When you see bass hitting the surface but they won't bite....

[Ohnooze]

I'm pretty new to freshwater fishing and don't consider myself a good saltwater fisherman either.  Anyway, in the local river where I live I'll be out on my kayak fishing and some days the bass are just exploding on the surface all around me.  No matter what I do I can't get them to bite but they are obviously feeding.  I try top waters, glide baits, shallow crank baits and so on and no luck.  Just curious what I could try in this situation.

 

Thanks

[TnRiver46]

What makes you certain they are bass ? 
 

fluke, spook, and burning a tiny swimbait work best for me 

[Ohnooze]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

What makes you certain they are bass ? 
 

fluke, spook, and burning a tiny swimbait work best for me 

Only other thing we really have is sunfish and catfish.  Too big to be sunfish and I didn't think catfish hit the top like that.

[GreenPig]

You any good with a cast net?😁

They are likely feeding on bait much smaller than the lures you're throwing. But here's some baits.

- 3/8 Cotton Cordell jigging spoon retrieved quickly and even skipping along the surface

- Damiki Slim Jack or any shallow Jerkbait 

- Rapala floating minnow or a small Wakebait 

- 1/4 lipless 

- Super Fluke & the Jr. many times just allowing it to sink amongst the school will work

- small popper or walking bait

- Spybait

[gim]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

What makes you certain they are bass ? 

Most of the surface activity I “think” are bass turn out to be carp. It always gets my attention until I see one do it. Then it’s followed by utter letdown.

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings All,

I mainly have some sort of soft plastic rigged up. It can be something on a 1/16 oz jig or similar weighted weedless worm.

 

I've found from experience when it is a bass or bluegills chasing minnows there is just a small window of time available while they are near the disturbance. If you delay responding they have moved on to another location.

 

When there is a nearby disturbance that happens to be within casting range, I'll send something to that general area, typically somewhere within 3 yards, (3 meters), and swim it after a slight pause just to let it settle a little bit. I'm not discriminate as it is possible to swim pretty much anything.

 

While not a sure thing, doing so allows you to occasionally win the lottery of chance. You can't win if you don't play. It is great fun to feel the resistance on-line! Be well and Cheers!

[MyKeyBe]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Most of the surface activity I “think” are bass turn out to be carp.

Around me this is the correct answer 98.9% of the time. 

[Jig Man]

Does your lake have gar?  

[Ohnooze]

3 hours ago, Jig Man said:

Does your lake have gar?  

I believe so but I have never caught any.  

[looking45]

This happens a lot on my local lake as there are tons of shad. Guys throw everything in the boat and they get ignored. I’ve found something that works and all my friends are using too. I throw a 2” hand poured ribbed swim bait on a 1/32 oz head with a 2/0 hook,  using 4# line. I don’t want a tiny hook as I’ve caught numerous fish over 4 pounds with this method. I cast out and just wait. The bait falls really slow and the bass/trout think it’s an injured shad. The key is to do nothing. Watch your line for the bites. My friends were skeptical until they tried it

[GReb]

They are either gar or bass feeding in tiny shad. It happens a lot this time of year as giant schools of shad get pushed into chokeholds.
 If there’s any cover or transitions around I’d focus on that. That’s what works for me at least. Blind casting to open water rarely gets bit. Try downsizing or using a loud bait. Something that will stand out in a crowd of millions of shad without looking unnatural. It can be tough

 

These can work when nothing else will

[WRB]

Could be several different fish in the fall, Shad schools are usually deeper this time of year.

Basstrix make a few excellent Shad soft plastics Bait Fry and Live Trix or Mini Trix are hollow bodies that work great on a slow fall using 1/16-1/8 oz Mini Trix jig.

Tom

[btoups]

Like mentioned above, if they are bass, I would suggest a very small swim bait if they will not bite anything else.  I have come across schools of bass feeding on small shad or minnows and the only thing they would bite are tiny swim baits.  I'm talking swim baits small enough to use for crappie fishing.

 

 

 

 

[TOXIC]

Yamamoto DShad.  Twitched on top and then let fall.  Looks like a wounded baitfish and has a fall similar to a Senko.  I always have one tied on because it works well in grass.  Rig it Texas style on a 4.0 gamakatsu ewg hook.  

[Pat Brown]

In jest I was going to say something along the lines of "when they're busting bait everywhere on the surface I usually stay home!" But clearly I'm not wrong! 😂😂😂💀💀💀

[MAN]

Just had this happen to me. Live bait proved it to be catfish, not bass as I had thought.  Really good catfish by the way...made for a great dinner.  But in the other instances where it was bass I was able to get them to bite something really really small.  Like a 1/16oz roadrunner. 

Carp and gar can have fooled me also

[Catt]

Round here we call them "schoolie" bass, they're generally smaller bass. Chasing them is futile, they're busy eating shad & ignore most lures.

 

Try a clear Tiny Torpedo, clear Pop-R, or clear Tiny Spook. Or your favorite in those categories but clear.

[Brian11719]

Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper on a 5/0 Flashy Swimmer for me in this scenario. The Yamamoto D Shad or Strike King Caffeine Shad are also good since they have a nice shimmy on the way down and the action is a little different than what you would get with a traditional Super Fluke. It's also usually worth trying to go with a 4" Easy Shiner on a 1/0 Flashy Swimmer if they won't go for the bigger bait, but I like to start with the bigger one especially if the water is stained at all.

[RRocket]

Around here, you're more likely to have Gar, Bowfin or Carp busting the surface than Bass.

[scaleface]

If they are bass sometimes they can be caught by fishing on the bottom if its not to deep. Injured shad sink and bass will wait for them. Texas rigged worms, Strike King Red Eye Shas and Rapala Fat Raps have worked for me in the past.

[softwateronly]

Schoolies are difficult, but my water is full of them chasing shad on large 25' flats from late July till ice in.  I agree with all of the above advice, but want to second or third the metal baits and spy bait categories.  Hopkins, little cleo, other jigging spoons, tailspinners, MB Makippa, and lots of Little Jack small metal jigs.  I can spool my medium rods with these 7-20g little metal baits, and definitely pick off decent fish.

 

scott

 

 

[Bankbeater]

Crappie will go after shad and small minnows on the surface around here.  Bass usually make a bigger splash than the crappie.

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings All,

Just to add from this weekend's experience. I was at one of the TUS urban lake parks fishing along the shore. There were surface disruptions sporadically, mostly in the deeper water sections. I had just arrived a spot when there was a small minnow that jumped out the water and it happened to be within casting range. I sent a curly tailed grub on a 1/16 oz jig to that location. I did wait till it hit bottom just to see if I could draw attention before moving it. As I engaged the reel after it hit bottom, indicated by the line, the line moved as the fish picked up the grub off the bottom. Hey, fish on! A small slightly over 1 pound bass but great fun on-line. 

This was repeated several times throughout the day as there was surface activity that I could cast towards and I never did get a bite when I did the cast and retrieve where I didn't let it settle first.

 

Just observations as I'm typically trying to figure out what works for that moment in time.

 

Be well and Cheers!

[JackstrawIII]

On 9/5/2024 at 7:39 PM, gimruis said:

Most of the surface activity I “think” are bass turn out to be carp. It always gets my attention until I see one do it. Then it’s followed by utter letdown.

 

That's exactly what I thought when I read the OP.  I refer to carp splashes as psychological warfare... they mess with your head!