"v" Shapes Moving On The Surface?

[BassAssassin726]

So lately at the quarry lakes I fish I notice in the early morning when the surface is like glass or even a slight ripple Ill see these V shaped waves moving on the surface. I swear they are fish but a few times I've seen them real shallow there is never a fish in the water. Just this V shaped wave moving on the surface. What is this? The water in these lakes is pretty clear. Sometime Ill see these V shapes moving toward the bank then turn real quick and dissapear. Always thought they were fish but like I said when it happens close to me I never see a fish in the water. Can someone explain?

[Preytorien]

My guess is that they're produced by a slight breeze. Maybe your experience is different than mine, but they trick me every time. I think the same thing, that it must be a whopper of a bass chasing baitfish or something, but nada....nothin.

 

I've noticed it though when it's a bit breezy. Be on the water long enough and you'll see the wind makes some crazy looking wave patterns. I've gotten used to them and paid them no mind.

 

However, if there's no wind at all.....it could be something....who knows?

[flyfisher]

It is most likely bugs on the surface zipping around.  Sometimes they are small ones that are hard to see but if you have a fine mesh net you could probably catch them and see what they are .

[slonezp]

It is most likely bugs on the surface zipping around.  Sometimes they are small ones that are hard to see but if you have a fine mesh net you could probably catch them and see what they are .

Agree. If it were fish, you'd see a higher volume of water moving than just a slight V shape

[BassAssassin726]

Yea Ive been chalking it up to wind or bugs. Thanks for the replies.

[Brian Needham]

I have to differ here....... I have seen it before too. always baffled me, until I saw it at the golf course and the water was clear enough to see the 6 inch bass making the V. I do however notice when they are swimming like this they are VERY skittish.

[Sam]

Last time I saw this "V" it was a catfish.

 

I have seen many bluegills, bream and small baitfish make the "V" from time to time.

 

I have seen the wind make a "fan" motion on the surface but never a "V."

 

Doesn't' matter what it is. Another way Mother Nature is smarter than us.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

We will never know... I like.to stay confident and say its a 10 pounder so I cast in front of it but I never get bit

[WRB]

Vee cutting the smooth water surface could be a fish, however it's usually a tiny bug called water strider. When fish make Vee's there is always a pressure wave in front of fin wake.

Tom

[BassAssassin726]

We will never know... I like.to stay confident and say its a 10 pounder so I cast in front of it but I never get bit

Haha exactly. Everytime I see one I cast to it. And literally never get bit when I do.

[lmbfisherman]

It is most likely bugs on the surface zipping around.  Sometimes they are small ones that are hard to see but if you have a fine mesh net you could probably catch them and see what they are .

This

[Swampstud]

I do believe there small shad/mino s, I see this alot on my local chain lakes here in michigan. I spent many days wondering too until they got close enough I could see a little clear/ translucent gray tail swimmin

[BigMoneyGrip]

It's the wind. I studied this at my pond and it seems like it is a scaled down "tornado" that does it.

[Montanaro]

wind

 

I've seen it right at my feet before right along shore in crystal clear water. 

 

Can fish and bugs make it?  yea...

 

but you are better off ignoring them.

[coryn h. fishowl]

My guess is that they're produced by a slight breeze. Maybe your experience is different than mine, but they trick me every time. I think the same thing, that it must be a whopper of a bass chasing baitfish or something, but nada....nothin.

 

 

 

 Sometime Ill see these V shapes moving toward the bank then turn real quick and dissapear. Always thought they were fish but like I said when it happens close to me I never see a fish in the water. Can someone explain?

The bolded section being the key words here, they are probably bluegill, I doubt they are waves

[coryn h. fishowl]

How large are they?

[d3bf48]

I have seen it on puddles... wind

[BassAssassin726]

I guess it could be both. Sometimes it's definitely the wind or a small bug because it will be right in front of me in 6 inches of crystal clear water and I see nothing in the water. But sometimes they will go towards the bank and cut left or right real quick, I think they may be small bait fish. Whatever it is I need to stop casting at it and thinking about it because it's obviously driving me nutty.

[surfer]

Many things can cause a V wake.  Distinguishing between these different V wakes is a subtle art.  

 

On a light breezy day I sat in my boat on the glassy side of the lake.  I sat just about were the water turned from glass to lightly textured.  Watching the beginning of the texture being formed I noticed the wind would make many small V wakes.  After watching them for a couple hours while waiting for the tell tale tap tap of a bite some patterns emerged in their formation, direction, and path.  I am short on words to describe them, but miniature tornadoes is exactly how they behaved. 

[Darren.]

It is most likely bugs on the surface zipping around.  Sometimes they are small ones that are hard to see but if you have a fine mesh net you could probably catch them and see what they are .

 

I agree with fly, but also agree that fish can and do create these "V" forms.

 

Especially when the wind is blowing a constant speed from X direction, but the "V" zigs and zags. Yes it could be a bug, but it could also be a fish. Probably not a lunker, but an opportunistic fish chasing a meal.

[Mary Ann]

I, too, have noticed V-wake patterns in two deep section of a creek in a gulley in my backyard woods.   It goes back and forth, swimming just below the water surface, so you see nothing on top of the water.  When I first noticed it, I thought it was a duck swimming underwater, and I kept watching to see a head pop up, but it never did.   I went down to the creek edge to try to see what it was, but it stopped moving when I was there, as if it sensed my presence or saw me.  I thought it was probably two small fish (there were two separate V-wakes going back and forth) trapped in the deep section. The problem is that the swimmers are so fast that the V-wake pattern of the water as it swims by prevents me from seeing what it is.  It also swam in a circle around a protruding rock. The next day, I saw one V-wake pattern going back and forth in the second deep pool of the creek.  Since it went from the one deep section one day to the second deep section the second day, then I thought maybe it's just some sort of water bug, but Googling is failing me. Whatever it is, it zips back and forth really fast.  On the second day, it again seemed to sense my presence when I got down to the creek's edge. I had to hide behind a tree for about 20 mins before it started zipping around again, but like I said the V-wake pattern it creates in the water obliterates being able to see what it is when it passes directly below me.  The water was crystal clear and completely still, like glass.   Watching it come head on towards me, all you see is the point of the V-wake.  So it's definitely seems really small.  From a distance, I thought I could see something, like maybe a small head, popping out of the water surface as it zipped, but that didn't happen when I was close to the water's edge.  I wish I could find a video of what I saw or even an image, but no luck so far!

[MediumMouthBass]

I might be the only one here this applies too from reading the older comments, but usually when i see a big V shape moving through the water just under the surface, its almost always a pickerel.

On days the bass arent biting i start casting where the V shapes are and ill catch a few.

Small ones are probably bugs or small fish like minnows

[king fisher]

Aliens

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, king fisher said:

Aliens

Naaa - Nessie

[12poundbass]