Cruisers

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Partner and I fished a small tourney last weekend.  While moving along the shallow weed edges, two different pods of nice sized bass were seen.  First pod w/ 3 fish, second w/ 2.  Obviously, they saw the boat and were not waiting around to say "Hi"

What is your strategy for these type of fish?

Will they bite in a reasonable amount of time?

What techniques do you recommend?

Thanks fellas.

Wayne

[Jimzee]

Wayne, when I see fish doing that I just sit back and enjoy the show.  I have spent many hours on those type of fish and have learned one thing, they are not in a feeding mood.  Go fish in another area of the pond or lake.  Come back just before dark and you might catch one staged off of the first break in ambush mode.  Sometimes this has worked for me especially on smaller bodies of water.

[jimmieO]

2 of my buddies and I ran into some fish like this at lake fork. There were plent of fish around this one small area and we could see them all. We hung out for about an hour and caught only one fish on a jig that my buddy let sit for a solid 2 minutes without budging it.  The other guy is right. You can catch the fish, but you gotta have lots of patience. Sometimes its more fun just to watch them and learn how they behave.

[Pitchinkid]

SPEED, BACK OFF THE FISH FOR A LITTLE BIT. LIGHT LINE AND SMALL WEIGHTLESS SOFT PLASTICS LIKE A JACKS WORM OR THE DREADED SENKO. I LIKE TO RUN A SMALL LIZARD ON TOP OF THE WATER , SOMETIMES THEY SEEM TO LIKE A SUBTLE TOPWATER THAN A BANGIN BUZZER OR POPPER. OR SAY SCREW THEM GO FIND A LAYDOWN AND PITCH A JIG ;D LOL HA

[Crestliner2008]

Forget them! For awhile anyway. Just remember the location. They won't ever be very far from it. But, if you can see them....they certainly see you! And they will shut down right away. Give them time, then "sneak" in to within casting range. Stay low in the boat. Stealth is the name of the game  .

[Evan Pease]

Something that Ive learned is that if a fish isnt hiding then its MORE THAN LIKELY that it wont hit. Its not impossible but its still pretty rare. Ive found especially true in rivers.

[Hookemdown.]

Have you ever tried bowfishing?  That's about the only thing that could work on cruising bass. (well, dynamite could too I guess).

[Evan Pease]

Have you ever tried bowfishing? That's about the only thing that could work on cruising bass. (well, dynamite could too I guess).

LMAO!!!

[roadwarrior]

Wayne, when I see fish doing that I just sit back and enjoy the show. I have spent many hours on those type of fish and have learned one thing, they are not in a feeding mood. Go fish in another area of the pond or lake. Come back just before dark and you might catch one staged off of the first break in ambush mode. Sometimes this has worked for me especially on smaller bodies of water.

Yep, they're fun to watch, but I have never caught one and don't try anymore.

Just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy the moment.

8-)

[dodgeguy]

gotta agree with these guys.those fish are in a negative mood.bass are ambush predators who hide and surprise their victims.

[Grey Wolf]

When they're cruisin you're losin.

[Paul Roberts]

I'm not convinced "cruising bass" are uncatchable. Actively hunting bass do a lot of cruising, in loose groups -in fact, it's their preferred way to hunt. I think the ones we see (outside of the spawn) are hunting, but shallow under higher visibility conditions, and they see us trying to fling bombs at 'em. They may see us, rod movement, line flash, lures crashing down, and line crashing down. If we back away, we can't always judge where they've gone. We're better off fishing deeper, or denser cover, (and to competitive concentrations of unspooked bass). I think this is why anglers so often refer to bass as "ambushers". They actually do little real "ambushing" -lying in wait. Instead they cruise, and stalk, trying to get into an advantageous position (and conditions) on prey, because their prey are very difficult to catch. Loosely, I suppose this could be called ambushing-but it's not "lying in wait".

Just getting a lure in front of a bass isn't likely to buy a strike a lot of the time, unless you've got naive, or unalarmed competitive concentrations, of fish. If you were able to see the number of bass that see our lures and reject them in a day's fishing, you might just hang it up. Lures look really stupid a lot of the time especially to bass that have been fished to. Lures have to do something special, and/or come into a vulnerable position, for bass to be fooled, or incited, to take.

When it's cloudy though, we simply don't see those active cruisers. Although neutral bass may rest in cover (and negatives fish do sleep), and be incited to take, a lot of the bass we catch at weedlines, shorelines, and breaks were cruising, and intercept our lures as they go.

[fretfishman]

i've caught cruisers in the 5-8 lb. range, but the key for me was that I spotted them and came back a half hour later when it was starting to get dark. I cast ahead of their cruise pattern and run a black jig straight across their path. I'm sure there are a million other methods, but that has worked for me.

why did I choose to come back when it was getting dark? just made logical sense to me, because there is inherent truth to the original poster's concern of ever catching cruising bass. when there is less for them to worry about (ie: they tend to feel safer at night) they're much more open-minded. I caught an 8 pounder last week doing this.

[Willzx225]

About the only way I have found to catch these fish (without leaving and coming back later) is to take a weightless or very lightly weighted finesse bait of some sort (I have done best with a smaller Robo Worm or other handpour) and lead them by 20-40'  The key is to lead the fish by a long way.

[George Welcome]

"I'm not convinced "cruising bass" are uncatchable. "

The only bass that is really difficult to catch is the one that is sleeping or in the process of working its gas bladder. "commonly referred to as the suspended bass."

Bass get hooked in one of three modes:

The first and most common is the mode of opportunity - put the bait in the bass's face and you get a bite.

The second which is common in the spawn, and less common during the rest of the year is the mode of aggravation. Get the bait near the bass and they will attempt to move it away.

The third is the rarest of all, called the feeding mode - contrary to the old saying, "they have to bite sometimes", bass can go for long periods between the need to feed. However, when they are in that mode you have only to get the bait anywhere near them. This is also the mode when many of the bass you catch will be gut-hooked.

Going back to the original question - the bite would be one of opportunity, which places the onus on you of placing the bait in the bass's face.

[Paul Roberts]

Going back to the original question - the bite would be one of opportunity, which places the onus on you of placing the bait in the bass's face.

I'd add to that: ...without alarming them (in the slightest -for educated fish), and making the lure look like "food". That's not always as easy as one might think.

Again, if we were able to see all the fish that see our lures, and ignore them, we might just hang up our rods -or need counseling for the ensuing ego adjustment.

[GonzoFishing]

Try a topwater that splashes alot. I had the same issue in a local lake and I noticed that the group of 4 or 5 decent fish (i.e. 3 to 5lbs) wouldnt pay any attention to anything I threw at them until I tried a Stanley ribbit frog. Immediatly all of the fish turned towards the frog and I guess survival of the fittest kicked in because I got a devastating bite. So far I've had luck using this method a handful of times. Anyways, good luck! Oh yeah, theres a guy on the forum that sells hand poured frogs that look better than the stanleys.

[George Welcome]

"or need counseling"

Every fisherman is in dire need! It probably would be better classified as an intervention.

[Paul Roberts]

LOL

On the good days, I think I'm in control.

Other times I wonder if fishing and obsessive gambling are the same animal.

[Catt]

An ole trick used on tailing Red fish  

It has been experience that many times bass that are cruising have thought of food in mind & it is my job to provide that food in the form of lightly weighted plastics waked just below the surface in front of them.