Why is the smallmouth bite on a tube or drop shot just a faint "tick"?
Because the strike itself is suction: the fish flares its gill covers, its throat expands, and the bait is inhaled with a gulp of water in a few tens of milliseconds. On a slack or semi-slack line at depth, all that violence reaches your rod as a single tick, a tap, or just new weight where there was none. Smallmouth compound it by often inhaling a bottom bait while stationary, without moving off. Watch the line, fish braid for transmission, and set on anything that feels different — the "mystery weight" bites are frequently the biggest fish.
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
Same topic, other species
- Why does a slow-falling jig out-fish a fast one? — Crappie
- Why am I getting short strikes that only nip the tail? — Largemouth Bass
- Why do I miss so many muskie? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What hook size should I use, and what is the logic? — Yellow Perch
- Single hooks or trebles for pike? — Northern Pike
- Why do lake trout follow my lure all the way up without hitting? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- How fast should I troll for walleye? — Walleye