Fishing for Suspended Bass

[papajoe222]

I run into that situation frequently during the summer. I'll find fish suspending 30yrds out from a drop off in 18-20ft. of water., 15ft. off the bottom.  I know those fish are inactive, but with the right lure and presentation, I feel I should be able to pick off one or two.  My frustration is there are only a couple of presentations  I'm confident that I can keep in that zone throughout most of my retrieve; cranks/jerk-baits and swim jigs/swim baits.

What methods do you use when and if you target suspending fish?

[Brew City Bass]

Please do not overlook the flutter spoon. It has been paramount this summer for me when I try to get suspended bass fired up. 

[rejesterd]

Jerkbaits for sure. It's something very erratic that stays in the strike zone for longer. Also wacky rigged worms. 

[FishDewd]

I recently discovered the delights of the slasher bait jerkbait. If they had one that went down that far I'm thinking it'd be pretty killer. Action on it is like a dying/injured baitfish. very erratic and it can even be somewhat walked underwater, which is really weird. Pretty cool. Used one today but I think the bass pulled off into deeper waters and I just couldn't get to them to test it out.

[papajoe222]

22 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

Please do not overlook the flutter spoon. It has been paramount this summer for me when I try to get suspended bass fired up. 

Vertical jigging?

[Brew City Bass]

11 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

Vertical jigging?

Nope! 

I like to stay about 20 yards away from the suspending bass, cast over them, then let it fall to their depth. Once it's in the strike zone I jerk it as hard as I can once or twice up, then let it flutter back down. I reel in the slack as I am jerking it up. 

 

[WRB]

Total misconception that anyone can trigger inactive bass into striking.

If those bass are near baitfish they aren't inactive and can be caught, so look for baitfish schools nearby.

An old lure redesigned to today's modern looking lure is the spy bait that glides with propellers that creates a baitfish profile and moves water that gets suspended basses attention. 

During  the fall transition structure/flutter spoons worked through baitfish is the ticket, in the summer a spy bait works good.

Tom

[Catt]

4 hours ago, WRB said:

Total misconception that anyone can trigger inactive bass into striking.

 

That right there is a total misconception ?

 

@papajoe222 ever heard of Aaron Martens?

 

What's he known for?

 

 

[Mobasser]

Suspended fish can be some of the hardest to catch for most guys. I've had hit or miss days on them. What might surprise some, is a smaller plastic worm reeled slowly through these fish sometimes can work as well as any hard baits. Count it down to depth.

[scaleface]

I have had some pretty good luck catching suspended bass this season . I've been using Berkely Dredgers   , because it takes the guess work out of how deep the lure is  and they suspend or float up slowly . I even have one that sinks slowly . I reel it down ,   sweep it , reel in the  slack , repeat...Just this past Tuesday I caught several bass suspended at 12 foot off the side of a point , over 22 foot of water  with the 14.5 Dredger .

[WRB]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

 

That right there is a total misconception ?

 

@papajoe222 ever heard of Aaron Martens?

 

What's he known for?

 

 

Finding active /nuetral suspended bass and catching them using precise finesse presentations, Aaron doesn't waste time trying to catch inactive bass, the bass are there but the bite has moved.

Tom

[NHBull]

When I see that, the first thing I reach for is an underspin and small swimbait.

If no joy, I will look for structure in the deeper part of the lake that is around the same depth.

I don't waste a lot of time on them

[WRB]

You don't want to ignor any bass you locate and can't determine if they are inactive without trying to catch them. What I do is try first, usually with a 1/8 oz darter head jig and 4 1/2" curl tail finesse worm and slowly swim it through the bass school. Then try an underspin or a spy bait. If nothing happens, note the location, look for bait fish nearby and return in an hour or so and give them another try.

If the bass are big fish my 1st choice is a swimbait.

It's part of determine where the active bass are and getting the timing right, trail and error until it comes together.

Tom

[Catt]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Finding active /nuetral suspended bass and catching them using precise finesse presentations, Aaron doesn't waste time trying to catch inactive bass, the bass are there but the bite has moved.

Tom

 

Absolutely wrong ?

 

How does one determine if bass are inactive or not?

 

Simply because they didn't bite your presentation doesn't equate to inactive bass.

 

Are we to assume every bass we catch were actively feeding?

 

Often times when one or two caught out of a "school" will fire up the entire school.

[WRB]

It has been a debate for decades how bass turn on and off a bite.

Way back in 60' and 70's when fresh water sonar units were flashers we could locate suspended bass off structure. The technique then was to camp out onto the spot using live bait until the bass moved up* and started feeding. The inactive bass in time will turn on if they are there. So does catching 1 bass change the mood of the school, yes bass are competitive predators, it's getting the timing right and that hasn't changed in today's bass world.

We have better sonar units to find the suspended bass and anglers unfamiliar with bass behavior waste a lot of time thinking they can turn inactive bass by trying for a few hours until the bass themselves change and start feeding, if you are there it's good, if you have moved on you miss it.

Tom

* a term used to indicate the moved up thier activity, not necessarily a depth or location.

 

[J Francho]

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

Often times when one or two caught out of a "school" will fire up the entire school.

I like to call this "igniting the bite."  Happens pretty frequently with smallmouth bass up here.

[Catt]

So @WRB in your opinion all bass that doesn't hit your lure is deemed inactive?

 

And every bass that hits your lure is deemed active?

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

I like to call this "igniting the bite."  Happens pretty frequently with smallmouth bass up here.

 

Not according to Tom it doesn't ?

[Todd2]

Interesting discussion, I have never had much luck with suspended fish other than swimming a grub through them and that has been spotty to put it mildy.

 

However, fish buried up in brush piles/laydowns/log jams are often inactive but I've had one of my best summers in 4 years targeting them. The key has been making repeated casts/pitches. I mean a lot of casts. Saturday I stayed on a laydown (not even a big one) and just kept pitching. About the time I'd want to give up, I'd hook up. Caught two keepers and a few small ones off the same tree. Was probably on it for 30 mins, in the past, I'd already have moved on.

 

Much different than suspended bass, but the question is the same. Did the jig finally ignite the bite or did they just turn on? Who knows?

[WRB]

41 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I like to call this "igniting the bite."  Happens pretty frequently with smallmouth bass up here.

I don’t have years of experience fishing for smallmouth, lots with FLMB in deep structure lakes with sparse cover. What experience I have with smallies is they are more aggressive, move around more and rarely where I bass fish suspend in schools over deeper water where no baitfish are located.

Tom

44 minutes ago, Catt said:

So @WRB in your opinion all bass that doesn't hit your lure is deemed inactive?

 

And every bass that hits your lure is deemed active?

 

Not according to Tom it doesn't ?

When I can come back later and catch those same bass with lures they ignored earlier Ineould say they were inactive earlier.

Tom

[Choporoz]

Not a sure thing, but I have caught deeper suspended LMB's by fishing heavy (1/2-3/4 oz) spinnerbaits like a lipless crankbait.   I am not real confident about hitting the depth (zone) right, so I use exaggerated yo-yo-ing back to the boat.  Long upward rips and then sometimes, hits on the fall. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

Suspended bass often fall prey to my hair jigs when I'm strolling around for big summer panfish.

 

Not a popular opinion, I know. ?

[Catt]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

When I can come back later and catch those same bass with lures they ignored earlier Ineould say they were inactive earlier

 

So in other words if bass doesn't bite your lure it's because they inactive?

 

It's not possible your lure selection & presentation was wrong?

 

Suspended bass can be caught on drop shots, flutter spoons, tail spinners, & deep diving crankbaits.

 

Bass are opportunistic predators, even though they are not hungry (inactive) they will eat a lure placed in front of their face. It's what we like to call a reaction strike.

 

Yes sometimes it requires multiple cast but is that not normal?

[WRB]

What matters to me if I can't catch them I move on and come later,.

Tom

[Catt]

 

[Choporoz]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:20 PM, WRB said:

You don't want to ignor any bass you locate and can't determine if they are inactive without trying to catch them. What I do is try first, usually with a 1/8 oz darter head jig and 4 1/2" curl tail finesse worm and slowly swim it through the bass school. Then try an underspin or a spy bait. If nothing happens, note the location, look for bait fish nearby and return in an hour or so and give them another try.

If the bass are big fish my 1st choice is a swimbait.

It's part of determine where the active bass are and getting the timing right, trail and error until it comes together.

Tom

Moping before moping was moping?

Tom, you were ahead of your time!