Top Water Strikes In Open Water?

[Brian6428]

Hey guys, I just got in from a frustrating afternoon of fishing. I had about 30 minutes left till I had to leave, and so far I had (unsuccessfully) thrown the kitchen sink at them. Not one fish on any lure. It was very calm, and around 7pm, the fish started to jump everywhere. Normally I ignore these since they are hard to catch, but today I figured i had nothing to lose and tied on a hula popper. In about 30 minutes, I had had two fish go for the lure and not take it and two fish take it fully in their mouths and go underwater, but I couldn't boat either one. The weird part is, it was right in the middle of the lake. I don't have a fish finder so I don't know whats down there. Are topwater strikes normal for the middle of the lake? Do you guys think this means there is some structure or cover down there? Thanks in advance!

[bigfishing85]

Top water strikes could have been in open water if there was a school of bass around the area. There also could have been submerged cover such as trees or brush under the water where the bass was congregating and when you used the top water, they attacked. I have used buzzbaits over open water around different types of lake bottom structure and had bass come up and get them time after time. It also depends on the lake bottom structure as far as if there is a ledge or something you wasn't able to see where bass were staged. I fish from the banks but I also fish all year around so in the Winter time, I am out on the lake in the 20 degree weather when the water is down and I can see all the cover and structure so I know what the lake bottom looks like before Spring and Summer time rains. When the water level rises, I know exactly what the bottom looks like and where all the stumps, trees, weeds, etc. are when everyone else is coming out to fish for the first times in the warmer weather so in doing your homework in the Winter, you will gain the advantage in the Summer.

[Swamp Johnny]

Actually, it's fairly common to have a topwater bite Offshore (in open water) with no apparent structure.  On Lake George (St Johns River- Florida), schools of 1-2LB LMB Bass will follow schools of Pogy, Finger Mullet and Shiner around in open water. When they (the Bass) decide to "GO" on these baitfish (which is usually late in the day or EARLY morning) you can see them striking from a distance. Knowledgeable guys carry binoculars around to look for this activity.....

 

I can tell you from experience- there's nothing like a schooling Bass situation! Catching 20-25 Bass on 19 casts is atypical! (Usually there isn't any size to these fish 1-2 1/2 LBs- but- it's rather fun!) 

 

A good topwater for these situations?? Typically, a "skittering", "fleeing" topwater design works best for these situations. (A Hula Popper doesn't really skitter well and works best (IMHO) with a slower cadence and when fishing tight to structure.)  Pro's use Rapala, Skitterpop's all the time for these situations. They have the right "fleeing" presentation.  

 

Anyway, that might be what was happening...? Perhaps a school of bass had been hawking some newly hatched fry and when the light levels got right they opened up on them..? Sounds appropriate....

 

Next time you see this, you might try a 1/4 or 1/8 OZ Rattling bait. (TN Shad, Basic Shad, Etc)  Use a lift/fall retrieve, keeping the lure near the surface.

 

Hope this helps?       

[Brian6428]

Thank you both for the answers, that make sense that they were schooling. I wish I had had more time and thought to throw a rattletrap or something like that. Thanks!

[BassThumb]

Carp do that all the time in the lakes i fish. I've wasted a lot of time going after them in the past, thinking they were bass.

[JayKumar]

Sounds like they were chasing bait. Next time, if you're getting topwater strikes, have a follow bait ready to cast, usually a Senko or Fluke-type bait.  If you miss on top, quick reel in then pick up the other rod and throw the soft plastic to the same spot. Works!

[Brian6428]

Sounds like they were chasing bait. Next time, if you're getting topwater strikes, have a follow bait ready to cast, usually a Senko or Fluke-type bait.  If you miss on top, quick reel in then pick up the other rod and throw the soft plastic to the same spot. Works!

 

 

Carp do that all the time in the lakes i fish. I've wasted a lot of time going after them in the past, thinking they were bass.

Thanks for the advice guys, a week later on the same lake in the same place the same thing happened. I reached for the topwater, then grabbed a rattletrap instead. Got one bass on the rattletrap and then a crappie. then they started jumping so i used a hula popper and caught one, but it was a white bass, not a largemouth. Still fun!

[Mswen]

I read somewhere that fish can hear a popper from as far as 30 feet away.  So it's no surprise that topwaters work in open water.  And right around dusk, fish come up to feed on insects.  When I decide to take a few fish home, I always open the stomachs to see what they've been eating.  At certain times of the year I've seen bass as big as 18" (about the largest I keep) that are full of nothing but dragonflies.  These fish were always caught on topwaters.  If the bass aren't there for the insects themselves, then they come to feed on smaller fish that are after insects or zooplankton.  I wonder if they think the popper sounds like feeding baitfish?  And if it turns out to be an "injured minnow", even better (until they feel the hook!).  That would be ironic, you cast toward what you think is a bass, bass comes for what sounds like a shiner or bluegill feeding on insects, the bass gets caught, and the carp just keeps on jumping.

[Mccallister25]

Sounds like they were chasing bait. Next time, if you're getting topwater strikes, have a follow bait ready to cast, usually a Senko or Fluke-type bait.  If you miss on top, quick reel in then pick up the other rod and throw the soft plastic to the same spot. Works!

 

Most def. works!

[Bluebasser86]

In a lot of lakes around here the shad have spawned recently so now there millions of 1/2" long shad schooling in the middle of the lake. Bass will follow them into the middle of the lakes and school up on them. They do it all the time in several of the lakes I fish and when they do it's really tough to beat a Super Spook Jr in any baitfish color. The key for me is to not set the hook when one blows up but to just wind like crazy until I feel weight and then lean into them. That way if they miss the bait you can continue the retrieve and 9 times out of 10 they'll keep coming back for it until they get it. 

[Scott F]

My favorite lake has a number of submerged islands that top off at about 4 feet deep. While the guys who were beating the banks were coming up empty recently, we were out in the middle of the lake catching them on every cast. These offshore rock bars were where the bass were schooled up. If you saw us, you might have thought we were fishing deep but this is why you need good maps, depth finders and GPS to find and return to these spots.

[fishva]

When I was a kid, I fished a decent amount but had no idea what I was doing. My dad also knew nothing about fishing, we still fished. Between us, we had maybe 10 lures of various types.

 

Sometimes, we'd go out on his boat (bought mainly for tubing / skiing) and fish. Since we knew nothing, we'd just take it out to the middle of the lake to the deepest water we could find (thinking the biggest fish must be in the biggest water), anchor down, and fish for a couple hours.

 

Most of the time, I threw my jitterbug, because it looked the coolest, and I usually caught at least one bass per trip out in that open water. My dad usually caught at least one too, but he always used pre-rigged plastic worms with a bullet sinker.

 

So it's definitely possible, if us two idiots could do it regularly haha.

[Choporoz]

When they're schooling late in the day and feasting on baitfish at the surface, I have most confidence in ripping a spinner bait just below the surface.  Just seems to do a little better for me than a popper or a buzzbait.