Protecting the nest, not feeding

Shaw Grigsby just caught a short fish and demonstrated to cameraman Rick Mason the kind of hooksets he has experienced all week.

 

This small male bass was hooked outside the mouth, which happens often when a male or female is simply moving a bait out of the nest rather than feeding. That's why so many anglers have swung and missed this week. They'll often reel in to find the tail missing from a soft plastic bait, or, like in Grigsby's case just now, when they do hook a fish, it's outside the mouth.

 

With the lack of water clarity, it's impossible to tell whether a bass has the entire bait in its mouth or just the tail.