Rod tip strike?

Hi all.

Few quick questions.

1. When bottom fishing is it necessary to strike the rod when ya see little dips or do ya need a good bend?
2. Will currents affect the tip even if strong winds wont?
3. Will crabs cause the tip to wobble?
4. Is it even necessary to watch the rod tip or can ya just cast out, wait 15-20 minutes and reel in?

The reason I ask is because I'm not too sure what to be doing when it comes to the rod tip. I was out last night (blank) and watched the rod tip for a while. It dipped a good few times, then stopped for a while then dipped again so not sure if its the current. When I reeled in the bait was untouched so not sure if it was crabs. Should i be striking when I see a dip. I was under the impression ya had to get a big bend in the rod to tell ya they're hooked but maybe I'm missing bites and need to strike to set the hook.

Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Jay.

The answer as per usual is depends....

How sensitive is your rod tip? What are sea/weed conditions etc..? What are you fishing for?

1) I never strike off the shore, usually fish hook themselves if you have good hooks etc. Little knocks etc might be a fish nosing around, or a fish munching its way up your bait. If you see a good bend, hopefully it's grabbed it and is hooking itself. I would just reel into the fish, always think you can yank it out by striking. Small bites, leave to develop.
2) Anything moving your line could cause a tip movement, waves/weed, birds etc
3) Yes, if sensitive enough or crabs big
4) Again depends, leaving it for a while is recommended for flatties, the flounder walk...Otherwise keep an eye on it as you can control where your line ends up if you get a good bite and less chance for the fish to get off if you keep the pressure up. Having said that I've had bass run off with my flounder traces whilst I've been down the beach chatting and come back fifteen minutes later and they're still on, but sure I've also missed fish from doing same.

I'm sure others will disagree with me, but never seen the need to strike (bar fly fishing), and its never seemed to dent my catch

Why not hold the rod and line and feel for bites you'll soon learn to distingush them from anything else

Thanks scotsman. Nice pointers.

Why not hold the rod and line and feel for bites you'll soon learn to distingush them from anything else

15 foot beachcaster with big reel? Do most people hold it or tripod?

I swear by rod tip bells. Wind and current don't make them ring, only a good fish take. Also stops you having to stare at the rod tip all session. Agree that 90% of the fish will hook themselves so the strike is not that important.

I've found myself that with practice you learn to tell the difference between weed on the line and fish biting. I find that generally with a fish bite the tip action is more erratic. If you've got a bit of weed stuck say on the shock leader knot the action on the rod tip is a bit more rhytmic, sort of in sync with the wave action. If you happen to get caught on big massive clump of weed it tends to just bend the rod over with very little give as it drags your line down the beach .The rig moving could be down to the strength of current, clump of weed pulling it down the beach, grip wires partially released +weight not holding bottom and crabs if big enough trying to run off with your bait. If your unsure you could try placing finger on line and feel for bite. I have a 16ft rod with a fixed spool and its a horse of a thing so usually just leave it in tripod.As for striking, never really give it that much of a thump be it fishing in close or at distance.

I have a 16ft rod with a fixed spool and its a horse of a thing.

What rod is that, just out of curiosity?

Agree that its not necessary to hold the rod or to strike bites most of the time when general fishing, but when after bass, I always hold the rod in case of an inshore run and slack-liner, which I would strike into after recovering the line.

It's just a personal thing, but I like to hold the rod quite a bit anyway just to be in touch with whats going on out there, dont feel I'm really fishing if its stuck on the tripod.

Its a Daiwa Longbeam Hugo.

dont feel I'm really fishing if its stuck on the tripod.

Thats a very good point.

Thanks for all the (rod) tips lads.