What the Heck?

[rdhammah]

ok, so yesterday morning, I go to NH pond with a buddy to fish for crappie. this past weekend, he and his son and buddies fished same area and got high numbers of decent sized ones (C&R). we were marking a lot of fish, but they wouldn't bite. If they did bite, they were the size of potato chips. we kept at it for 4 1/2 hrs. On the way home in MA, I decided to try another pond that has been producing decent numbers. Had the same problem. as the sun neared the tops of the trees, the fish turned on and were coming up from 17 feet to 10 feet. Mostly bluegills. Bluegills outnumbered crappie 7:1 . Called it quits at 5:00PM.  What was going on with these fish?

[Scranton Joe]

Sometimes they inhale the jig without bending the rod.  It's an "up" bite.

The same exact bite happened for me the other day.  I switched over to a custom rod with a spring bite detector,  actually setting the hook off of the flasher.  I caught 50 gills in an 2 hours. Big gills.  The jigs were literally inhaled.

So basically, they were biting.  You just need to set the hook off of the flasher or invest in a spring bobber.  I use both techniques when the bite is weird.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Its called fishing not catching.if fish cooperated every single day of the year there wouldnt be any lakes or rivers with fish left in them.I've noticed on certain days its dinkfest or nothing,but theres always a day that comes with a easy limit of quality fish.fishing will always be a mysterious puzzle that nobody has all the pieces too.jmo.not sure if this has anything to do with the topic.lol

[rdhammah]

I built my rods. very light tips. they have a slight bend so that when I have an upbite, I can see it. also, I'm a line watcher for that reason.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Yup line watching helps and can see a bite way before the rod or indicator do anything.up bite the line springs up and  loosens up.i pinch a kink in the line and watch that too.

[FishGut]

That's why you need a noodly tip, a spring bobber, or (in my case) a bit of coil in the line. When the line gets soft and the coil becomes distinct, set the hook.

Otherwise, with a set line/deadstick, I use a Venom brand float that I can adjust to zero bouyancy. If it either goes down or rises up, strike.

[Scranton Joe]

I built my rods. very light tips. they have a slight bend so that when I have an upbite, I can see it. also, I'm a line watcher for that reason.

Nice

[icefishman]

High pressure?

[A man called horse]

They fed all night, not hungry on a full moon.

[rdhammah]

They fed all night, not hungry on a full moon.

my friend thought that too

[slipperybob]

Sometimes, the nicest of weather and nothing is really biting.  Sometimes on the worst of weather and no one else is out there, the fish are like biting like crazy,

[Roccus]

They fed all night, not hungry on a full moon.

THIS.. also, fish feed for short periods of time, and rest for much longer periods of time,  when bigger fish are off the feed, this gives the smaller fish the opportunity to fill their bellies without filling someone elses!

[bobberbill]

Maybe they just weren't hungry.