Why did the bite feel like dead weight instead of a hit?
The lure was inhaled while your line had slack — usually on the fall — and the fish is now sitting with it in its mouth. Suction feeding produces no yank; the "weight" is the fish itself. This is why largemouth veterans watch the line religiously: a tick, a jump, a line that goes slack early or swims sideways are all bites. Treat mysterious weight as a fish first and a snag second: reel down, feel for life, set hard.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about How it strikes
- Why do largemouth sometimes just "hold" the bait instead of running with it?
- What exactly is a "reaction strike"?
- Why am I getting short strikes that only nip the tail?
- Why do largemouth follow my lure and then refuse it?
- How should hook-set timing differ between soft plastics and treble-hook baits?
- Do largemouth jump, and why do they throw crankbaits and lipless baits so often?
Same topic, other species
- Why a sweep set instead of a bass-style hookset? — Crappie
- A muskie just ate boat-side in the figure-8 — now what? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Deadstick or jigging — which cadence actually catches perch? — Yellow Perch
- A pike followed my lure to the boat and just... left. Why, and what now? — Northern Pike
- Are smallmouth really harder fighters than largemouth, pound for pound? — Smallmouth Bass
- When do I set the hook — is it different for flies and spoons? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- Why do walleye keep biting my minnow in half — and what is a stinger hook? — Walleye