Sluggish Shallow Bass

[JohnFromLisbon]

Hi guys

 

Yesterday we went fishing in a small creek. It's not that pressured so it holds some larger fish (by European standards anyway). We got there and saw at least four fish right near the bank - one of them was well over 5 lbs - near some trees that were touching the water. We started casting further from where they were and reeling in the bait so it would pass in front of them. We could not get them to bite. No matter what we did. Hard baits, soft baits, texas rigged or weightless plastics, loud or silent baits - nothing.

 

The weather was clear by then (having had some cloud coverage in the morning) and the water was warming up. We had a warm day - in the upper 70's - and the water was clear.

 

In one situation where I was casting a texas rigged worm out past them I actually caught another fish, and a couple of others actually took both the worm and a jig, but I couldn't make the big one bite. We were using light and subtle colors because of how clear the water was.

 

What would you have tried in this situation? I went through the whole tackle box and couldn't find something they'd bite!

 

Thanks!

 

John

[Catch and Grease]

If you we're sight fishing it I would have just kept banging soft plastics off him until she got mad enough to strike, she was probably spawning

[Mccallister25]

Im on mobile, so if you have your location specified, I cant see it. Depending on your location and weather conditions, Id say they might be in spawn mode. If this is the case, and they're on beds, sometimes you can do like the above post said and annoy the hell out of the fish by continually pitching to the bedding area, and bumping the fish with the bait. This will sometimes produce a strike.

[JohnFromLisbon]

Thanks for the tips.

I'm in Portugal and the spawn in this specific area happened somewhere in March/April. We usually fish a farm pond about 5 miles away and went there a few times during that time to watch it (it's forbidden to fish during the spawn here - as long as it falls between March 16th and May 15th).

 

BigBlock496 I actually did that - when eventually I started getting frustrated - and they just... Stood there. Hit him right in the face with a wacky rigged worm and got no reaction whatsoever.

 

PS.: Here's the one that was right beside them. Not bad, but nowhere near as big as that one.

 

[Mccallister25]

Hey, that may not be the fish you were trying to target.. But its a good lookin fish none the less. You were able to have some fun. Thats what matters!

[FrogTosser88]

Looks like a good day to me sir.

[Montanaro]

Sometimes they are just lock jawed. No sense in trying to figure it out. Some bass do spawn later than you'd expect. I'd try hitting the fish on the retrieve upwards of 15 times.

[bradc36]

I'll use a vibrating jig with a chunk on the back in situations like that or a tube and just bounce it hard right near them until they get interested.

[JohnFromLisbon]

We're going back this Saturday and if they're not biting I'll give these tips a try! Thanks eveyone.

[HeavyFisher]

Hand Dandy wait for it wait for it...Spear Gun , seriously though sometimes the bite is slow and nothing you do will work. Just keep up persistence always pays off especially on the slow days : )

[conorsixtakc]

Hi guys

 

Yesterday we went fishing in a small creek. It's not that pressured so it holds some larger fish (by European standards anyway). We got there and saw at least four fish right near the bank - one of them was well over 5 lbs - near some trees that were touching the water. We started casting further from where they were and reeling in the bait so it would pass in front of them. We could not get them to bite. No matter what we did. Hard baits, soft baits, texas rigged or weightless plastics, loud or silent baits - nothing.

 

The weather was clear by then (having had some cloud coverage in the morning) and the water was warming up. We had a warm day - in the upper 70's - and the water was clear.

 

In one situation where I was casting a texas rigged worm out past them I actually caught another fish, and a couple of others actually took both the worm and a jig, but I couldn't make the big one bite. We were using light and subtle colors because of how clear the water was.

 

What would you have tried in this situation? I went through the whole tackle box and couldn't find something they'd bite!

 

Thanks!

 

John

 

Sometimes it become a question of finding the right window of time during the morning/day/evening when you're sight fishing big fish. I was in the same position this past April with a male and female that were holding to a certain area, but not yet spawning. I threw the entire kitchen sink until I got the male to bite a 4" straight tail finesse worm on a shaky head. The female however was having none of it. I spent my entire morning trying everything in the book and she wouldn't bite. 

 

I came back late afternoon, threw the same finesse straight tail worm on a shaky head in there and she nailed it right away. Sometimes they're just not ready to eat yet but stick with them, they'll eventually get hungry.