Charles wrote: "and unless you watch your line, you'll never feel anything."

To add to Charles's instruction for newbies:

Watching that line means a whole lot more than looking for side movement.
It's knowing how your line looks as the lure is sinking and what it looks
like at rest, or more importantly, as it comes to rest. So that if you are
in 12' and your lure comes to rest at 10-feet (assuming you know your lure's
fall rate), that you need to make a very quick weight check & hopefully a
hook set.

Flukes and other soft jerkbaits are very difficult to do this with, because
they are designed to drift in different directions at varying speeds. Which
is the reason why they are more of a sight bait - meaning you fish them at
depths where you can see the lure and the strike. Otherwise, be prepared to
make a number of false hook-sets, and it is always better to set the hook
into nothing, than miss a fish.

I remember setting the hook every time I felt a tap, thud, or weight until I
learned the difference between what was cover & structure and what was a
strike. Hell, I still can't always tell the difference and set the hook
when in doubt.


--
Craig Baugher (Bower)