to me for the most art pretty much when the cork moves he has it. i set hook right away the longer he has it the more likely he will drop the bait with artificial. and i am the opposite of many i fish fast in general. matches my lifestyle. for some i am not an easy person to fish with. i will slow down if the fish tell me that i have to or if i can catching in a small area and wont to work it over. otherwise i fish fairly fast fishing for the more aggressive active fish