Fish tug on bait but won't commit to bite?

[Zulu]

I don't really understand what is going on here in the game but when in the tutorial it uses a bobber and you catch fish almost instantly but im using different equipment now and it is not doing anything, They just sort of tug on it and no real bites? any way to get them to bite properly or is there a way to get them while they are tugging?

[SkyHawk024]

they do this in real life, if you have never fished with a lure then you might not understand. i worm fish irl with soft plastics i can feel panfish nibble at the tail of the worm or bass to a interest bite but spit it out. it happens

[Madwulfus]

Hi Bart, as Skayhawk metioned already fish tend to do this, some species are very careful what they eat and nibble for ages before actuallly taking a bait. Carp are propably the worst for this. Alot of factors go into the fishing process, time, location, bait, hook size, depth, weather and presentation (this is more a factor for lure fishing).
Knowing where and when is a major factor, in what weather, time, location and which depth. Then you need to find the depth and preferred bait, and finally the hook size which will catch the optimal fish size.
"The bigger the hook the bigger the fish" is a tip you will see in the loading screens, what they don't say is the bigger the hook the longer the time it takes for said fish to actually bite! You may find that a slightly small hook will get the same fish to bite more often! (but in turn will produce small fish)
As for lure fishing, there are a number of retrieves you can do, stop n go, straight, lift n drop, to name a few. The presentaion of these retrievals is a key factor of catching the fish (the 3 dots under the indicator, 3 dots being a perfect retrieve)
I strongly advise you to look on youtube for all the above (some videos are outdated but the locations are usually the same). Also look into the ubersheet (which you can find here in discussions) this will give you the best biting times for all fish in game aswell as a reference of the most preferred baits they bite on.