Bass Behavior Question

[starkeer]

This morning my dad and I were kayak fishing a small lake (700 acres) that has short, small channel, probably a quarter mile and never more than 20 yards across, that connects it to Lake Michigan. We did pretty well in the small lake but once we paddled out the channel we caught absolutely nothing. The tough part was we could see literally ten's of fish, easily recognizable as bass, and some big, chunky ones mixed in too. They had absolutely no interest in anything we were throwing and we pretty much threw the entire kitchen sink at them. My question is why these bass were cruising from one lake to the other with no interest in feeding? Is it a water temperature thing? This was at about 9am on a cloudy, windy morning around 70 degrees. Please help me understand why I could not catch any of these fish haha

[Koz]

Were they on beds and still spawning in your area? Or has the spawn just finished?

[LCG]

I like to equate it to driving down a busy street with fast food restaurants littered on both sides of the street. Burgers, pizza, subs, fries, pitas, burritos, etc.

 

Do you stop at one? Which one? Are you even hungry? Are you busy trying to get somewhere? 

 

Same concept with fish. Sometimes the bite is just off. 

 

 

[starkeer]

29 minutes ago, Koz said:

Were they on beds and still spawning in your area? Or has the spawn just finished?

The spawn has probably been done for about 2-3 weeks. It was just infuriating to see so many haha

[Koz]

59 minutes ago, starkeer said:

The spawn has probably been done for about 2-3 weeks. It was just infuriating to see so many haha

 

Around here 3 weeks post spawn is when things start to really pick up, especially with the warmer water temperatures in late spring.

[WRB]

Learn basic bass behavior; Search Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar.

Tom

[greentrout]

Doug Hannon The Bass Professor...

 

 https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/bass-fishing/where-fish-bass/2009/06/how-i-fish-doug-hannon

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Castnet for the stubborn ones

[frogflogger]

big noisy in your face topwaters with long casts - you must keep chunking and chugging but eventually (sometimes) (sometimes often) they will eat

years ago I would try to finesse these snobby cruisers but over the years I've decided it's more fun and more productive to challenge them to eat a big noisy meal

this isn't a numbers technique but it is good for big fish when your chance for numbers is slim at best

[Trox]

This is when I would start working my lures differently to trigger reaction strikes... Fish will bite even if they're not hungry, but you will need to give them a reason. A good example would be self defense. 

 

My favorite way to get fish to react:

"jig and set" a lipless crankbait (with rattles) -  a lot of people forget that there are different ways to fish these lures other than just varying the retrieve tempo or swimming it normally. "jig and set" is a term I made up to help people understand the way I will sometimes work a lipless for a reaction. Basically I will let the lipless sink to the bottom then rip it violently (pretend you're setting a hook), then let it settle back down to the bottom like a jig. The violent action that comes with a hook set also cause the rattles to scream, a lot of times forcing the fish to react. I discovered this technique during a situation quite like yours... I was so frustrated that I had to try something new. I called it the "jig and set" but later found that Tim from Tactical Bassin' also uses this method for lipless cranks. A tip that I took from him to add to it's effectiveness was to use Lucky Crafts LV500 cranks instead of Rattletraps due to the additional weight (faster sink and additional casting distance to keep the space between easily spooked fish) and a different rattle noise. Made a noticeable difference when I made that lure change also. Since, I've loaded my tackle box with LV500s.

 

Anyways, there are lot's of ways to trigger a reaction strike, but I thought I would share my favorite. And of course, it doesn't ALWAYS work. Nothing does. But it's just another tool to add to your arsenal. 

 

Key takeaway here is REACTION REACTION REACTION!!

 

 

 

 

[BassNJake]

^^^^ This can also be done with other lures as well: stroking a jig and cracking a tube are phrases used for that technique with those respective baits.

[Chuck Popeeye Moser]

Ignore the HA HA.  There are low IQ idiots on this site also.

 

[J.Vincent]

Transition or Recovery Bass can be tough to catch, personally I would try a 1/2oz Carolina rig or a 1/4 oz Mojo Rig with a Centipede or French Fry rigged on a 1/0 Owner Rig n Hook. Soak that bait with Gamefish scent and move it slowly along the bottom, if the bait is up in the water column high enough, those cruisers may just pluck a quick meal on the way through the channel or creek. 

[Team9nine]

Hard to say. Fish might use the small lake for spawning and then move back into L. Michigan the rest of the year. Not every fish can be made to bite. After trying some options, I'd chalk it up to a "cool" experience and then go find some fish with a better attitude ?

[WRB]

You can't make inactive bass strike anything.

You can catch active bass on nearly anything.

Neutral bass are just that in inbetween being active and inactive and catching them requires some finesse.

The sooner you all recognize basic bass behavior the sooner you will improve you bass catching skills.

Tom