I Don't Care!

[Catt]

If it's winter, spring, summer, or fall.

 

Ya better know what your predominant food sources are in your body of water & what they are doing during those four seasons.

 

We're hunting two species, the baitfish & the bass.

 

Find the baitfish...the bass will be nearby. 

[DitchPanda]

I agree with this. Spawn is the only time of year that bass have something on there mind besides eating. Every other time of year food is a huge consideration most times the #1 factor.

Funny you mention this...I watched an interview with Rick Clunn recently where he said if he could do it over again he would have spent less time learning about the bass and more time learning about the forage. He said he thinks that's what bass anglers have always done wrong.

[NoShoes]

How do you go about learning the forage in your body of water?  I fish a ton of black water mill ponds, so I don’t really see any of the bait balls I might see in clearer water. 

[Grim_Reaver]

28 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

How do you go about learning the forage in your body of water?  I fish a ton of black water mill ponds, so I don’t really see any of the bait balls I might see in clearer water. 

Use a dip net or cast net in the shallows and identify/research what you catch.

[NoShoes]

5 minutes ago, Grim_Reaver said:

Use a dip net or cast net in the shallows and identify/research what you catch.

Catch nets in fresh water is illegal here. 

 

I notice tons of small minnows around vegetation but would think the bass are eating things larger than those. 

[A-Jay]

27 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

How do you go about learning the forage in your body of water?  I fish a ton of black water mill ponds, so I don’t really see any of the bait balls I might see in clearer water. 

In water of sufficient depth, your Garmin unit can help.

Can't offer specifics but may display the evidence.

Also when & where it's legal & practical, retaining your catch in a livewell for a brief time,

may allow them to leave behind some clues; all be it a bit smelly at times. 

If it's crayfish, good chance you'll know it in short order. 

Finally, in shallower areas (and on new water) I will often fan cast a light rig with a small drop shot bait specifically designed to target small bait.  4-5 inch perch & most anything in the sunfish/pumpkinseed family is what I'm looking for most often. 

No desire to catch them, just looking for that subtle & tell tale - tap, tap tap that says,

this could be the place.

Good Luck.

A-Jay

 

[Grim_Reaver]

7 minutes ago, NoShoes said:

I notice tons of small minnows around vegetation but would think the bass are eating things larger than those. 

Minnows, especially fathead minnows, are a common forage species in a small/closed system like a pond. Bass are opportunistic predators and aren't picky.

[NoShoes]

12 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

In water of sufficient depth, your Garmin unit can help.

Can't offer specifics but may display the evidence.

Also when & where it's legal & practical, retaining your catch in a livewell for a brief time,

may allow them to leave behind some clues; all be it a bit smelly at times. 

If it's crayfish, good chance you'll know it in short order. 

Finally, in shallower areas (and on new water) I will often fan cast a light rig with a small drop shot bait specifically designed to target small bait.  4-5 inch perch & most anything in the sunfish/pumpkinseed family is what I'm looking for most often. 

No desire to catch them, just looking for that subtle & tell tale - tap, tap tap that says,

this could be the place.

Good Luck.

A-Jay

 

This was helpful.  I've done well on Zoom Ol Monsters there but often times have panfish nipping or ripping off the ribbon tail.  Most likely decent size bream or crappie playing with it.

 

I also noticed a 5 gal bucket with a lid / holes tied to a tree not long ago, didn't think much of it at the time but possibly could've been a crawfish trap.  I should've peeked inside.

9 minutes ago, Grim_Reaver said:

Minnows, especially fathead minnows, are a common forage species in a small/closed system like a pond. Bass are opportunistic predators and aren't picky.

What would be the best way to mimic that kind of forage?

[Catt]

2 hours ago, NoShoes said:

How do you go about learning the forage in your body of water?  I fish a ton of black water mill ponds, so I don’t really see any of the bait balls I might see in clearer water. 

 

You mentioned panfish hitting your Ole Monster. Bluegill, Bream, & other panfish are an excellent food sources. 

 

In ponds minnows & panfish are probably more prevalent than crawfish.

[Mobasser]

On our Ozark lakes here in Missouri, lots of guys go out and spot schools of shad busting the surface. They cast any number of shiny shad type baits and let them sink below the shad. They often limit out doing this.

What Catt says here is 100% right on. If you can spend some time and learn what your forage is, you'll catch more bass.

[TnRiver46]

21 hours ago, Catt said:

If it's winter, spring, summer, or fall.

 

Ya better know what your predominant food sources are in your body of water & what they are doing during those four seasons.

 

We're hunting two species, the baitfish & the bass.

 

Find the baitfish...the bass will be nearby. 

Said it many times, the entire river is a blanket of baitfish in East TN. “Find the bait” is as easy as picking out the blue water on a map. 

[Catt]

46 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Said it many times, the entire river is a blanket of baitfish in East TN. “Find the bait” is as easy as picking out the blue water on a map. 

 

So you're saying the are not nearby ?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

So you're saying the are not nearby ?

Say what now? 
 

im making no claims except there’s shad everywhere on TN river. Literally everywhere. 

[scaleface]

55 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

im making no claims except there’s shad everywhere on TN river. Literally everywhere. 

Mark Twain Lake , same thing .

[Mat_ski]

I often find bass where I find baitfish, but those bass usually want nothing to do with my artificial immitators.

Why would they, when there is abundance of the real thing. 

 

[TOXIC]

Don’t discount the value of the reaction bite and what I call the oddball bait.  Neither of which match the hatch.  A reaction bite is just that and works well when bass are not actively feeding or there is an abundance of forage.  Ever notice how most of the pros put an “oddball” bait on an a-rig?  And that is the bait that gets bit.  Works the same with single baits as well.  Whether it is contrasting colors or size, the oddball will get bit.

[Catt]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Say what now? 
 

im making no claims except there’s shad everywhere on TN river. Literally everywhere. 

 

Proof of a healthy ecosystem ?

[RoLo]

 

To envision game fish in relentless pursuit of baitfish would be a mistake:

In accordance with mother nature’s master plan, the preferred habitat of every game-fish,

coincides perfectly with the preferred habitat of their primary prey. Moreover, it's this basal relationship

that assures the ongoing survival of the predator  (In other words, don’t sweat small stuff).

 

If you believe that finding baitfish is the same as finding gamefish, that would be a big mistake:

The population of organisms toward the base of the ecological pyramid grossly overwhelms the organisms

toward the top of the pyramid. It naturally follows: protozoa grossly outnumber insects, and the biomass

of baitfish grossly exceeds the biomass of game-fish (producers vs. consumers).

 

 

As a result, it's hard to find game-fish where there are no baitfish, but it’s easy to find baitfish

where there are no game-fish   

 

Roger

 

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Proof of a healthy ecosystem ?

Yeah it’s crazy. There’s herons, osprey, eagles, cormorants, gulls, loons, all chowing down 

[A-Jay]

17 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

To envision game fish in relentless pursuit of baitfish would be a mistake:

 

In accordance with mother nature’s master plan, the preferred habitat of every game-fish,

coincides perfectly with the preferred habitat of their primary prey. Moreover, it's this basal relationship

that assures the ongoing survival of the predator  (In other words, don’t sweat small stuff).

 

 

 

If you believe that finding baitfish is the same as finding gamefish, that would be a Big mistake:

 

The population of organisms toward the base of the ecological pyramid grossly overwhelms the organisms

toward the top of the pyramid. It naturally follows: protozoa grossly outnumber insects, and the biomass

of baitfish grossly exceeds the biomass of game-fish (producers vs. consumers).

As a result, it might be hard to find gamefish where there are no baitfish, but it’s very easy to find baitfish

where there are no game-fish. 

 

Roger

 

Interesting concept Roger ~ 

When it comes to looking for plus size brown bass in northern natural lakes,

I could not possibly disagree more. 

Water void of life is just that - and there's a lot of it.

Areas with a food chain that includes bait & food for it, 

get way points on my unit. 

And for good reason. 

A-Jay

 

 

[Catt]

On 9/26/2020 at 8:41 AM, Catt said:

We're hunting two species, the baitfish & the bass.

 

 

11 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

As a result, it's hard to find game-fish where there are no baitfish, but it’s easy to find baitfish

where there are no game-fish   

 

 

 

[king fisher]

     Bass are like any predator in water or on land.  Find there prey, and you will find the predator.  The problem is determining what their preferred prey is on a given day.  Bears in Alaska love salmon, and will be near a salmon stream when the salmon are in the streams.  However, on years when their is an abundance of berries in the mountains, the large bears will go to the mountains and eat berries.( not really prey, but preferred food)  Leaving the steams full of salmon to the small bears.  A smart human predator will no if it is a good berry year, and hunt for bears in the mountains when it is.

     I can catch 200 pound plus yellowfin tuna on live skip jack that weigh 5- 10 pounds one day.  The next day dime size red crabs will move in to an area, and even the largest tuna, will eat only the small crabs, ignoring all other offerings, weather live bait or lure.  It happens so often that predicting when and where the red crabs are going to show up is the most important factor in deciding where or even if I am going to fish for tuna.

     Bass are no different than bears or tuna.  The more a person understands what they are feeding on, at a particular moment.  What the life cycle, and habits of the prey are.  The better chance they have of finding and catching the bass.

     If Rick Clunn thinks he made a mistake by not studding prey enough, than I will try and learn more about what the bass eat.  After all, when it comes to bass fishing, he hasn't made many mistakes. 

 

 

 

[J Francho]

On 9/26/2020 at 9:41 AM, Catt said:

Find the baitfish...the bass will be nearby. 

Nothing drove this point home better as I was searching Lake Ontario for smallmouth that used to be ever present in 90s, but all but disappeared by the early 2000s.  I spent weeks out there, every chance weather permitted, graphing away, looking for bites.  Anyone that has fished the south shore knows it's like an aquatic desert out in the big lake, away from shore.  You could go miles without a sniff of a bite.  At one point, I rolled over bait so thick, I thought it was grass at the bottom of 35', but it was bait.  Dropped a line over the side, and I was quickly rewarded with big smallmouth.  No bait, no fish!  

 

 

[Teal]

On 9/26/2020 at 6:02 PM, Catt said:

 

You mentioned panfish hitting your Ole Monster. Bluegill, Bream, & other panfish are an excellent food sources. 

 

In ponds minnows & panfish are probably more prevalent than crawfish.

Just in the past few years, itfinally clicked...when I get bream packing at my senko, worm, or jig, I almost immediately switch to something that mimics bream and I step back and ask myself, if I was a bass where would I be... there have been times when I can move the boat back and cast back toward I was getting pecked and bring the bait the first significant drop a s catch a waiting bass, or if I'm getting him by bream between docks, I start really skipping and finding ambush points.... so when a bream hits my worrm..its a good thing 

[slonezp]

 

On 9/27/2020 at 11:42 AM, Mat_ski said:

I often find bass where I find baitfish, but those bass usually want nothing to do with my artificial immitators.

Why would they, when there is abundance of the real thing. 

 

Gizzard shad are abundant on my home water. Doesn't mean they are the forge the bass necessarily feed on. All fish spawn but not all at the same time. On my home water, gizzard shad and bluegill would be the most abundant forage. I'll follow the bluegills year round for bass except during the shad spawn and the carp spawn. Why would they want your bait??? Because you did something different. Because you ticked them off. Slow down or speed up.