Fish on the top of the water

[southbassfisher]

This moring when I went fishing I saw fish jumping every around my boat hiting the top of the water. They were in the the middle of the creek and near the shore. So figured the fish would be on the top of the water. Well I fished on the top of the water and didnt catch anything. I got frustrate because I saw the fish moving everwhere but couldn't catch one. Any advise. Thanks

[Catt]

Many times when bass are schooling they will not hit an artificial lure, that's why I don't chase schooling bass.

[Okee_Steve]

I sure hope I'm not stepping in where I shouldn't, but here goes and we'll see where this lands.

I'm not sure what you saw was "schooling Bass", or Bass at all for that matter. I would need more info to make that call.

If what you saw was "schooling Bass" you just may have missed the trip of a life time.

What most people mistake as "schooling fish" could be better described as a "feeding frenzy". And they will hit just about anything as long it resembles the pray they are feeding on.

On my home lake, Lake Okeechobee that means 3 to 6 pound bass, hundreds of 3 to 6 pound Bass feeding on shad or minnows. It happens all the time, just not in the same place all of the time.

I have been fortunate enough to experience Bass feeding frenzies only a few times in all the years I've been fishing here and around the country.

If the Bass are hitting shad I will throw some type of top water stick bait like a Devil's Horse or any lip-less top water bait as long as it looks close in color to what the fish are feeding on.

I jerk the bait across the surface of the water with the rod tip as fast as I can, moving the rod tip about 1 to 2 feet with each jerk and then reeling in the slack line and jerk the rod tip again, reel in the slack line. Kicking up as much water as possible and hang on! The fish will hit that bait as hard and fast as they can swim. Sometimes you will hang two 6 pounds Bass on the same bait, one on the front hooks and one on the back hooks.

I know this is not what was posted already and a "feeding frenzy" may not be what you saw but from the info you gave this is what it sounds like to me.

[southbassfisher]

I really didn't know where to fish because when i moved to the area where they were splashing. I wouldn't catch anything and when I look around they would be splashing some where else.

[Okee_Steve]

I really didn't know where to fish because when i moved to the area where they were splashing. I wouldn't catch anything and when I look around they would be splashing some where else.

That sounds to me like a feeding frenzy.

Most of the time, around here anyway, the feeding bass circle the school of pray fish. Kind of like the Indians did the wagon trains in the old western movies, the bass on the outside, the bait fish on the inside.

When I find this happening I drop anchor and cast only when the fish get within casting distance. I'll usually get about two to three cast each time the bass swim past.

This action sometimes last a long time and sometimes less than hour. It depends on the number of pray and the number of bass in the area.

It seems to me that new bass must join the frenzy in order to last as long as they do at times. The bass just gorge themselves and fill up quickly.

I normally cast to the inside of the circling bass to where the bait fish are and move the lure quickly back to the boat with short quick snaps of the rod tip, keeping the tip low to the water and making the lure splash as much water as possible.

I know it sounds as though the position of the rod tip would not make much difference, but it really does.

With the rod tip held high, with each snap of the rod tip the line will snap out of the water all the way back to the lure. I have found that this produces less bites.

By holding the rod tip low the line does not snap out of the water and spook the fish.

I am a very firm believer in trying to make what ever lure/bait you use look as natural as possible.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

yup, they are "corralling" the bait into a pod and then rushing it.  Sometimes, in saltwater, the typical plugs that SHOULD work, just won't get hit.  In these cases, a streamer on a fly rod is almost a sure thjing.  I've seen it tens of times, spinning gear folks that can't hook one, getting very frustrated, as I hit 1 after the other on the fly.  I think the trick is getting just under the water, but not too deep, 6-10"'s max.  I haven't tried yet but I could see a fluke doing well here too.

[Okee_Steve]

yup, they are "corralling" the bait into a pod and then rushing it. Sometimes, in saltwater, the typical plugs that SHOULD work, just won't get hit. In these cases, a streamer on a fly rod is almost a sure thjing. I've seen it tens of times, spinning gear folks that can't hook one, getting very frustrated, as I hit 1 after the other on the fly. I think the trick is getting just under the water, but not too deep, 6-10"'s max. I haven't tried yet but I could see a fluke doing well here too.

I've found it to be about the same for fresh water, I've never tried a fly rod on feeding bass but flukes do work great in these situations. I always try and use a fluke as close to the color of the bait fish as possible. Pop it, make it jump out of the water and dart back and forth as quickly as you can. Sort of like a bait fish may act in the middle of a bass feeding frenzy.

At lest it works for me.

[skillet]

 Was camping (with the family) for the weekend at a lake in ARK called Bear Creek. Saw bass doing this most of the week end and new that trying to get to where they were feeding was useless (worse than keeping water from someone dieing of thirst :'(). We were fixing to leave and I had to take the boat back to the ramp to load up and all of a sudden the water was almost boiling with fish around me ;D! Had a Devil's Horse tied on and threw a little ways out and almost instantly hooked a bass. While reeling him in I could see another bass trying to take the lure out of his mouth ! By the time I got him in and unhooked they were already going deeper and moving off. Still wishing it would happen AGAIN!!!

                                            As Ever,

                                             skillet

[Catt]

Schooling bass or feeding frenzy is the same thing, bass in large number chasing bait fish, keep in mind not all schools will be large fish and you can waste hours chasing dinks. Yea it's exciting and some times productive for nice keepers but most generally it's a lot of smaller bass.

If one wanted to chase schoolies try throwing a Little George letting it drop through the school in hopes of catching any larger bass hanging out below the school. Another lure would be a clear colored Ting Torpedo, Baby Spook, or Pop-R.

[Matt Fly]

I am curious to know if you actually saw bait flying out of the water.    Fish that are pushing shad or baitfish to the surface normally come flying out of the water.

If active fish are feeding on surface, usually any small baits that mimics the forage gets bit.

Matt

[mattm]

I did this once when I first started fishing.  Turned out the lake was full of carp and that is what I was chasing around(felt like a big DA).  Are you sure they were bass.

[PondBoss]

Had this same experience this weekend.  But the fish were jumping everywhere snagging dragon flies out of the air.  Started throwing a watermelon seed with red fleck trickworm and killed them even caught a couple before the bait hit the water.  Caught fish all day on this pattern.  Would see a fish jump and throw right into the ripples he'd made before you knew it fish on!  The only problem is they were all dinks but when I'm catching fish on every cast I'm not to worried about it.  No money was involved, so who cares.  Did manage a 6 on the last cast though, what a day.

[mferris]

same thing has happened to me the last couple times out..i try to ignore them but it's impossible..i have tried all kinds of lures with no luck...sammy,popper,shallow jerkbait,shallow crankbits,senko..tubes..etc....very frustrating..i could do better with a net,cause some are so close i could net them if ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[southbassfisher]

I am not sure whether or not they were bass but whatever it was i wanted to catch it. Thanks for the information.

[mattm]

If you do find out they were carp just give up on catching them with bass baits.  You'll be there along time before you get one.