UPDATED 5/5/2010 Shad poppin, bass jumping, can't get strike?

[shootermcbob]

Need some suggestions please. I have a spot where I fish that will have lily pads...whenever they grow. I know there are "stems" under the surface of the water. the water is at the shallow end of the lake, but I am not sure how deep it ends up being as I fish from the bank. I would guess that the places that I can cast to are anywhere from 1 to 6 or 7 feet deep.

The water in this area is stained.

Anyway, i see shad poppin up on the surface a lot, and see and/or hear bass jumping several times during the course of about an hour or so. I have fished there every time out for the last 6 or 7 trips and nothing. I can't get a bite. I have tried a fluke, topwaters including buzzbaits, poppers, jitterbug, prop baits, and wake baits. I have thrown spinnerbaits both white and white/yellow with and without trailers. I have thrown lipless cranks and tried to keep them just above the "stems" of the lily pads.

I have thrown senkos, brush hogs, and powerbait worms. I have even tried a couple jigs...they are now underwater treasure.

Anyone have any suggestions that might help. Thanks in advance.

[brushhoggin]

sounds like your bringing the right lures to the table, just not presenting them in the manor a bass would prefer in that moment in time. vary your methods of presentation and retrieve.

[Red Bear]

dang. after all that, try a live minnow lol

[VABassin'14]

You may want to switch up the colors you are using. Other than that, the speed at which you work the lures is the only other thing I could advise you to switch up.

[BassnMan Mike]

What I would do in that type of situation is down size. Break put a spinning reel with light line and put on a 3 inch Salt/Pepper Reaper, place a small split shot without and "Ears" right against the head of the reaper and cast it side arm so it skips on the surface like skipping a rock. I have found that this usually drives the bass crazy, even when they are picky.

[Hammer 4]

A suspending jerk bait..in a shad patteren..

[bilgerat]

An inline spinner ripped quickly to bust the surface, then a pause to let it flutter down. The treble hook can be replaced with an appropiate size single hook to minimize hangups in any vegetation.

The fluke would seem to be a winner also. Did you have it rigged weightless ?

[Randall]

In pad stems a Lake Fork Magic Shad swimbait slow rolled on the weighted hook is deadly. Just rig it on heavy braid and reel it slow through the stems. Get the bait down in them and just bang it through. A swim jig is a good choice as well. Same way just bang it through the stems.

[Catt]

I believe there are times when bass are feeding on live shad that they will not hit an artificial lure period.

[SirSnookalot]

That fishing spot sounds just like my honey hole.  I use a fluke, weedless, any color will do and probably average 15-20 strikes per hour, often more.  Half the time they miss the fluke and hit the lily pad or get tangled so bad in the pads that a 10 ton hoist with steel cables would not be enough.  I may land only 2 or 3 bass in that hour, if I'm lucky.

I fish this spot because it's a challenge.

[Bass_Akwards]

Are you absolutely 100% positive that the things you hear and see jumping are bass?  I see fish jumping all the time at my ponds and many times it's really hard for me to tell what's actually jumping because it happens so fast.  MANY times those jumpers are carp so if that's the case on your lake/pond, try moving to another side of the fishery and try your luck there. 

If you ARE 100% sure they're bass, take Catt's advice and understand that sometimes these shad hunters won't even touch an artificial bait.  Try fishing in your spot again for 20 minutes with a Senko or a Ika and if you still can't get bites MOVE.

[roadwarrior]

Try a Swimming Senko or Keitech Swing Impact.

8-)

[shootermcbob]

Wow, thanks to all who offered input. I have several new items to try. I have not tried a live magic shad, spook, or an inline spinner. Nor have i tried the suspending jerkbait or the swimming shad. I know they are bass jumping, at least the ones I see. I have also not tried the fat ika.

I have tried the fluke rigged weightless, and also rigged on a Aaron Martens scrounger head. I have also thrown a 1/4 ounce jighead rigged with a 4 inch grub in white, chartruese, and watermelon. However, i get lots of hangups due to the exposed hook.

I have also tried at least two colors on all the baits...from watermelon, junebug, and lighter baby bass and pearl colors.

It is literally driving me nuts. I can see them, and there seems to be a lot of them, but I can't catch them.

Thanks for the help guys. I will give them stuff they have not seen this weekend.

[garland7]

I agree that you are bringing the right lures, less maybe some spoons/lizards or frog baits. I also agree on trying different colors and retrieves because the fish will tell you what they want. I do not agree however that they won't hit a lure if chasing shad! I love to fish a #13 Rapala ( lost 1000 or better ), but a great jerkbait that fish will ALMOST always hit, with the right retrieve.

[Flippin & Pitchin]

Had a similiar situation on a lake not to long ago. We came up to a spot that was filled with shad, and had bass busting the surface all over. We fished for several minutes and only had caught 1 fish on a spook.

We tried everything in our tackle box. Finally my friend pulled out a little Bass Assassin 2" swimbait and rigged it on a small jighead. For some reason with a very slow retrieve the bass demolished them that morning.

Next day we went back there expecting more of the same. The shad didn't seem to be in there as thick, and the bass would hardly touch the swimbait. Instead a swimming senko was the ticket.

[RoLo]

Assuming they are bass and assuming they are shad, the bass have plenty of food at their disposal.

We read a lot about matching the size & color of the prey, but that's rarely worked for me.

IMO delivery is the key, and as others have suggested,

try working the lure so it looks slower and easier to catch than the main school body.

Roger

[UGLY STIK]

Try a lil slugo ( black )...it works for me in , or near the pads. Good luck !!   

[avid]

Sometimes when the bass are busting shad on top they won't hit anything else.  I have seen this plenty of times.  You have to be right there with a surface plug or forget about it.  Dang frustrating.

[shootermcbob]

Sometimes when the bass are busting shad on top they won't hit anything else. I have seen this plenty of times. You have to be right there with a surface plug or forget about it. Dang frustrating.

Hit the nail on the head Avid. It is very frustrating. One of these days I am gonna catch a fish in this area. Thanks to all who offered advice and suggestions.

[ValkyrieRider]

I like to pull a KVD Red Eye Shad(Sexy Shad) through the school, at varying depths and retrieves. Anyway, a lot of times I'll catch a number of fish from the same school, and it's normally pretty violent and fun.

Sometimes it doesn't work though, and I catch white bass (or snag shad) by accident  ;D

This technique has also been know to catch Crappie, Gar and Drum by accident for me anyway.. :

[_BassAddict_]

If all else fails, sweep your net through the school of shad and use them as live bait.

[shootermcbob]

well, I hit my frustrating spot yesterday and tried several of the suggestions you guys provided. Sadly, I had no bites in about an hour and a half of fishing with a spinnerbait, inline spinner, swim senko, spook, sexy swimmer. I then tied on a live magic shad ...1st cast and Wham! i get a hard strike and ...I missed him! UGGHHH.  I fished for about another twenty minutes and got no other strikes.

At least I did get a strike. thanks for all the [/b]suggestions. I did catch a couple fish in another area on an inline spinner fished just beneath the surface. The cool thing about that was I actually saw the second fish come from the side and whack the spinner.