Schooling Bass

[troythebassman]

At a local pond, the bass feed on baitfish like CRAZY! At one end of the pond (the pond is pretty big), neighborhood families come and feed the turtles bread. The turtles tick me and other fishermen off to no end but that is a whole different story. Because of the large food supply at that end from the people, all of the fish seem to be at that end of the pond. Bluegill, shad, carp, bass, catfish, all of them are there. I see the schools of baitfish swimming pretty shallow and I watch the bass eat them up. More times than not, when I watch a school of bait fish, a bass will come eat em' up. I think the reason bass feed on bait fish so frequently is because that area is so densely populated with bait fish. With this being said, I have a very hard time getting the bass to take anything I throw at them. Are they not taking my lures because they are so focused on the bait fish? A little insight would be much appreciated! 

[hooah212002]

Schooling baitfish means fluke/soft jerkbait time! Or wacky rigged senko. Slap some JJ's or Mega Strike on there for good measure. if it sees a lot of human activity, just make sure to bring your patience. I've never used one, but I imagine you will be advised to try a swimbait out, so get one of those too.

[troythebassman]

I forgot to mention this in my post, but I have thrown wacky rigged senkos or different sizes and colors and flukes and there is very little interest in my bait

[Brian6428]

I would try going for a reaction bite with a rattletrap. Cast it out and burn it through where the bass are feeding.

[hooah212002]

I have a similar type body of water that I fish (gin clear with LOTS of pressure and LOTS of baitfish) and it is a pain in my hindquarters. I can see 5+ pounders swimming around, but I can't get to 'em or they turn their nose at my offerings. Someone more seasoned than I will turn up with an answer.

[CPBassFishing]

Try everything. Flukes, senkos, spooks, poppers, hard jerkbaits, lipless cranks....... also, try a dropshot below the school of baitfish. Most of the time when smaller bass are schooling the big ones will sit below and pick off the dying shad that the smaller bass kill but forget to eat. If all else fails, catch a few baitfish with a #10 hook and a tiny piece of worm and use it for bait. Throw it along the edges of the baitfish school and a bass may come along and pick it off.

[troythebassman]

and one more thing i forgot to mention. turtles. turtles are so abundant. they are also very aggressive. they will often eat lures. so fishing there is hard when the turtles are hungry. anything slow will get eaten by the turtles

[nascar2428]

Last week carp fisherman came over to where I was fishing and started throwing bread to entice the carp. Bluegill immediately began eating the bread, my position was up on a observation deck and I noticed the quick flash of bass. Threw a t-rigged green pumpkin senko right after he threw the bread, wham-o, bass on the line . This happened three times, needless to say the carp guys moved on down the bank. I'd throw a t-rigged senko if I were you.

[RAMBLER]

Throw a 1/2 oz. Strike King Red Eye Shad in Sexy Shad color right in the middle of the bait fish and let it sink on a semi slack line.  The 1/2 oz. one does the sexy shad shimmy as it sinks and the bigger bass that are waiting for a dying shad will grab it.  Hang on, they aren't subtle.

[Oregon Native]

SR5 shad rap (silver)

8# line

Try different retrieves

It will work

[jignfule]

Don't know much about schooling bass, most of the time the bass school me.