Their own worst enemy

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

Netted a bunch of shad yesterday and fished them in my local canal, the smallies would swarm in mass and chase the bait to the surface, literally fighting over the bait.

 

Problem, when the bait was on the surface the bass bailed on it, They were chasing, whacking, basically tearing the bait to pieces.

 

Is this behavior common? And is there anything that can be done to get them to commit to my live bait offerings?

[Scott F]

Walleye and muskie fishermen, when using live bait, will often include a stinger hook to catch those fish that are short striking and don't suck in the entire bait. If you aren't aware of a stinger, it's usually a smallish treble hook tied to a short piece of line. The other end will have a loop knot that attaches to the eye of the main hook. Here is a premade stinger from Northland Tackle. You place one barb of the treble into the bait near the tail so the other two points are there to hook the bass.

 

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

2 hours ago, Scott F said:

Walleye and muskie fishermen, when using live bait, will often include a stinger hook to catch those fish that are short striking and don't suck in the entire bait. If you aren't aware of a stinger, it's usually a smallish treble hook tied to a short piece of line. The other end will have a loop knot that attaches to the eye of the main hook. Here is a premade stinger from Northland Tackle. You place one barb of the treble into the bait near the tail so the other two points are there to hook the bass.

 

 I'll give it a shot, Thanks!

 

I do wonder how much this will affect the shad's ability to swim, Might have to find bigger shad.

[Scott F]

19 minutes ago, Hewhospeaksmuchbull said:

 I'll give it a shot, Thanks!

 

I do wonder how much this will affect the shad's ability to swim, Might have to find bigger shad.

As long as there is a bit of slack in the stinger line, the bait will be able swim. Actually, if the shad struggles to swim, it makes it even more attractive to a predator. Like I said, walleye and musky fisherman use this set with with great success. 

[slonezp]

I sometimes wonder if they do it on purpose. They get wound up and kill for the hell of it. I've seen the behavior in aquarium fish. Almost as if they are killing the bait to prevent other fish from eating it.

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

Almost as if they are killing the bait to prevent other fish from eating it.

Kind of a turf thing.

[slonezp]

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Kind of a turf thing.

Exactly 

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

Maybe I should throw an antipsychotic at them.

[Boomstick]

I have seen people tie up catfish rigs to look like a fish following a smaller fish with the idea that the fish see another fish following bait and they just want in on it, sort of like several people have mentioned. I haven't seen that used as much for bass techniques however, but it is the concept of a baitball or even a spinnerbait.

[8pt172]

Wolves in the Upper Peninsula will kill many deer at a given time in the winter yards and leave them lay. It is like shooting fish in a barrel when the deer are in huge numbers in close proximity. A predators instinct is to catch and kill things. That is why we often use reaction baits to catch bass who are not actively feeding.