Oh yeah, there have been plenty of times that I think they approach and slash at a lure or just try to knock it off track somewhat, as if it has irritated them by swimming by and they are intent on teaching it a lesson by way of providing a spanking of sorts. Not to try eating it, but just giving it a decent whack(an alternate description to your mention of not fully committing).

I don't like to fish water that isn't of very high clarity. As such, I've been able to see all sorts of attack methods and how intense their focus on a lure can be is very intriguing. I'd like to be able to say I've learned some about their general behavior by witnessing some of those events, but all I have really learned is that every situation and encounter is a unique and unrepeatable event that is really useless in trying to predict the behavior of any individual fish. Some vague assumptions can be made on a waterbody as a whole, but what any one fish within that system is going to do will always be unknowable.

That actually may be a large part of the reason why fishing holds such an ever-expanding attraction for me. I can fish the same section of the same lake day after day without getting bored, even if I'm not catching fish. It is never the same lake with the same conditions. Every second it evolves into a different version of itself & I find the challenge of trying to understand the complexity of that evolution very rewarding and enriching_all the different aspects and layers to unfold.

The preferred lures topic could go on indefinitely as well. I will say I have a sizeable collection of styles/designs from RAPALA, including jointed options as you mentioned. Models I frequently use include TailDancer, MinnowRap, the entire line of X-RAP, ShadRap(shallow style, especially), the DT series, and available jointed versions also.

Color preference will have to wait for a future discussion.

I have had numerous instances of brief but sudden slack in trolling situations.

My assumption has always been that the cause lies in the speed of the fish that is in pursuit of my lure or bait.

Northerns/Northern Pike are impressively swift swimmers capable of quick bursts of speed when they need to get away or catch their prey.
For the fish to catch up to and overtake what it is chasing, it needs to be coming in at a significantly faster pace than the speeds we typically use while trolling.

Understanding that simple bit of logic tells me that sometimes the fish will be moving so fast when it contacts the bait, it's carried further forward than where it should be tracking at, causing the angler to feel the slack in the line.

When/if the fish turns away or stops swimming faster than the boat, the line tightens, the slack incident ends, & someone says, "Fish on!"


**Sorry, that seemed like it would be much easier to explain before I started typing it...hopefully it makes enough sense so you're able to follow along.