What to do when bass are jumping and going after bugs

[fishwizzard]

On 5/18/2017 at 6:36 PM, Darren. said:

 

I'd rather do Tenkara, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

I am sorta feeling the same thing.  I fish the C&O canal as often as I can and there are some monster carp in there.  I would love to catch one, but not enough to sit there with corn for a day.  A tenkara rig would fit in the water bottle slot in my pack with room to spare.  

[greentrout]

Rebel makes a grasshopper & bumble bee lures. I have caught bass with them. I'm down South and have witnessed LMB in ponds & small lakes jump out of the water for Dragonflies.  Years ago, 10 plus, remember seeing an ad for this product using a Dragon fly. I never bought it or used it.

 

Hover Lure >> http://www.hoverlure.com/

 

Leapin' Largemouths >> https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/leaping_largemouth.html

 

[OCdockskipper]

I fish a different scenario than you, largemouth on a lake as opposed to smallmouth on a river.  We don't get hatches out here like the rest of the country, but we do get a decent amount of dragonflies during the summer.  When the largemouth are chasing them, I have found that a small (4") Senko, wacky rigged and skipped along the surface gets bit.  The skip cast, even in open water, is the trick because it imitates the dragonfly skipping along the surface.  The bites are either mid skip or as it just begins to sink.  If you don't get hit hit within 10 seconds of it sinking, don't bother with a retrieve; just reel in & make another cast.

 

I don't know if it will translate to your situation, but it may not hurt to try.

[Turkey sandwich]

Smallmouth on the fly rod are about as fun as it gets.  The Susquehanna has massive mayfly and stonefly hatches throughout the summer into the fall. And I mean, massive to the point where they end up everywhere and it's almost hard to breathe without eating them.  If the hatch is on, but not pea soup dense, matching the hatch and throwing similar white, March Brown, blue winged-olive, etc can be very effective for catching everything in the river.  I've even seen channel catfish taken this way.  As the hatch gets more dense, I tend to believe that the bass, walleye, etc are more likely to key in on the panfish and baitfish feeding up than the bugs themselves and small poppers on either a fly or spinning rod can be really effective.  When the water just seems totally covered in spent spinners (dying mayflies after laying eggs) I like more commotion and a bigger profile and typically favor walking baits or even a torpedo.  Through most of this, if you like throwing big flies, a Clouser minnow or Lefty's Deceiver worked just under the surface can be absolute money.  Once you learn to fish the hatch, you'll learn to love them.  Even if you're throwing dry flies, bass tend to be much, much less finicky than trout.

[WRB]

May fly hatch is something we don't have. When my inlaws were in Ontario, Lake of the Woods, I have experienced May Fly hatch and they are incredible with miles of floating mats of bugs and fish feasting on them.

You can catch smallies on fly rods all summer and worth doing, they are very strong and high jumpers.

Tom

[RoLo]

13 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

As the hatch gets more dense, I tend to believe that the bass, walleye, etc are more likely to key in on the panfish and baitfish feeding up than the bugs themselves.

 

You said a mouthful, right there!

That also answers the question why trophy bass are often taken under a mayfly hatch 

 

Roger

 

[Turkey sandwich]

Thanks.  It's a major feeding trend that used to frustrate the hell out of me.  Also, in recent years, the more I've gotten into fly fishing, the more it's helped me understand the food chain, and it's benefited my use of traditional gear a bunch. In general, though, if you can catch smallies on the fly, do it.  It's incredible fun. 

[RoLo]

21 minutes ago, Turkey sandwich said:

Thanks.  It's a major feeding trend that used to frustrate the hell out of me.  Also, in recent years, the more I've gotten into fly fishing, the more it's helped me understand the food chain, and it's benefited my use of traditional gear a bunch. In general, though, if you can catch smallies on the fly, do it.  It's incredible fun. 

 

I knew when you mentioned "March Brown" that you were a fly fisherman (my go-to wet fly was a Light Cahill) 

Anyone who's never been frustrated by an insect hatch, doesn't get on the water enough 

 

Roger

[WRB]

Living in SoCal one of the good things is we don't have bugs. NorCal around the delta they have lots of bugs. Up in the high altitude mountains they have mosquitos, hats a occasional cicada hatches. 

Back east and the south they have bugs. North in Canada they have 10,000 or 100,000 lakes depending on the province and the have bugs, everything tends to bite. The May flies are unbelievable when a hatch is going on, something you have to witness to comprehend. 

I used to back pack into trout wilderness and understand matching the hatch. May flies are a cloud of big inserts that cover miles, a major food source ot the fish in those areas.

when you see a few bass jumping to catch dragon flies, it's the Darner nymph that the majority of the bass are feeding on, not the airborne insects.

May flies the fish eat both nymphs and airborne insects, it's the nymphs the smaller bluegill and pearch are after.

Tom

[Turkey sandwich]

4 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

I knew when you mentioned "March Brown" that you were a fly fisherman (my go-to wet fly was a Light Cahill) 

Anyone who's never been frustrated by an insect hatch, doesn't get on the water enough 

 

Roger

 

I'm far from being good at it, but I'm learning.  It's a lot to learn to really be good at (as if bass fishing is that much better, lol), but it's taught me a lot about the bigger underwater picture.

 

As for nymphs and larvae, bass will eat all of it.  Hellgramites are the best example, but they'll eat any larvae that happens to be convenient.

[Maico1]

MegaBass Siglett in Mat Higurashi it has the glow wing , smallmouth love it and you will too.......

[RoLo]

20 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

 

I'm far from being good at it, but I'm learning.  It's a lot to learn to really be good at (as if bass fishing is that much better, lol), but it's taught me a lot about the bigger underwater picture.

 

As for nymphs and larvae, bass will eat all of it.  Hellgramites are the best example, but they'll eat any larvae that happens to be convenient.

 

 

When I was a youngster, it was 'catch-&-keep' (barring 'No-Kill' trout zones), and at that time

live bait stood toe-to-toe with artificial lures. We'd throw a pitch fork in the trunk to dig up worms,

and turned over rocks to grab live crayfish. Back then, live "hellgrammites" were the premiere

live bait for smallmouth bass, but today the BR custom dictionary sees that word as a misspelling

'Times they are a changin'

 

Roger

 

[UPSmallie]

On 5/18/2017 at 6:01 PM, A-Jay said:

We have a rather intense Mayfly hatch here. (next full moon actually)

While this is going on THE ONLY way I can get bit is to break out the fly rod.

But, I'm here to tell ya - for Big Smallies - It's Totally worth it.

A-Jay

 

Yes, this!  In mid to late July, the Atlantic Salmon up here hammer the Hex Mayfly hatch.  You can see them jumping everywhere.  They won't bite a thing unless it's a fly or a smelt streamer.  One of these days I'm going to buy an Orvis 8-weight and give the whole fly fishing thing a go.

[Turkey sandwich]

13 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

 

When I was a youngster, it was 'catch-&-keep' (barring 'No-Kill' trout zones), and at that time

live bait stood toe-to-toe with artificial lures. We'd throw a pitch fork in the trunk to dig up worms,

and turned over rocks to grab live crayfish. Back then, live "hellgrammites" were the premiere

live bait for smallmouth bass, but today the BR custom dictionary sees that word as a misspelling

'Times they are a changin'

 

Roger

 

 

I have a net that I'm yet to use, but we used to do something very similar for helgramites and madtoms where we'd set a net downstream in current and flip or rake to dislodge critters.  Incredible way (where legal) to collect live bait.  

[flg2010]

I have an update.. caught a few 2 to 3 pound smallmouths on trout fake pink tiny worms...  someone told me to try it and I did.. it worked.  Very very strange.....

 

Apparently they are going for those and will eventually be back on jig fake grubs..

 

In the wallkill that is... lol

 

Thanks for all the advice.. I might be buying a fly fishing setup (for backup) and getting some lessons.