Bass Boiling & Swirling, Not Striking!

[ReggieT]

Recently suffered another thrashing at the "fins" of my local bass at my favorite swampy lake.

I was tossing Hula Popper & various configuration of plastic frogs...I got tons of swirls, boils, and bass striking from 1-2 ft behind the lures...even when I slowed em down to a snail's pace!   

 

This lake does absorb a tremendous amount of fishing pressure...it's located behind some ritzy condo's...and from dusk till dawn and even at night somebody & their kid brother is out there pounding the water for a dream wall-mount.

 

2-4 ft max depth with a bevy of downed timber, snags, lily pads, stumps, snakes, cranes, and murky alga filled water...

 

What's some solutions to this dilemma? Last time here the wind, poor knots and a shortage of spinnerbaits caused me great sorrow!

NOW IT HAS BECOME QUITE...PERSONAL!!    

 

HELP!!!

 

Thanks,

Reg

 

[Glenn]

When fish are doing that and changing your presentation doesn't do the trick, change lure size and/or colors.  They're telling you it's almost right, but not quite.  So a simple change like that usually does the trick!

[WVbassin87]

This is just something i've heard, but seems as reasonable as anything else: tick em off. use a buzzbait and just keep running it by until they're angry enough to shut it up. or try a scent.

[tbone1993]

When fishing a topwater it is smart to always have a similiar colored plastic bait tied on.  If a bass hits a topwater to hurt a fish it will come back in search of it. If you toss in a wacky rig or something it will assume that is what it hit on the surface. I catch a ton of bass and smallies this way. 

[bigbill]

If there swirling there chasing the bait fish match them. I throw a rapala orginal floater. Try a black one, blue one or a baby bass fry size.

I seen picketed one day eating bass fry non stop. I lost it. I put on a baby bass rapala minnow and caught every pickerel.

[ColdSVT]

When fishing a topwater it is smart to always have a similiar colored plastic bait tied on. If a bass hits a topwater to hurt a fish it will come back in search of it. If you toss in a wacky rig or something it will assume that is what it hit on the surface. I catch a ton of bass and smallies this way.

Yessir the old bait and switch!

[WIGuide]

 Like Glenn said, changing color in this situation might help the fish to commit better. They're trying to tell you you're close, but not quite there. The other thing you might want to try is actually speeding your presentation up a little. The other thing you can do is try to change the size of bait you are throwing. Either move up a size or down but show them something different. 

[BrianinMD]

I have had these days and it turned out they were eating bugs from a hatch. No interest in any thing else, just the bugs. Although they would hit close to a popper or other top water they really were not after it. Not much you can do unless you have a fly which resembles whatever is hatching sometimes.

[Brian Needham]

the senko is the best follow up bait in history. USE IT

[everythingthatswims]

weightless superfluke, when they are close to eating topwater, that is a happy medium

[speed craw]

I have used a good wake bait in a pinch when they would not quiet commit to a top water . As everyone else stated have a good soft plastic set up right by your side to fire in there for a follow up . 

[Ratherbfishing]

As the expression goes, "Close but no cigar".  If the fish are interested, which it seems they are, change your presentation just a little.  Speed up or slow down.  Maybe use a Lure that dives shallow and then will stay there if paused (honestly, I don't know of that many shallow diving suspending baits).  Or, as suggested before, a floating Rapala may seduce them.  Fish will often clobber it when it rises to the surface.  A Mann's 1-minus is also a pretty good option.  I'm sure there are others.