I fished next to a guy on the Wynoochee that let some grabs get by him.

I said " Dude, when I yell at you, jerk back" About 20 minutes later he gets bit again....I hollered and he hooked up with a nice fish. After that, he knew what he was waiting to feel. He hooked and landed another with no assistance before we left. It was cool to see a guy get tuned in so quickly......I think he may have just been intimidated about setting the hook and not having a fish there.

There's no penalty for a whiff......but there's a stiff penalty if you don't set the hook on a pick-up. When it doubt, give it a jerk.