Why were they there?

[OCdockskipper]

I had been out of state for 10 days, so I hadn't been around or fished my home lake in a couple of weeks.  Since April, the lake has had weed growth in the 3-6 ft depth range, with some of the weedbeds coming within a foot of the surface.  Most of these weedbeds are beyond the docks on the lake and the fish had been oriented around them for the past few months, cruising around the edges on cloudy days and using it for cover during sunny times.

 

Apparently when I was gone, the HOA did another weed kill, a bit earlier in the summer than they had last year.  As I cruised out in my boat prior to sunrise, I immediately noticed on my depthfinder not a single weedbed in locations they had been previously.  I even made a couple of casts with a deep diving crankbait to make sure what I was seeing was true.  It was, the deep diver came back after bouncing on the bottom completely weed free.

 

The first thought in my head was that it was going to be a slow day, that the fish would be scattered & suspended, a bit out of sorts.  I had seen this before following previous weed kills and it normally took a good few weeks before the fish went back to somewhat normal behavior.  After all, if you came home and all of your furniture was suddenly gone, I think you would act a bit different too!  Sure enough, the first 90 minutes were slow, just one keeper on a prop bait and not the action one would expect for an overcast summer morning with 80 degree surface temps.

 

So part of me is considering making it a short outing as I come up to a 15 yard stretch that has consistently been a productive location.  It is an eastern shore just inside a pocket, near the main lake with an isolated dock & deeper water on the northern side.  At the seawall, it is about 2 feet deep and it slowly drops down to 8 feet (the main lake is 12 ft deep).  The bottom composition in this area isn't overly unusual compared to the rest of the pocket or even the rest of the cove, but over the years, it has been an area that I would find a fish or two just about every trip.  Sometimes I'll find a fish or two at the dock, sometimes further down the seawall, sometimes deeper.  Even though it doesn't seem much different than many other spots on the lake, it is just one of those areas that consistently attracts fish.

 

So my first cast to the southern side (into the pocket, away from the main lake) with a ZMan TRD results in a strike about a foot or two from the seawall, a nice 2 lb keeper.  Next cast, another keeper, about the same size.  3rd cast, 3rd fish, a bit bigger, but still the same general size you would find of fish that have schooled together.  9 straight casts resulted in 9 fish, some striking close to the seawall, others as I bounced the Ned rig into deeper water.  All of the fish were between 2 - 3 lbs, healthy & strong.  A couple of casts then came up empty, so I ran that deep diving crankbait through the area & hooked up.  Went back to the Ned rig and picked up 2 more fish.  It ended up being a dozen fish in about 40 minutes before the school either moved on or got lockjaw.  As the day proceeded, I never replicated the action of that time, but I did pick up a few more isolated fish off of points on the Ned rig and got another 8 bass later in the day as the sun popped out by skipping a senko under the docks.  I even went back to the 15 yard stretch twice later in the day, but never picked up another strike from there.

 

So obviously I ran into a large school that had settled into that location in the morning and then later moved on.  What I don't understand is why.  In the past, the weed kills would scatter the fish and make them sluggish for weeks - this is the first time following a weed kill that I found them schooled up and willing to eat (although not really willing to chase).  Even the afternoon behavior was somewhat normal, as the day warmed up, the action under the docks picked up.  Maybe after a few summers of coming home to find their furniture (weedbeds) missing, the bass here are getting used to it, coping somewhat & not shutting down completely.

 

Any similar experiences or ideas?

[scaleface]

It happens often in a small lake i fish . I think on this particular lake they are relating to shad . Catch numerous fish from a featureless spot then nothing there again.

[Ktho]

It's just the way it goes and you'll never really know why. 2 weeks ago at Laguna Niguel I had 20 bites all from the same coverless spot, just a little depression 4-5ft deep. A week prior I caught 5 fish at the spot but they were scattered around more and the day after the good outing I got 9 but they weren't grouped as much either. Now, there's no biters in that area at all, ghost town. 

 

From my experience with the weed killers is just that the weed bite dies but they adapt really quick and the next bite pops up. The weeds usually grow in areas that the bass aren't normally going to be in without them there so they go back to the same areas that they would've been in. If they've typically let the weeds grow more before killing it off maybe this is just the first time you've fished there at this time of year without the presence of that cover. 

 

[Koz]

By no means am I an expert like a lot of folks on this board, but it seems like a good feeding spot for bass - especially if they lost their cover - to ambush prey. They can lurk in the deeper, cooler water down the slope and the seawall in the shallower water acts as a barrier that they can use to trap their prey then head back down the slope.

 

 

[Catt]

When most anglers think of "structure" they think of dramatic changes to the bottom.

 

Those tiny subtle bottom changes will hold "schools" of bass overlooked by most anglers.

 

Why were they there?

 

Because the area holds everything necessary to sustain the school.

 

May I suggest a thorough search of the Immediate area & you might find where they moved.

[Clinton john]

I would put my guess on they were up there feeding on shad around the sea wall, and when the bite stopped they went back to deeper water.

 

I bet there is a very small very shallow ditch aka old creek channel or a rock line there that leeds out to the main lake or a deep hole or ledge in the 8 too 10 foot of water range.

 

Just my guess I am far from a expert.

[Catt]

Just because structure is nondescript doesn't mean there's nothing there

 

The food source got em there & the next question should be how!

 

Another answer to why they quit biting might be you stuck the entire "school".

[OCdockskipper]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Just because structure is nondescript doesn't mean there's nothing there

 

The food source got em there & the next question should be how!

 

Another answer to why they quit biting might be you stuck the entire "school".

 

I gave up years ago trying to figure out what it was about this small stretch that keeps attracting fish, but it is exactly what you say.  Some type of subtle structure that draws crawfish or bluegill (no shad or perch in this lake), which then draws the bass.  The pocket that precede this one has an area that looks very much like this from the surface and on a depthfinder (including an isolated dock), but is not as much of a consistent producer.  This lake was not part of a creek or river, it was just a portion of land that a developer bulldozed in a bowl shape in the 1970's to create a centerpiece (the lake) to help sell the surrounding real estate, so most all of the structure changes are subtle.

 

It often seems that when the bass school on this lake, they are on the move like a wolf pack.  The exception is the 3 weeks of winter we have or in the middle of summer, where schools will set up shop in the deeper parts of the lake around the aerators.  That is why this school caught me off guard, they were at a spot where usually one or two set up or where they will swim through as they cruise the perimeter of the fairly featureless lake (as scaleface described).  If I did stick a majority of the school, I am impressed with myself .  My hunch was they moved on, pretty normal for this lake, but maybe I am selling myself short.

 

I know that when stressed, many bass will retreat into cover & become difficult to catch.  If the weed kill created stress in the fish, would schooling up at a feeding location also give them that same sense of calm & normalcy?

[scfisher1]

Long shot but is it possible the property owner feeds fish off the dock?  That might keep the bluegill there even if there isn't much structure. 

[OCdockskipper]

That is a possibility, although most people who feed the fish here do it inadvertently when they are feeding the ducks, geese & swans.  

 

There is a pair of Australian swans on the lake who have had 3 clutches in less than 2 years.  When they take their young-ins around the shallows, you can always spot a few following under them waiting for scraps.