storm front that passed nearby and for that 15 minutes I SWEAR the bite got harder and that is when I boated the smallie.....Other fishermen said they weren't having any luck and the two I did see hook up, both lost 'em before they got 'em in.

    Whattaya think?
    Learn to not run from your problems....except when your problems are giant boars.

  2. #2
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    I just think they "do that" sometimes. I have noticed SUPER light bites, like you could only lift the rod, NO hookset at ALL! Just lift till you either have him or he lets go. Its super frustrating but thats what I do when they bite like that. Just simply lift. If you are casting, simply start to reel slowly until he's either there or gone.

    Speckled trout are the same way, no hook set, just reel.

  3. #3
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    I have found that anytime you have different weather patterns and fronts it will affect the bite. Also during the spawn often times they aren't feeding but will lightly bite at anything that gets near the nest. I have also seen times that a particular color pattern will cause them to inhale your bait! Just when you think you have it all figured out they throw something different into the mix.

  4. #4
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    Light bites=downsize
    HAND TIED CRAPPIE JIGS CRAPPIECOLLECTORS JIGS

    https://www.etsy.com/shop/CRAPPIECOL...g_id=515350944

  5. #5
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    Ditto, they just are like that some time. Last year in spring I was long line trolling using braid and they were doing that and if it had not been for the braid I am not sure I could have felt them at all and had to really sweep the rod forward a long ways to get them hooked. I was using a 10' rod too, but still had to swing forward as far as I could to get hooked up.

    Also I was using a real 1/32 Oz. Roadrunner ( say real because the real ones have a #6 regular bend hook) and these are overall pretty small. The Pony heads you see can have up to a #4 Sickle hook and the Pony 1/32 Oz are actually bigger than a read Roadrunner.

    Skip

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    Tying Materials, Chenille and Hackle
    For Pictures of my Crystal, Nylon/Rayon or
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    have the Saltwater Neck Hackle and some
    colors of Marabou plus other things!

  6. #6
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    keeferfish is offline Crappie.com Legend * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Sometimes on a lite bite I’ve actually had had success with a double jig rig. It keeps me in better contact with the lures with the added weight. I think it also gives the fish less time to think so they have to react fast if they really want it.

  7. #7
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    Kman...that's what came to my mind too...that the bites feel like brook trout! If I weren't in my kayak I woulda just tried to sling 'em onto shore! The SM bass I DID bring in was not really even hooked, I just kept reeling 'till he fell in the boat.

    County...yeah I tried diff color combos of anything they were at least strikin' at thinking I might trigger SOMETHING...but no...

    Locator....I tend to fish smaller anyways, I go for numbers and not trophies. Most bites were on a 1/32 marabou....I even fished a trout hook with a mealworm.

    Skip...Sweeping forward might of helped....a lot longer rods than 5&6 ft prolly woulda too!

    Keefer....you know a double rig probably woulda worked on the grub. I kept feeling as if they were just grabbing the tail when the striked.

    I guess what surprised me most is that the other fishermen had no luck and that I witnessed two being lost on the retrieve.....it definitly didn't seem to just be my problem! Thanks guys...Sometime I guess we just gotta enjoy being there!.
    Learn to not run from your problems....except when your problems are giant boars.

  8. #8
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    You've already had a couple of good suggestions. Downsizing seems to help, tipping with a crappie nibble or even a piece of worm as a trailer will sometime get them to hold it a little longer. Most of the best hits I've had lately have been from the smaller crappie, the bigger ones take it a you feel just a little pressure. As soon as I feel this I tighten the line while lifting the rod and keep reeling. Once I know he's there I go ahead and set the hook.

    This time of year, I also seem to have better luck with a bait with no action like the Panfish Assassin. When crappie are more aggressive, I switch to grubs. Another good one is crappie magnets. Changing colors could help. I've done better with baits that resemble the color of the baitfish.

    Crappie, especially small ones will sometimes bite the tail but bluegill are notorious for it.

    Fronts can definitely change things, light bites today may be "thumps" tomorrow. The nice thing about the days when they bite light, it will separate a lot of fishermen. Those who fish to heavy or without the right equipment will never know they've been bit. It's a nice feeling when you catch one where you barely knew there was a fish there. It can make the difference in cleaning a mess of fish for dinner or throwing one or two back at the end of the day. I know, I just finished up a nice lunch from fish that were light biters on Saturday. Delicious!

  9. #9
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    When I have that problem I like to throw a spinner bait and just continue to reel it in nonstop. I have boated a lot of soft bites that way.

  10. #10
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    I would downsize and go to a red head RR with a white bubble belly body. I do this whenever I am fishing changing fronts or after a front moves through. Slow down as much as you can. EB
    DO-GOODER EXTRADINAR :p

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