Stealth Mode Not Enough

[Preytorien]

I fish a few small ponds near me. This time of year and all the way through the end of summer the bass will be sitting shallow, or just cruising shallow. Any time I cast towards them, which usually ends up being parallel to the bank, they swirl and they're gone. 

 

I would consider myself a "seasoned bank walker" as I have a small Sea Eagle boat, but that usually only gets taken out on weekends, so my weeknight fishing trips, which make up for 90% of my fishing outings, are all from the bank. I've read all the "stealth tactic" pieces and most of them are spot on. I walk as quiet as I can, even taking off my shoes sometimes. I wear sky-matching shirts. I even cast from about 30 feet back off the banks, and try to present my lure as subtly as possible. But darned if these fish still swirl away.

 

Are there any tricks I'm missing?

 

I even downsize my baits to prevent the raptor effect from scaring them off, but still they scatter away even when something as small as a 4-inch fluke quietly plops in the water. These dudes are paranoid.

 

Any advice?

[the reel ess]

It's probably very clear where you're fishing. Get a kayak and quietly approach from the other side. I use one and sometimes fish will bite right next to it. Fish early and late so the light level is low. Use quiet lures and light line or florocarbon. Try live bait under a float. Cast waaaay beyond them and bring the bait into their zone easily. Try a Senko and let it sit a long time after sinking, then just barely twitch it. Fish have a short memory. Wear camo, but I'm sure you considered that. That's all I got.

[Team9nine]

Yeah, try skip casting small, subtle baits or even throwing your bait onto the shore and then pulling it off slowly into the water. This will largely depend upon the exact layout of your pond though. Also, fish into the sun when possible, or focus on the side of the pond receiving the most wind. 

 

-T9

[einscodek]

I fish a few small ponds near me. This time of year and all the way through the end of summer the bass will be sitting shallow, or just cruising shallow. Any time I cast towards them, which usually ends up being parallel to the bank, they swirl and they're gone. 

 

I would consider myself a "seasoned bank walker" as I have a small Sea Eagle boat, but that usually only gets taken out on weekends, so my weeknight fishing trips, which make up for 90% of my fishing outings, are all from the bank. I've read all the "stealth tactic" pieces and most of them are spot on. I walk as quiet as I can, even taking off my shoes sometimes. I wear sky-matching shirts. I even cast from about 30 feet back off the banks, and try to present my lure as subtly as possible. But darned if these fish still swirl away.

 

Are there any tricks I'm missing?

 

I even downsize my baits to prevent the raptor effect from scaring them off, but still they scatter away even when something as small as a 4-inch fluke quietly plops in the water. These dudes are paranoid.

 

Any advice?

Unless you are on a boat casting towards shoreline.. this is what you need to deal with right now.

Sight is most important.. I find that most of the time if nearly not all.. when they see me, they get lockjaw for my presentations.

 

This is part of the reason I'm beggin for hydrillas.. most guys dont like weeds and hydrillas.. but without this cover, the fish can see you pretty well this time of year.

 

Cast parallel to shore and walk and be silent like a ninja til the cabbage starts growin.

[A-Jay]

Stop fishing shallow - forget those fish.  Especially since you didn't use any words like "Big" or "Huge" when you described them.

 

Instead concentrate your efforts away from the bank.  Try doing both sides of points and as close to the ends as you can reach.  Look for drops and places where there is a change in the type of cover.  The first break off the bank that's in front of or close to some cover often holds a few as well.

 

And if you can swing it - night ops often changes the game you're playing quite a bit - and usually in your favor.

 

Good Luck.

 

A-Jay

[scaleface]

Sounds like a hard place to fish . If you havent tried reeling super fast   with baits that dont have a lot  of action , then I  would try that . Like a MR Twister Sassy Shad for example . 

[5dollarsplash]

Yeah, try skip casting small, subtle baits or even throwing your bait onto the shore and then pulling it off slowly into the water. This will largely depend upon the exact layout of your pond though. Also, fish into the sun when possible, or focus on the side of the pond receiving the most wind. 

 

-T9

 

Great advice here.  The lake closest to me has a ton of pressure, and very skittish fish, this technique pays off when otherwise I might've gone home skunked.

[ClackerBuzz]

I have a pond identical to this.  Spooked bass will return once the spot settles.  so to expand on A-Jays advice I cast a 6" senko or 10" ribbontail as far as possible to deep water.  It even spooks the big bass sitting on the drop off.  but I'll wait 3-5 min before starting a retrieve.  it's easy to outsmart them if you have patience.  if you ever spook a bass at the shoreline stand perfectly still like a tree for 5 min and they will swim right back up to you.  some bass/bait will even use ur shadow for cover.

when staying shallow I used a modified 1/8oz Mepps spinner.  there are plenty of 3-5lb bass in this pond so the stock hooks are way too small. I'll add a size 1 to 1/0 treble hook on the back which gives me much better hook ups.  the small spinner blade is the only thing i've found that won't shadow spook them.  it even has opposite effect in that they are mesmerized by the flash of the tiny blade

[*Hank]

Drop-shot rig+Roboworm straight tail=Pressured bass.

[Nice_Bass]

I don't bank fish much, but to me "stealth" is over exaggerated to a point in regards to bait splash.

when you walk along do the frogs hightail it into the water...do you think the bass run from the frogs splash?

if they are that shallow, I would throw a frog/frog type bait on shore and drag it off and down the bank parallel, etc.

[ClackerBuzz]

 

when you walk along do the frogs hightail it into the water...do you think the bass run from the frogs splash?

 

no they don't 'run but they 100% go on guard.  the majority of the time the bite shuts off when frogs sound the alarm. 

[Choporoz]

I have a pond identical to this.  Spooked bass will return once the spot settles.  so to expand on A-Jays advice I cast a 6" senko or 10" ribbontail as far as possible to deep water.  It even spooks the big bass sitting on the drop off.  but I'll wait 3-5 min before starting a retrieve.  it's easy to outsmart them if you have patience.

I won't question whether that works.  I'm sure it does.  However, it is highly unlikely that I will EVER have the patience to wait five minutes between cast and retrieve.  Maybe I need a bucket  

[shanksmare]

I fish a lot in a pond which receives a great deal of pressure. Often times I have been able to observe bass in areas where the water was somewhat clear. The fish are extremely wary of that little plop your lure makes when it hits the water. I haved purposely cast a 7" worm with an 1/8 oz weight 60 or 80' away from the bass. When the lure plops down there demeanor  changes such that they look alerted. They slowly swim away from the source of the plop. I have seen this behavior repeated many, many times. The fish that are in shallower water seem more affected than fish that are in deeper nearshore water.

 

Along these lines, crankbaits  that are noiseless out produce those with BB's in them at least for me. Downsized spinnerbaits also seem to produce better than larger one with large blades.

 

It can be very difficult from the bank to achieve a noiseless lure entry due to the many different angles you must cast from to avoid trees, weeds and other obstacles.

 

I guess the best advice I can give you is to fish the deepest nearshore water with smaller, quiter lures that you mcast well beyond your chosen target. Or wait for a windy overcast day!

[Catch and Grease]

I don't bank fish much, but to me "stealth" is over exaggerated to a point in regards to bait splash.

when you walk along do the frogs hightail it into the water...do you think the bass run from the frogs splash?

if they are that shallow, I would throw a frog/frog type bait on shore and drag it off and down the bank parallel, etc.

At A lot of ponds and small lakes I fish this is the only way I've ever been able to catch fish on a frog... Just cast it on the bank and drag it off like a real frog would, sometimes they get it before it even hits the water...

[DocNsanE]

Yeah, try skip casting small, subtle baits or even throwing your bait onto the shore and then pulling it off slowly into the water. This will largely depend upon the exact layout of your pond though. Also, fish into the sun when possible, or focus on the side of the pond receiving the most wind. 

 

-T9

 

Came here to provide the first two tips, and T9 even added two others I hadn't thought of which are really good as well.

 

In particular I think skipping the bait can often make a big difference.

[Nice_Bass]

no they don't 'run but they 100% go on guard.  the majority of the time the bite shuts off when frogs sound the alarm. 

may be true no doubt.

Around here there are so many geese ducks, etc. that if the fish stopped eating when frogs dropped in then the lakes would be full of belly up fish.  heck, I still catch fish on laydowns after sunning turtles plop in when a boat gets near. (and some days I don't hardly catch fish anywhere on a lake lol)

[A-Jay]

I won't question whether that works.  I'm sure it does.  However, it is highly unlikely that I will EVER have the patience to wait five minutes between cast and retrieve.  Maybe I need a bucket  

 

Patience is not something that anyone "Has"; it's something that a person chooses to exercise or not.

 

Patience as it relates to bass fish is another way of putting time in and doing whatever is required to experience success.

 

It's also quite often the difference between the anglers that will catch the bigger bass and the ones that do not.

 

A-Jay