Overlooked Knot Checking and Largemouth Bass

Today I fished the entire shoreline along Mt. Hope Road in an hour's time, catching bass, and some nice ones, as I went. The first measured 16 inches, the second 15 inches, I caught a couple under a foot, and another measured slightly under 17 inches. I'm afraid I'll miss those Chompers worms when my bag is empty. I love garlic, too. When I open the bag, I smell the garlic strongly within a second or so. I just can't motivate myself to make another online purchase; I think I'll switch to Culprit twsiter tails. 

On that subject, motivation, I'm not compulsive about checking my knots, except when I tie them. But a knot can go bad. I know this was the case today--twice--because I had caught bass and had set the hook hard on the same knots, then had them pop on good fish. I felt the weight of both. 

That's not a good record for an hour's time, but I prefer to blow it off rather than make myself keep checking my knots. But who knows? After today, I may find I want to check my knots frequently. 

Anyhow, events work in a constant flow--would I have caught the three bass after a bass broke a knot? Perhaps even more, maybe not. It may be statistically provable that over time, if you lose bass to bad knots, you will have caught fewer than had you good knots. Makes sense, obviously. But when the second knot popped, I tied on another Chompers quick as can be, and pitched it right back where I had lost the bass. Sure enough, line moved off. 

That turned out to be the near 17-incher, and I wondered if that bass would have felt so cavalier as to have stayed in place after having a hook popped on its jaw--to take another, besides. I looked for my lost worm first thing. If the bass broke it off, it also shook.