A Question for You Experts.

[justabucup]

I have witnessed snook swatting needle fish with their tails at peirs. Some of these attacks may be a fish wishing to stunn a prey item before they consume it. Or that they are hung over from partying all night and are just smacking to quite the sound. Either way not all hits are done with the eating end of the fish.

[Heywood]

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.

Wait…..What?

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.

Yeahhhhh Righttttttt

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.

That’s not what happened, the fish actually knock it up in the air from the force of the strike. Been fishing way too long to jerk in out of their mouth.

I have witnessed snook swatting needle fish with their tails at piers. Some of these attacks may be a fish wishing to stunn a prey item before they consume it. Or that they are hung over from partying all night and are just smacking to quite the sound. Either way not all hits are done with the eating end of the fish.

Really?

[rugrat181]

The tail slap gets my vote as best reason for missing the strike. Now I know why my success with snook has been so limited to date. Knew it couldn't be my technique.... ,

[Blindmullet]

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?

When I get the little snooklets and trout that miss hit...that's what I do. I try to mix a pause in once and a while.