Humble Pie & Suspended Fish

[JackstrawIII]

I’ve had an incredible fishing season this year. I’ve been catching nice fish on every trip, have successfully introduced a lot of new people to fishing, have helped my wife catch some fish and she’s really enjoying it. I’ve been feeling wonderful. 
 

Then today happened. 
 

Went out by myself this morning for a little “me time” fishing. Yeah the weather was windy and the chop was high on the bay. Yeah we had a storm yesterday and the barometer was going crazy. So what, I’ve been having a great year. I’ll just bust out the dropshot and clean house… right?

 

Wrong. I struggled big time this morning. Fished for 4.5 hours and caught 1 bass. I know everyone has days like this, and I was fighting the odds, but I gotta say, today was a massive slice of humble pie. 

 

On a related note, how do you guys catch suspended fish when the bite is off? They were suspended about 15 feet down over 25 feet of water. Tried everything I could think of, no dice. 

[PhishLI]

56 minutes ago, JackstrawIII said:

On a related note, how do you guys catch suspended fish when the bite is off? They were suspended about 15 feet down over 25 feet of water. Tried everything I could think of, no dice. 

I've been out on a boat with the works as far as electronics go. Sometimes nothing presentation-wise will get them to fire other than camping on the spot and waiting for that to happen. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It's the double-edged sword of SOTA electronics. They're 100% there, but it's simply the wrong time and nothing works.

[looking45]

I’ve had success on suspended bass with rip baits, soy baits and weightless senkos. YMMV

[galyonj]

[WRB]

Suspended bass without balled up baitfish nearby tells me to forget them for now and go find active bass.

It’s called fishing for a reason.

Tom

[JackstrawIII]

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

go find active bass.

Haha this sounds like the secret I need to learn!! 

[JackstrawIII]

15 minutes ago, galyonj said:

Love it. 
 

For the record, I also tried flipping a Texas rig into shallow cover… not a sniff. Threw a paddle tail around docks… nada. I even skipped the Ned rig under the docks… not even that worked. 
 

When even the Ned fails… you know it’s not your day. 
 

 

[galyonj]

That's a fact.

Gotta make sure all the fish aren't on break at the same time before you go out.

[gim]

I'm with Tom on this one.  I've marked suspended smallmouth over deeper water multiple times and tried to catch them.  One time a jerk bait caught a couple, but most of the time its a nut you cannot crack.  You're better off looking elsewhere for more active fish.

[roadwarrior]

Suspending fish are a losing bet.

[Jig Man]

Suspended bass are what we are catching right now.  We had 40 last trip and 30 the trip before that.  They have been from 20’ and deeper over 50-70’ of water.   The most productive way for us has been using Keitech swim baits on 1/4 and 3/8 oz heads.  
 

There is no rhyme or reason to just what will work.  Sometimes they want a 3.3 and sometimes a 3.8.  Typically a count down then slow retrieve, stop, count down, repeat until something works.  Early the other day a 1/4 and 3.3 down 10 seconds then retrieve worked with a white one.  Later it took  a 3.8 baby bass magic on  3/8 head and a 20 second countdown to get a bite.  You just need several setups and be willing to change your retrieve.

[Bankbeater]

I'll try a spinnerbait and a lipless crankbait.  When the bass are just hanging there and not moving too much, I will try to circle them and cast at them from different angles.  If I don't get any bites in 15 or 20 minutes I move on.

[WRB]

The key is Threadfin Shad Bait schools, if the bass are feeding then they are not necessarily suspending.

1/8 - 3/16 oz darter heads w/ 4” curl tail worms can also work. Keitechs have opened this window, excellent swimmer.

Tom

[Swamp Girl]

You caught just one bass just once in 2023? I think you're a heckuva fisherman then! I've only caught one bass five times in 2023. You're five times the fisher that I am.

[JackstrawIII]

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

You're five times the fisher that I am.

Haha, I very much doubt that, but thank you. It has been a very enjoyable year of fishing. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, JackstrawIII said:

Haha, I very much doubt that, but thank you. It has been a very enjoyable year of fishing. 

 

Math doesn't lie!

 

You: One fish one time.

 

Me: One fish FIVE times.

 

P. S. - I'm glad you've had a swingin' year of dancin' with bass.