During conversations with other anglers I often hear " I waited until I know he ate it" or " I counted to 10 " or whatever number they thought was long enough always confused me. I know years ago this is what we were taught when we were fishing for food and before catch and release became the norm. Today with the most sensitive rods you can feel even the slightest bite and that is when I set the hook. Waiting to long most likely results in deep hooked fish or the fish spitting out the bait. Hook-sets are free. The slightest tick or any time the bait just seems different I set the hook. Even if you miss on the initial tap, you can usually throw to the same spot and catch that fish. The exception to this would be top waters and jerk baits when you wait for the rod to " load up" and then set the hook. Good luck.