What's eating my bait??

[nymm1t]

Hi guys,

New here

I tried fishing at a small river last night. It's a tributary that goes into the Raritan River (about a mile away). I had bluegill cutbait on a 2/0 circle hook and got bites almost instantly. Water was pretty murky and maybe 3'-5' deep? The rod tip would keep getting tapped and when I pull, nothing. But the cutbait was all ripped up. I tried with worms on smaller hooks and still couldn't get a hookset. The rod tip wouldn't ever stay bent but something does seem to carry the bait just a bit before it drops. Any ideas what this might be?