BIG FISH ON TOP, NO BITES

[Paul Squicciarini]

ishing in reservoir with big fish swimming in large schools at the surface with their mouths open but I cant get a bite. It is mid-summer at sunrise.  And their are smaller fish jumping out of the water.  I am trying to top fish with variety of lures and no bites.  Any suggestions 

[Koz]

Bait fish jumping near the surface? One word: buzzbait

 

I suggest using one in the sexy shad color scheme.

[scaleface]

Doesnt sound like bass . Ignore them .

[garroyo130]

Minnow type floating lures are typically good but another approach is to cast a lipless crankbait into the action and let it sink. Often times there are fish below waiting for injured baitfish to sink and become an easy meal.

 

What size lures have you been throwing? 

 

Also as stated above, make sure its bass in those schools of fish.

[DitchPanda]

Yep..swimming on top with mouth open sounds like carp to me

[Luke Barnes]

3 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Yep..swimming on top with mouth open sounds like carp to me

Ive been wondering if ive been seeing carp doing that. Ive heard they do it and swirl on top. I throw all sorts of lures at the swirls and moutha and never get a bite so makes sense. But for me this is a good thing because I decided this year i want to add carp to the list of species ive caught. Now I know a pond that should have a bunch in it!

[Paul Squicciarini]

1 hour ago, Luke Barnes said:

Ive been wondering if ive been seeing carp doing that. Ive heard they do it and swirl on top. I throw all sorts of lures at the swirls and moutha and never get a bite so makes sense. But for me this is a good thing because I decided this year i want to add carp to the list of species ive caught. Now I know a pond that should have a bunch in it!

I am finding out bread and corn should work, but a how do i cast far enough with just bread and a hook seems too light, but it needs to float

[MN Fisher]

13 minutes ago, Paul Squicciarini said:

I am finding out bread and corn should work, but a how do i cast far enough with just bread and a hook seems too light, but it needs to float

If you're using a spinning reel - light enough line and a light-power rod will be able to cast that with little problems.

 

A Medium-Light, Light or Ultra-Light rod with a 1000 or even 500 size reel loaded with 4# or 6# test is what I'd use for that

[geo g]

Often see lots of gar cruising the surface in certain areas.  Usually a tell tale sign for poor bass fishing.  Gar also cruise the surface in poorly oxygenated waters, cleaning up on fish that become disoriented by the poor water quality.  They can flourish in this poor water quality.  As water temps gets higher we see this more often here in Florida.

[Captain Phil]

Seeing gar fish is not necessarily a sign of poor water quality.  It is true that gars and bowfin (mudfish) can live in water with low oxygen levels.   It takes more than gar fish to convince me a spot is not fit for bass.   Gars are part of the ecosystem.  They feed on similar food as bass.  Here in Central Florida in the spring of the year, it is common to observe large female gar fish in the shallows.  Spawning female gar fish can be surrounded by scores of smaller male gars.  I have had clients in my boat who want to move because they believe gars and bass can not coexist.  Those folks are always surprised when we start catching bass in that spot.  What worries me more is when I don't see any signs of life in the water.  

[sdsc357]

If your lake has stripers, it could be stripers "slurping." They go in one direction and if you throw a lure right at them, they'll spook go under to reappear somewhere else in the general area. From a distance it looks like a miniature wave. For me, I use walk the dog topwater lures to catch them.

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Seeing gar fish is not necessarily a sign of poor water quality. 

I see lots of gar in good bass waters .

[RoLo]

 

It's an excellent bet that they are not bass, and a good bet that they are carp.

 

Roger

 

 

[Luke Barnes]

5 hours ago, Paul Squicciarini said:

I am finding out bread and corn should work, but a how do i cast far enough with just bread and a hook seems too light, but it needs to float

Ive done alot of research and I'm going to use a Carolina rig with a method feeder it, then corn on the hook and bury in the pack bait on the feeder. As they slurp the pack bait off the method feeder they suck in the hook too. 

 

I got a pack bait recipe from tje top carp guy on you tube. Pablo bread crumbs, sweet corn and the liquid in the can, and strawberry Jello. Im making the method feeder out of a spring coil and use a 1/2 oz sinker so it should cast quite far. The pack bait releases and lind of chums the area and draws the carp to it. 

[Spankey]

15 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

If you're using a spinning reel - light enough line and a light-power rod will be able to cast that with little problems.

 

A Medium-Light, Light or Ultra-Light rod with a 1000 or even 500 size reel loaded with 4# or 6# test is what I'd use for that

My buddy who just passed was a carp fanatic. He was big time into it. He use to fish light noodle type rods. Made his own vanilla and strawberry dough baits. These can be bought. He had a disease for catching carp the same as we go at it for bass. Good luck. 
 

I know nothing about carp other than over the years I’ve caught some on grubs and a few on Shad Raps Smallie fishing. On 6# test, ML rods, hold on. 

[frogflogger]

Fishing clubs in Europe come to the U.S. to fish for carp. They are considered a game fish by many cultures.

I've caught them on dry flies - they can pull!

[Captain Phil]

Thirty years ago the State stocked the Harris Chain with grass carp in an attempt to control hydrilla.  Some of these carp grew to be huge, many reaching 40 pounds or more.  As often happens in these attempts, it turned into a disaster.   In Lake Yale they double stocked the lake due to a miscalculation.   After the carp finished off the hydrilla, they started eating everything else that grew in the lake including reeds and cattails.  The joke was they would follow lakefront home owners down the shoreline as they cut their grass. Some locals used corn to bait these fish.  At the time, I ran some guide trips with bow fisherman targeting these fish. 

 

It got so bad they had to construct plastic barriers around the grass beds.  The lake was in danger of total collapse, so they started to net the carp out of the lake with air boats at night.  They eventually removed most of the carp or they died off, as I haven't seen one in a while.  The lake grass has returned and the fishing improved.  I don't know where the bow fisherman moved to.  ?

[Herbert Lorenzo]

I've seen seen many fish doing as you described only to see upon closer inspection to find they are carp or Plecos . Fish area as you normally would .