Question on bluegill hit? ESP for guys with cameras.

[Ironeagle]

Sometimes the gills just come up and take it, set hook no problems... Fish on.

 but I keep having these takes that is like a rapid vibrating hit. Like a quick tap, tap, tap. Very fast like.  And when they do that I always miss em...
What are they doing? Are they just grabbing the spike and trying to tear a piece off or and I dealing with dink blue gill? I have a vex but not a camera.

[hardwater diehard]

Bluegills can pick off spike quite readily ...keep your rod tip pointed at the center of your flasher ..when you see a committed fish (approaching red line) move your eye to the rod tip ...then feel for the fish ...then lift the rod ..don't snap it at the wrist ...

[Ironeagle]

Thanks maybe I'm setting hook to hard?
I even have same problem when using spring bobber.

[Dave R]

I don't have a camera, but experienced the same thing yesterday. So I started using a half of waxie and problem solved. What I suspected was that they were pecking at the waxie until it came off the hook. Also a smaller jig with a half waxie should work as well.

[Swift]

May want to consider pinching the barb down and opening the gap of the hook if possible. Barb pinching helps in initial penetration, more like a needle poke than being bludgeoned with rebar. Also keeps live bait alive longer for the live users, not impaled anymore. Opening the barb has the business end pointing out towards the lip when pulled up and grabbing onto something. When the two are combined the hook up rate goes up easily 80% for me. Still miss a few but nowhere near as many as I did, some fish get lucky don't think they're all that smart . Might also think of using a knot that doesn't lock the jig to the line. Something like a surgeons loop helps the the jig float into the mouth deeper when they suck it in maximizing the chances of hooking them when used with the pinched barb and gap widening

[optimus140]

Bluegills can pick off spike quite readily ...keep your rod tip pointed at the center of your flasher ..when you see a committed fish (approaching red line) move your eye to the rod tip ...then feel for the fish ...then lift the rod ..don't snap it at the wrist ...

This is what I'd try too, just lifting the rod tip 2-3 inches and if I feel positive tension, turn the reel a couple times to finish setting the hook. Snapping it may be pulling the hook out of their mouth.

[optimus140]

Might also think of using a knot that doesn't lock the jig to the line. Something like a surgeons loop helps the the jig float into the mouth deeper when they suck it in maximizing the chances of hooking them when used with the pinched barb and gap widening

This is pretty interesting, I saw on the fiskas wolfram jigs I bought, they recommended using a surgeon's knot for tying jigs on and I had no idea why. I'll have to try that next time.

[captain54]

I believe the rat tat taters or machine gun hits are small fish. I sight fish a lot and watch that a lot yesterday bulls just inhale it or grab the tail of your bait or plastic then a slight delay then inhale it. Sometimes you try to set the hook to early.

[VanderLaan]

I usually just hook the waxie to the jig across the hook.  When I start getting short hits, I thread it on the hook.  The gentle hook set helps too.

[Jfraze10]

a lot of times with the bluegill I notice the inhale the jig head rather than the tail (hook) could be what your experiencing

[Tomz1986]

I often get that tap tap tap bite and it isn't always small fish sometimes it seems they just are finicky. When I get that tap tap tap set and miss...ill drop back down work them up again and the second I feel it tap tap I drop the rod tip quick about 3 inches then set the hook. Seems to give me a better hook up rate I think they feel the resistance and stop....I see gills often open up there mouths and kinda suck in and gum the bait almost and if they feel that pull they seem to back up but if you give a Lil slack they clutch on on the third tap....not always but a good percentage of time.

[higbee]

I fish with the camera when on a hot spot but switch back to hummer if need to move around. Sometimes I watch the gills mouth the end of the waxie. When you see fish coming to your line on the sonar try lifting up as others suggested. Sometimes very slow sometimes faster. Some times I will let them have a extra second to suck in the rest of the bait. Sometimes Ive fished with half a bait and sometimes they only want a full one.

The biggest thing I learned this year ice fishing is that it can and will change; this makes it fun. If your not catching fish change up, after time you will have an old standby that you will return to if fish are not biting. Good Luck.

[MichiganMan]

I believe the rat tat taters or machine gun hits are small fish. I sight fish a lot and watch that a lot yesterday bulls just inhale it or grab the tail of your bait or plastic then a slight delay then inhale it. Sometimes you try to set the hook to early.

What he said X2