I Don't Care!

[Catt]

3 hours ago, slonezp said:

 

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. 

 

Exactly ?

 

The "predominate" food source changes with each passing season.

 

Matching the hatch isn't always the right choice...sometimes mismatching is necessary!

[MGF]

I've only been fishing my river lately but there is plenty of likely looking bait almost everyplace. Seeing bait does not insure that you'll find active bass. I'm not suggesting that it makes sense to fish where there is no bait but bait is only one key to finding bass. There's more to it than finding food.

 

I could take you to a boat ramp today that will be covered with minnows just about the size the bass are spitting up. There won't be any bass though. The bass have better places to ambush bait and there's bait there too. Finding bait is only part of the puzzle.

[Sam]

On 9/26/2020 at 9:41 AM, 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. 

Catt, don't give all the secrets away!!!!!  ?

[J Francho]

"Matching the hatch" is probably the most misused, misunderstood, and misappropriated catch phrase in bass fishing.  It's as annoying to me as the phrase "game changer."  Click like and subscribe to see more.

[scaleface]

The areas devoid of bait fish should have hungrier bass .?

[Catt]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

"Matching the hatch" is probably the most misused, misunderstood, and misappropriated catch phrase in bass fishing.  It's as annoying to me as the phrase "game changer."  Click like and subscribe to see more.

 

Agree with that ?

 

If we have a "school" of bait the bass aren't targeting the ones in center, they're all blended in.

 

They're targeting the ones on the outer edges that are not blended in...they're standing out.

[J Francho]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

If we have a "school" of bait the bass aren't targeting the ones in center, they're all blended in.

 

They're targeting the ones on the outer edges that are not blended in...they're standing out.

You only need to watch lionesses hunt wildebeest to get this concept.  It's not an uncommon event or specific to certain predators.

[king fisher]

Bass are no different than fishermen.  We are the predetor, and the bass is the prey.  We learn what time of year they spawn, when they mover shallow, when they suspend etc.  We even follow forums, trying to learn more about our prey.

     The bass do the same thing with their prey, except excluding the spawn they are concentrating on how to hunt their prey 24 -7 their whole life.  They will know when the crayfish come out in the spring, when they molt, when each species of bait fish is most vulnerable, where to ambush shad, or when it is best to chase them down.  A bass can and will eat almost anything, but that doesn't mean they simply wait for anything to come close enough to eat.  Sometimes they get lucky, like when a baby bird falls in the water, but most of the time they are hunting with a purpose.

      The more the angler understands the bass's prey, the more success he will have.  A person may see bait everywhere and no bass, but the bass may not like the size, time of day, amount of light, current, wind, water clarity, or hundreds of other reasons, the bass determines that particular bait at that particular time are not worth trying to catch.  Maybe easy to catch sculpin are spawning all over the bottom right below all the shad an angler is seeing.  The bass decide they are easier to catch, and prefer to take advantage of the opportunity before it ends.  A few hours later the sun starts to set, providing an ideal ambush opportunity for the bass to trap the shad on the surface, so they change hunting tactics, as well as targeted species.  Now an angler trying to imitate slow moving sculpins on the bottom with a dark colored soft plastic, will not have the same success as an angler throwing a shiny shad imitation on the surface.

    The difficult part for the angler is it is natural to the bass to know everything about the prey in their water.  A fishermen can easily miss interpret what they see.  Add to that a bass just might not be hungry.  Maybe the bass ate so many sculpin early in the day, that he could care less about the afternoon shad hatch.  Knowing the life cycle, and habits of prey is not the only knowledge necessary to consistently catch bass.  Understanding the habits of the bass themselves is also important, If an angler can determine what the bass eats, when and where that prey will be abundant, available, and most of all vulnerable, then the angler will be able to determine where, the bass will be, and what lures to try.  Then all that is left to luck, is if the bass is hungry. 

      

[Sam]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Agree with that ?

 

If we have a "school" of bait the bass aren't targeting the ones in center, they're all blended in.

 

They're targeting the ones on the outer edges that are not blended in...they're standing out.

Drop a spoon or drop shot in middle of bait ball to mimic dying fish falling out of the ball which are easy targets for feeding bass under the ball.

[roadwarrior]

I asked Hank Parker if he would fish a structure where his electronics did not show

baitfish or predators.  His answer was yes, there may still be something down there

that your sonar picture looks like a rock or limb.  If it is a promising spot, Hank says

go for it!

[Sissyfishing]

Are crayfish really fish?

[roadwarrior]

No.   Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans.

[MN Fisher]

52 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

No.   Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans.

Closest salt-water relative is the lobster.

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

Closest salt-water relative is the lobster.

With “buttah”

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

With “buttah”

Or fresh with nothing. When I took my open water SCUBA training in Lake Bemidji back in 77, my dive partner and I collected a couple dozen crayfish. Couple having a picnic near our gather point had a pot, fresh water and a camp stove. We cooked them up and had a snack right there.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Sissyfishing said:

Are crayfish really fish?

Are crayfish really cray?

[Catt]

35 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Are crayfish really cray?

 

No! Craw! ?

[J Francho]

Better to be craw-craw than cray-cray!

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Better to be craw-craw than cray-cray!

But I LIKE being cray-cray!

[Spankey]

On 9/29/2020 at 2:07 AM, slonezp said:

 

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. 

I find this to be true on my lake fish. Be out Thursday, hookie day from work for me, pretty warm here in the East. Weekend looks sour and we have a tendency to go from summer into winter which will hit soon. 
 

My crankbait fishing all season Has been bluegillish and gizzard shadish patterns. Some crankbaits and soft plastic creature types I have to stick with. I’m not setting the world on fire, but it’s working and I’m afraid to mess with it.