Great day on the berry 11/8/14

[DeadI]

Fished the renegade area today. The fog was thick first thing. But the water was calm all morning. The bite was lite but we managed to boat 34. If we could have even hooked half of the hits we had we would have doubled that. All on tube jigs tipped with minnow.
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[RBF]

Thanks for the report -- headed up there in the AM. What was the air temp when you put in?
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[DeadI]

It was about 25 deg.
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[Moosedog]

We were there also, it was the first time I have fished there. We caught all our fish the same way. My young son had lots of trouble feeling the bite. I felt so bad for him because he wasn't catching fish and I was killing them. When you say the bite was light (which I second) do they ever hammer the jig? Or is that pretty normal?
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[Old_Coot]

[quote Moosedog]When you say the bite was light (which I second) do they ever hammer the jig? Or is that pretty normal?[/quote]

That light bite is all I have ever known them to be. Some times, it is hard to distinguish fish bites from crawdad bites.

Here is a trick your son might do well trying:

One of my favorite tips when it comes to vertical jigging for Strawberry cuts: So often, when jigging, you will feel that trademark light bite and set the hook only miss the hookup. Some days you can miss 5-10 fish in a row. That can be pretty frustrating. Here is a trick that I use 99% of the time now and it increases my catch rate by about 80%: The instant you feel that “nibble”, do NOT set the hook! Rather, instantly, DROP your rod tip for two seconds … THEN set the hook. 80% of the time, you will secure a hook set when otherwise you would have missed it. It can be difficult to out-think your natural reflexes to set that hook. But if you can master this little trick, I think you will be pretty impressed.
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[MasterDaad]

Well I'm going to be the odd one out then because yesterday I had to cut two lines because the Cutts had completely swallowed my jigs.

I have had cutts hit my jigs very aggressively on occasion, but I agree it is usually a matter of feeling some nips then trying to play them on.
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[DeadI]

I was up there last friday and the bit was pretty decent. I was hooking up I would say 75 % of the hits I was getting. (Landing was another story) But yesterday the bit was so lite that there was not chance of a hook set. I will have to remember the drop the rod trick.

I had to cut one line yesterday as the jig was clear down the throat. I also had a couple that hammered the jig but that was not the norm.
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[Old_Coot]

[quote MasterDaad]Well I'm going to be the odd one out then because yesterday I had to cut two lines because the Cutts had completely swallowed my jigs.[/quote]

I have experienced that more times that I want to admit. But typically for me, that occurs when a baited tube is sitting unattended with plenty of time for the fish to nibble, nibble, SWALLOW and I end up having to cut the line leaving the lure in the fish's throat. Had I had the rod in my hands or been paying better attention, that probably wouldn't have happened and I would have considered it a light bite to begin with.

I think that when the presentation is one where the fish can carefully swim around the lure analyzing it (as with vertical jigging) they make tiny nibbles before committing.

Not saying that an aggressive chomp doesn't happen, but generally (for me) they are pretty light.

Now casting and retrieving plugs, that's a very different thing. There can be some pretty explosive attacks. But that vertical jigging technique ... pretty light generally.
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