Cadence
The rhythm and speed of your retrieve, including twitches and pauses. Often the difference between follows and hookups.
Two anglers fishing identical baits in the same water routinely catch very different numbers of fish, and cadence is usually why. Fish key on a specific rhythm on a given day, and it is not always the one that feels natural to you.
The variables are the size of each twitch, the number of twitches in a burst, and the length of the pause between bursts. Cold water pushes everything slower and the pauses longer. Warm water and active fish reward a faster, more constant beat.
Treat it as a test rather than a guess. Change one thing at a time, fish it for ten casts, and pay attention to what the follows are doing. A fish that trails the bait and turns away is telling you the cadence is close but wrong.
When a fish follows without eating, do not change lures. Change the pause first.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use cadence and show it on real gear.
Cadence is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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