Highly Variable bites in the summer ?

[Ketchn]

Most spots in the summer here in Texas have fish that bite rather light . Lots of anglers go to minnows to ensure fish that will hold on to the hook .
Some of the lightest little pecks are real nice crappie . It often seems a good hard bite is a small fish .
So this brings me to this question .....
I wonder why the deeper water fish I find bite the lightest and the short water fish hit it like a spring fling fish ?
Is it because the deeper water fish are in resting mode and not as aggressive maybe ?
The shorter water fish are maybe in more of a feed mode and aggression runs higher ?
I suppose water clarity might come into play as shorter waters here are often more turbid with less visibility and the fish have less time to look it over ?
What say yawl , lets here a few ideas
and let the discussion begin
p.s. the fish in 8 foot of water yesterday about 9 30 am were just hitting jigs like you could only wish for ....way past thumps , more like a white bass on the run thing ....go figure

[tbarnby]

What kind of line are you running? More line means the energy of the bite has to distribute to a longer length of line before making it to the rod tip. SO, the bite looks/feels lighter. Some line is better than others, but the concept won't ever change. My braid is much better at transmitting light bites than my Suffix.

[Ketchn]

Almost always mono thank goodness or I would still be in the ER from the way they were biting

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

The fish I've been on are plum full and the prey is easy for them which equals none aggressive bites.....
However on this one pile I fished the fish were thumping fire from my jig..... Same couple jig combos I used elsewhere.....

[StantheMan2567]

You never know....Until you throw...then you listen to the Fish....then KABOOM! End of Discussion.

[Oregon slabman]

In vertical fishing they nip the bait and move ahead (up) towards you. Unless you do a slow lift and see if your rod loads up you'd never know a fish had your bait. It's just mind blowing how that little nudge turns into a big ol' slab. I think the difference between the thump days and the nip days are how well the fish have been feeding.

[Ketchn]

i would agree with the post that mentioned braid bites and how they feel harder in some cases , but even so to a person who drops jigs fairly often ,there is a definitive difference lately in some spots that i wish i understood better .
its possible in some cases when there is a crowd its a competitive type of thing , me first deal .
but most likely it has more to do with feed mode and rest mode best i can tell .