swallow the bait

swallow the bait

To respond to someone's actions or words in the way that they intended. Likened to a fish attempting to eat the bait on a hook. That's just what he wants you to do. Don't swallow the bait. The undercover officer changed the conversation to the recent burglary, hoping the thief would swallow the bait and confess.
See also: bait, swallow
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

swallow the ˈbait

(informal) accept an offer, etc. which has been made or prepared specially by somebody in order to get you to do something: When people read the words ‘Free Gift’ on a magazine they usually swallow the bait and buy it.
A fisherman uses bait to attract fish to his hook.
See also: bait, swallow
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • take the bait
  • rise to the bait
  • pogey bait
  • crow bait
  • clean slate, have a/start with a
  • cut bait
  • get (one's) rocks off on (something)
  • as though
  • be out for the count
  • a Monday morning quarterback
References in periodicals archive
However with mouths likes British vacuums, the grouper will typically swallow the bait whole.
The trick: you need to detect a fish before it has a chance to swallow the bait. Here's how I do it.
Anglers must not wait on fish to swallow the bait when using oversized hooks as it can do lethal damage to internal organs.
Furthermore fishermen should be encouraged to set the hook early, rather than wait for the tiger to swallow the bait. The propensity for fishermen to do this developed through a desire to hook and land every bite, a simpler and less challenging task when the hook is in the gut rather than the mouth.
And the Prime Minister was forced to cancel his flight to Warsaw where he intended to mobilize the Poles against the Palestinian proposal in the UN, and instead went to meet the representatives of Israel's student unions and offer them all kinds of inducements aimed at splitting up the struggle but they did not swallow the bait and the PM will have to think about another trick and oh God why did it all have to fall on his head?
Hopefully the Egyptians would not swallow the bait of falling in the same gutter that they managed to escape from, enticed by the hypocritical words of Obama; "We stand ready to provide assistance that is necessary to help the Egyptian people as they manage the aftermath of these protests." In her statement, U.S.
Worm anglers can avoid deep hooking salmon by striking them quickly, rather than employing the traditional technique of giving the salmon line continually in order to let it swallow the bait.
But if the ordinary man and woman on the street, at home or in their cars swallow the bait and vote for her, what does that matter?
A small perch is often the first species of fish a young angler will catch, simply because they tend to hang on to a maggot or small worm and swallow the bait altogether.
Salem's trainer, the splendidly-named Nettles Nasser, added: "Kabary's going to retire Calzaghe," prompting Joe's father and trainer, Enzo, to swallow the bait.
Commercial prospects are almost nonexistent, but some fests may swallow the bait.
They refused to swallow the bait, buoyantly professing their pride and admiration of the dominant sibling's achievement.
Soon if the mutton snapper is comfortable enough with the bait not being a trap, then the fish will quickly swim up to the bait, chasing away the smaller fish and then in one big gulp swallow the bait. What the angler feels on the other end of the line is the small taps of the small fish and then, bang!, he feels that blood-rushing thump that means the fish has taken the bait.
Don't wait for the fish to swallow the bait. He could move into a snag by that time, and deeply hooked fish may be more difficult to release.
The manager chose not to swallow the bait following reject midfielder Eyal Berkovic's claim that he had been allowed to leave Parkhead for Maine Road without so much as a goodbye.