Bass with lockjaw in pvt lake

[Brad Carruth]

Curious if anyone has had this happen to them. There is a private lake that I've been fishing for the past 3 years that has always produced an absurd amount of large bass that has all of a sudden stopped producing bites all together. It's been like this for almost 2 months now. I only fish this lake maybe twice a week & never keep the fish. The water level was up about 2 feet but is now back to its usual 10ft. Here are some details about this lake: it's about 10 acres large, 10ft deep all the way around, 3ft of water visibility, no lily pads or cover, water temp was in the 90's but now in low 80's. I've thrown every bait you can think of & varied my retrieve but still no bites. I know bass can be lethargic & hard to catch during the hot months of summer, but I can't figure this out. This is the first time this has happened at this lake. There is 1 other guy who has permission to fish this lake & he is only after catfish. Does anyone know what could be causing this 2 month drought of bites? I've also included a screen shot below from the map app on my phone to give you a visual of the lake. Thank you all for any insight! 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard, Brad!

 

Are you fishing from shore, or boat/kayak?

 

I've fished a small community lake in the past that

has yielded some excellent days, and some days were

skunks - after throwing the kitchen sink at 'em.

[Koz]

Recently the bite also disappeared in our smaller lagoons here in SC. I think that it may have something to do with the fact we are seeing a wider range of air temperatures this time of year and that is creating a bit of havoc with water temperatures. It's still in the upper 80's and low 90's during the day, but at night the temperatures are dropping to the mid to low 60's. Just a few weeks ago the nighttime were in the upper 70's and 80's.

 

I haven't checked or logged our water temperatures during the year so I can't compare a few weeks ago to now. But my guess is that the water temps are yo-yoing a lot right now, especially near surface levels and shallow water. I think that the fall air temperature patterns make things a bit more extreme for the fish on these 1-5 acre lagoons and ponds whereas on a larger body of water there are more gradual changes to water temperatures.

 

We've seen some panfish and some bait fish, but for a while now not one bass in what used to be our "go to" lagoon. We'll probably pass on fishing there again until late October or November when the air and water temps are cooler. If we still don't catch anything then my guess is that the alligators got them. This year there was a big momma and two juvenile gators in that lagoon.

 

 

[Paul Roberts]

Dunno exactly, but I can take a few guesses:

 

Bass in spring and into early summer tend to be mobile. They can be well distributed, often relating to shorelines. By early summer they are post-spawn, hungry, and heading to summer locations. Bass tend to move away from shorelines in summer. Depending on food availability, summer bass tend to settle into places where there is food. Feeding activity can be sporadic too, often relegated to prime times -"low light" goes a long way in describing prime times. If temps and/or visibility get really high, the bass may even shift mostly to night hunting. Along these lines, has water clarity changed?

 

I know you said this is a new phenomenon, but have you fished it equal time other years too? And NOT found the same thing? Just in case, you should keep effort in the back of your mind as well as.

 

Another thought... Looking at that water reminds me of a nearly coverless pond/lake that up and quit one summer. One of the guys that fished it asked me about it. So I went with him. We found huge numbers of bass fingerlings -a major hatch year- and so I switched to an UL rig and 2" paddle-tail grubs and started catching. My partner didn't own finesse gear so I set him up with a ML spinning rig and some jigs and... problem solved. I'd seen this before and solved it in a similar way.

 

All that said, the UW video I've been collecting has not shown adult LM's chasing fingerlings -at least until they reach about 4" in length, which occurs in the fall here. So... I'm not sure if my reasoning behind the success of the finesse gear is on target, but it worked. Those bass simply were not interested in the larger -mostly crankbaits and spinnerbaits- the guys usually throw there. Possibly, those fingerling bass in that coverless pond were using open water offshore -I did see many out there- as well as along shorelines. This may have drawn the young bass and perch up and exposed them to the mature bass. And drawing large lures through more open water is often a recipe for failure, esp in higher visibility conditions.

 

In general, know that your bass are feeding. Where and when is the question. Don't be put off; Keep at it. You just have some exploring to do. Or... hit a different water body to help get your mojo back.

 

Good luck with it.

[Megastink]

I fish a small private lake here in PA that is the same situation. Ice-out through late June produces some ridiculous days. Come July, not so much.

 

my lake is mostly 4' deep with one 6.5' area. There are stumps scattered around the center and I believe this is where the bass are during the hot months. 

 

Id suggest trying offshore in your lake if that's an option. There could be a hole, ditch, hump, or something else keeping the fish there. Good luck!

[Brad Carruth]

Thank you all for response & input. It does seem that the fish in this lake switched to nocturnal feeding. I’ve read that most bass, once they reach around 7lb’s, start feeding more at night, but never figured an entire lake could flip the switch like this one did. I really do appreciate all of your responses! 

[snake95]

On 10/18/2017 at 11:45 AM, Brad Carruth said:

Thank you all for response & input. It does seem that the fish in this lake switched to nocturnal feeding. I’ve read that most bass, once they reach around 7lb’s, start feeding more at night,

I have no idea about the correlation between size and night feeding.  However, I recently tried a small very heavily pressured pond in the early morning - well, 7 am when our sunrise is now about 7:45.   Threw a large buzzbait and had a few great catches.  The bite dies off on topwater once the sun is about 15-20 mins after sunrise.  Also had them snapping at a horny toad, but wasn't really rigged for hookup success.   

[Paul Roberts]

 

On 10/18/2017 at 9:45 AM, Brad Carruth said:

Thank you all for response & input. It does seem that the fish in this lake switched to nocturnal feeding. I’ve read that most bass, once they reach around 7lb’s, start feeding more at night, but never figured an entire lake could flip the switch like this one did. I really do appreciate all of your responses! 

A switch to nocturnal feeding by mature bass is a common summer scenario when water temps are high. Happy its panned out for you, and reaffirmed a "common" scenario.

 

On 10/23/2017 at 9:27 PM, snake95 said:

I have no idea about the correlation between size and night feeding.  However, I recently tried a small very heavily pressured pond in the early morning - well, 7 am when our sunrise is now about 7:45.   Threw a large buzzbait and had a few great catches.  The bite dies off on topwater once the sun is about 15-20 mins after sunrise.  Also had them snapping at a horny toad, but wasn't really rigged for hookup success.   

Another common scenario in hot water is a "first light bite". In my experience, it happens just as you describe: bites quit about the time the sun hits the water. Before then, it can be... wild. The difference is like a switch being shut off. Rather obvious and easy to find if its occurring.

[NCbassraider]

I own a small lake about the same size but a bit deeper with more structure.  It is man made and about 80 years old so there are some monsters in there.  There is also a lot of food, making the big fish tough to catch. 

 

It is filled with bait fish and frogs and in a 10 acre body of water, it is a canned hunt for the big bass.  They know where to eat and get their fill any time they wish.  There are times when the bite just shuts down.  Right now water temps are dropping and they are really feeding and chasing.  I see massive schools of bait fish everywhere so the big, dominant fish have no trouble feeding.  All we are catching now are the juveniles.

 

Typically, the biggest bass in my lake are caught in the winter months when food sources are lower.