Fishing Question

[fishfighter]

saw some people fishing this past weekend in VB, wondering what kind of technique these guys were doing, they were fast jerking their poles 90 degrees like they were setting the hook on a bull red, then they would let the pole sit for a minute, then jerk again, confused me, i have never fished this way and never before seen anyone do that, is that some thing that works? what exactly is that method