A Question for You Experts.

[Heywood]

OK, so after Saturday mornings top water orgy, we got to thinking about what actually happens when a snook hits a topwater lure. Whats the actually process that causes so many misses and the lure to go flying through the air.

What say you? Lets here your explanation.

[Tree-Bone]

Snook are cross-eyed. When they go after a bait they hit it with the top of their head and send it flying.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[DirksFishin]

I thinks it's cause they try to gulp their food. When they try to strike it, the water being forced into their mouths combined with the speed of attack pulls the lure out of the line of sight intermitenly causeing them to run into the prey???? Maybe they close their eyes when striking ? Those are my guesses.

[Todd]

My highly educated opinion

A snook feeds by blasting a bait and then opening their bucket mouth to create suction which pulls the bait in their mouth. A natural bait has two options-swim like hell to get away or get sucked in for breakfast. When we throw an artificial, especially a topwater, the suction does not work as we continually move the bait i.e topwater away from them by using line. They miss because we, sometimes it is angler error, pull the bait out of their mouth. Thus the hook up ratio is higher with a jig than a topwater. If they hit the jig on the downfall the bait is not pulled from their mouth, most of the time.

On the occasions when we do not hook them in the mouth and hook them in the face the snook is having an "Oh Shit" moment when at the last second they turn away because he/she suddenly realizes this is not something they should be eating. They cannot turn away fast enough and the dangling hooks "snag" them in the side of the face.

[TRKpoker]

Todd gets the prize. Also remember when fish attack top water baits they expose themselves to also being attacked from birds of prey and other threats so they like to hit it and get gone. Often when baits are knocked out of the water if you watch real carefully (get lucky with a strike next to the boat) the fishes body/head is what is doing the hitting not their mouths.

[JoeS]

Thinking like a Snook...."Hmmmm look at that assclown sitting on top of that yellow Ironing Board thinking I am stupid enough to believe that erratic clacking hunk of plastic is actually a tender meal for me.....I'll fix that jackass...I'll knock that hunk of plastic clean out of the water and startle the piss out of the assclown on the Yellow Ironing Board....grrrr.....but just like humans sometimes the emotion get the best of the Snook thus ....HOOK-UP.....Being that I am no Expert.....that is my 2 cents......

[DirksFishin]

I always throw a pause in my retrieval but switch up my retrieval action quite often to find what works best.

[Rik]

They miss because we, sometimes it is angler error, pull the bait out of their mouth.

So....if we stop the topwater a second or two before they hit it our hook up rate should go way up?

[DirksFishin]

That seems to work for me Rik I'm sure others will attest to that too.

[Todd]

They miss because we, sometimes it is angler error, pull the bait out of their mouth.

So....if we stop the topwater a second or two before they hit it our hook up rate should go way up?

In a perfect world, yes. But a natural bait in the water does not stop when their are predators around so that would not look very natural to the predator. But the biggest problem lies is you do not know when that second or two before they hit is.

[TRKpoker]

I find I have 2 types of top water hook ups Rik. The "You ain't getting away" hit and the "I am going to make this a quick one" hit. The first hit you just about cant go wrong with because the fish isn't going to let your lure get away. He is hungry and you have made him nuts so not matter what you do except take the lure out of the water he is going to get it. These are less than one in 10 strikes for me but they are a thing of beauty. The second one in my opinion is the strike where the fish wants it because it seems like an easy kill but doesn't need the meal to survive. He hits it and gets gone. Misses it he doesn't care gets it all the better. These strikes are the one that most often miss or get foul hooked. Like the others have said just pause often but without 100% stopping (don't want them to get too good of a look at that chunk of plastic). Tiny twitches after a fast retrieve/popping works best for me. At least 1/2 my fish are on the pause/twitch. I have found a full stop if you watch real closely causes LOTS of very short strikes like at the last min the fish felt something was wrong.

All that being said some of my biggest fish lately (not counting the 25" one this week) were when I tossed out my lure and was distracted doing something. They hit a lure that was never worked or moved at all. Go figure.

[Rik]

But the biggest problem lies is you do not know when that second or two before they hit is.

Wondered if someone would catch that.

[DirksFishin]

Not as quick as you old timers but you knew what we were getting at.

[DaveR]

I have no clue as to what you write about. I hook and land every snook that is unlucky enough to mistake my lures for food. The answer it seems is quite simple. You just suck.

[Todd]

I have no clue as to what you write about. I hook and land every snook that is unlucky enough to mistake my lures for food. The answer it seems is quite simple. You just suck.

That too.

[MrSpectaculous]

OK, so after Saturday mornings top water orgy, we got to thinking about what actually happens when a snook hits a topwater lure. Whats the actually process that causes so many misses and the lure to go flying through the air.

What say you? Lets here your explanation.

For me it's always been premature hook set attempts that sends the lure into my direction. If I wait to feel the weight of the fish I have had more success.