Missing a lot of bites

[NightShift]

I fish mostly at night with a 1/16oz marabou jig. The retrieve is painfully slow. I catch probably 50% of the bites I get. What can I do to improve this percentage? I basically let the fish hook themselves. It seems like every time I raise up to do any kind of a hook set, I will definitely miss him. The ones I do get in have ate the bait very good. Any advice is greatly appreciated!👍

[trypman1]

I will try- first, they could be small fish like bream, or smaller crappie. You can cut back your marabou to back of jig hook or add a trailer hook. Next - try a smaller jig to see if this is your problem. Next- if you are catching big crappie, use jig with a big hook. I hope this helps.

[Eagle 1]

Smaller jigs will help but making the gap slightly larger might be all that is needed .

[Ketchn]

we find that most of the fish we "miss" at night and even during the day are not crappie and or real small black crappie . yellow bass and bluegills will give you fits at night sometimes ....try a crappie nibble on the hook tip and some of those sunfish will get the hook in them ....but my thought would be the missed fish are most likely not crappie ...my 2 cents

[NightShift]

I will try- first, they could be small fish like bream, or smaller crappie. You can cut back your marabou to back of jig hook or add a trailer hook. Next - try a smaller jig to see if this is your problem. Next- if you are catching big crappie, use jig with a big hook. I hope this helps.

I have considered trying some kind of trailer hook, but have never heard of anybody using this technique. What do you recommend (small treble hook)?

Also, "the gap" was mentioned. Does this mean you bend the hook outward to distance it further from the shaft of the hook?

[bfish]

kirb your hook

[ozarks ranger]

some times the smaller fish are in competition for the bait fish (your jig too) and swim fast and swipe at it feels like a big bite but have not swallowed it.

[warmouth]

Set the hook immediately. It should up your hook-up percentage.

Bending the hook tip out should also help.

Ketchn is right though, a lot of times it is smaller fish or bluegill that are pecking at the jig (tap-tap-tap) and not getting the hook in their mouth. If you feel a solid bite, a single "thump" raise the rod tip quick and put on pressure. I only alter from that when I am missing a lot of fish on the bite, then I give some additional time before the hook set, 1/2-1 second or so.

[crappie wrangler]

I ALWAYS sharpen my hooks. A factory sharp hook is not sharp enough. A properly sharpened hook will not allow the point to drag across a finger nail. As already mentioned I also open the throat of my hook so that the point no longer points at the eye.

[skeetbum]

Or just use Sickle hooks. I've landed more fish hooked by little of nothing than at any time in the past. They are super sharp. If it bumps flesh, it buries. And because of that I land big fish on #6 hooks. I know of no one that uses hooks that small if they have a choice. They work well for me.