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Abracadabra!

Use these tips to get that fish to strike again.

A toad just launched your lucky chugger airborne. When the dust settles, no fish. A couple panic cranks and a quick cast later, your bait’s back in the strike zone. A few nervous chugs and a slush or two and nothing. What to do?

Well, don’t panic. The fish is still there—just a bit wiser and somewhat wearier. There’s a couple tricks, “sleights-of-hand” if you will, that’ll coax quite a few of these fish into your boat or onto the bank.

1. Fast Twitch. While it sounds like that odd eye tick your ne’er-do-well brother-in-law has while passing the cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving dinner table—rest assured it’s not. Should a fish bang your bait and miss it, simply change your retrieve, opting for a faster pace. Very few, if any baitfish, lay limp after getting their clocks cleaned. In most cases, they beat fin for the nearest exit.

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The same holds true for your bait; speeding up your cadence mimics a fleeing baitfish. Your short-sighted predator will typically be in hot pursuit for another swing. Never –– and I mean never –– pause or stop your retrieve. This socially awkward stall tactic never draws a second strike, no matter how many fingers you’ve crossed.

2. The Ol’ Switch-O-Change-O. If a fish is now dead-set against popping your popper again, don’t get flustered. Instead, have a second rod rigged with a different style of bait. If fishing a top-water, have a sub-surface something ready-to-go.

Follow the initial bait’s retrieve path with your jig (let’s say) on a shorter cast; working it a bit faster than the first offering. In most cases, swapping bait types and throttling up on the retrieve speed will trigger another strike from an already overly jazzed fish.

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