airborne_angler Posted August 27, 2007 Posted August 27, 2007 Its the age old situational question. Today at a local pond the Bass and Bluegill were going crazy. Dragonflies were swarming and the Fish were leaping completely out of the water after them. I threw a Rapala Skitter pop and managed to catch a small Bass and a Bluegill which I never even felt.I threw a buzzbait,I slow rolled a Spinnerbait,I threw Trick Sticks,both Trigged and wacky rigged.I threw a Weightless Brush Bug,a 4" Renegade worm and a Berkley Finesse worm weightless,but still nothing. They just werent into my offers but they were feeding aggressively. When I was throwing the Trick Sticks,I threw a Green Pumpkin color(Not even a bump from a Bluegill) Then I switched to a Sour Grape Color and on the second cast wacky rigged got a fish. After that,nothin!! Used to be when I saw a fish break water after a bug or dragonfly,I could cast right to where it just jumped and just watch my line twitch and slowly swim off. They just werent havin it today. With the fish being so aggressive,what can I do to better my chances of catching these Bass? Quote
JCrzy4Bass Posted August 27, 2007 Posted August 27, 2007 lol. As my friend Troy would say... take up fly fishing , but honestly as a beginner/newbie first year out type guy only answer I could say is running a crankbait (match the hatch) as fast as you can through the action and see what happens. I suck using crankbaits but I've heard nothin' other than good things from other people who use this technique. Quote
basspro48 Posted August 27, 2007 Posted August 27, 2007 lol. As my friend Troy would say... take up fly fishing Smiley Thats not such a bad idea, big bass will take a big dragonfly or damselfly pattern. I have caught a couple 4+lb fish doing this on local ponds, just be sure to use a heavy leader and at least a 6weight rod. But if you don't feel like doing that try throwing a jitterbug, or a ZOOM finesse worm in red bug rigged weightless...works for me...well sometimes Quote
JCrzy4Bass Posted August 27, 2007 Posted August 27, 2007 I wasn't being sarcastic at all if it came out that way, my mistake. Yea my friend Troy caught a three lber off one of our local lakes on a dragonfly he got from bass pro. It looked so fun, makes me want to learn. Today I was panfishing in a creek and caught a 1/2 lb bass on a trout worm (orange). So yea, if you want to put in the time and investment by all means it makes for GREAT fishing. Quote
basspro48 Posted August 27, 2007 Posted August 27, 2007 I wasn't being sarcastic at all if it came out that way, my mistake. Yea my friend Troy caught a three lber off one of our local lakes on a dragonfly he got from bass pro. It looked so fun, makes me want to learn. Today I was panfishing in a creek and caught a 1/2 lb bass on a trout worm (orange). So yea, if you want to put in the time and investment by all means it makes for GREAT fishing. Oh yeah, a 3+lb bass on a flyrod is a ball. And it's even more fun when you hook into a real nice one... It's not hard to learn either, just pick up a fly combo (or if you want quality get an orvis or sage rod and go from there but that will cost ya $$$) and a flyfishing video or talk to somebody that fly-fishes often and learn as much as you can. Once you get it down, you'll realize that every kind of fish is more fun on the fly. Quote
jaystraw Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I think the small black jitterbug with the double hooks would have been your best bet. It's possible a small Heddon Torpedo would also have worked. Both would have been the first two things out of my box in that situation...I think....just never know. It's funny because the bigger black jitterbug was catching a lot of fish for me early in the season..in fact the pic I'm using as my avatar is a 3 pound smallmouth I caught on a black jitterbug a month ago. Now, the baby bass torpedo is doing the exact same thing for me. Or you could have caught a few dragonflys and tossed them on a c-rig Quote
Rebbasser Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Try burning a small Rat-L-Trap or a white/baitfish grub on a leadhead through them. Learned that trick years back-I was in a school of feeding bass that were busting shad like crazy. Could not buy a hit on a topwater, but when I burned a chrome trap through them I caught them on almost every cast. Quote
Super User Jeff H Posted August 28, 2007 Super User Posted August 28, 2007 Down size your baits. I totally agree. I'd have tried 4" finesse worms on a 1/16 oz Slider head. It's worked for me many times in the past. Quote
TrickyVT1887 Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I would have tried a small spinner bait like 1/8 or 1/4 with a #1 colorado and a #3 1/2 willow combo with a translucent skirt and tried ripping that then letting if flutter if they were chasing bait, or if in ultra clear water throw fluorocarbon line and downsize 1/8 oz tru-tungsten weights small 1/0 hooks and finesse worms. Quote
FatBoy Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I've been in this situation too...and haven't had much luck. What I THINK is going on is that the bass are really keyed in on that particular food source, whether it's the dragonflies or the fish feeding on the dragonflies. They're going to ignore everything else while they're so focused on one particular thing. The best lure would be one that mimics the dragonflies or the smaller fish eating the dragonflies. Just a thought... Quote
Davis Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I've been in this situation too...and haven't had much luck. What I THINK is going on is that the bass are really keyed in on that particular food source, whether it's the dragonflies or the fish feeding on the dragonflies. They're going to ignore everything else while they're so focused on one particular thing. The best lure would be one that mimics the dragonflies or the smaller fish eating the dragonflies. Just a thought... Agreed 100%. I was fishing a local pond with some swampy conditions on the other end. When I was walking back to my truck, a guy came walking down the path with an UL setup and a dragonfly lure on the end his rod. It definately was not a fly type lure. It looked like it was made for bass fishing. Should have asked him about it. But he says that he kills em with it. Quote
surfer Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Or you could have caught a few dragonflys and tossed them on a c-rig Thats my thought too. But i hav enever been in the situation to try it. Quote
J_pontius Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Burning a crankbait through the area with an occasional pause can sometimes be productive, but a floting rapala stick bait and or fluke works well in those instances. Quote
Taliesin Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I've been in this situation too...and haven't had much luck. What I THINK is going on is that the bass are really keyed in on that particular food source, whether it's the dragonflies or the fish feeding on the dragonflies. They're going to ignore everything else while they're so focused on one particular thing. The best lure would be one that mimics the dragonflies or the smaller fish eating the dragonflies. Just a thought... I agree. Most everyone here has keyed in on the dragonflies, but the bluegill imitation may have been the ticket. A ratt-l-trap may have been the ticket here, just like bass feeding on shad. Another possibility would be a baby bass imitation. Quote
Ghetto_Basser Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 I agree. Most everyone here has keyed in on the dragonflies, but the bluegill imitation may have been the ticket. A ratt-l-trap may have been the ticket here, just like bass feeding on shad. Another possibility would be a baby bass imitation. Quote
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