BassAssassin726 Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 So at my home lake i steady see fish jumping. But i cant ever catch them. Ill see ripples in the water or even sometimes see the whole fish jump out. Ill cast right to the spot but nothing. I assume theyre feeding on something on the top. Even using topwater lures i cant get em. Are they even bass? I know the lake has carp, brown trout, catfish, largemouth bass. No smallies though. Also sometimes i see bubbles coming to the surface. Is it fish producing those bubbles i see? Quote
waskeyc Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 I'd love to hear responses to this as well. It seems hard to believe that a) a fish can catch an insect in flight, and b ) that even if he could, he would expend more energy doing so than he would get from the food. Is jumping a fish's way of saying, "Isn't it great to be alive!"? I will say that in general, a fish moves once it grabs a meal, so casting to the ripples may not be the best location. Plus, that particular fish is chowing down for the next few seconds or minutes. Quote
North Ga Hillbilly Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 If your lake has alot of carp, I would be willing to bet alot of the fish your seeing are carp. Especially the ones coming out of the water completely. NGaHB 1 Quote
BassAssassin726 Posted September 29, 2011 Author Posted September 29, 2011 Yea i always hear that a fish wont go after a meal if the energy it uses is more than the energy itll get from the meal. So why would a fish spend all that energy to swim up and jump out just to eat an insect? I usually try and throw past the ripples or to the sides. I figure if theres fish breaking the surface hes probably not alone. Sometimes there will be tons of baitfish breaking the surface, i would think that theres gotta be bigger fish around. But there never is. Its really frustrating. Its a medium pressured lake. Quote
North Ga Hillbilly Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 For the bait fish busting the surface try a spinner bait killed right in the middle of the swarm. NGaHB Quote
Super User Grey Wolf Posted September 29, 2011 Super User Posted September 29, 2011 So at my home lake i steady see fish jumping. But i cant ever catch them. Ill see ripples in the water or even sometimes see the whole fish jump out. Ill cast right to the spot but nothing. I assume theyre feeding on something on the top. Even using topwater lures i cant get em. Are they even bass? I know the lake has carp, brown trout, catfish, largemouth bass. No smallies though. Also sometimes i see bubbles coming to the surface. Is it fish producing those bubbles i see? The bubbles are fish passing gas. Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted September 29, 2011 Super User Posted September 29, 2011 For the bait fish busting the surface try a spinner bait killed right in the middle of the swarm. NGaHB NGaHB is on point, great technique right there! Try a buzzbait as well. My how bass love a killed buzzbait in that situation. Could be trout. Our fisheries just got stocked and they're always busting the surface, or going airborne this time of year here in the northeast. Quote
dhami013 Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Down here in VA it's usually carp jumping, a guy told me the carp are jumping to get more oxygen, I wouldn't know. Quote
NBR Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 While it could be carp or many other species I have caught many surfacing bass by throwing to the spot. I respectfully disagree with fish moving after they feed. If the prey stays they will hang around. While these creatures make us look like dopes more often than we care to admit,they have a brain the size of a pea. I doubt very much that they can keep track of or evaluate the calories in a given meal. I think they continue to feed until the forage moves or we put them down. Many years ago I was fishing the Ontario side of Rainy Lake when there was a huge mayfly hatch. I could not get a hit although I had a few swirls on a PopR. Never went fishing again without a fly rod and flies in the boat. 1 Quote
Super User Sam Posted September 30, 2011 Super User Posted September 30, 2011 Carp and catfish will play and feed on the surface, making a lot of noise and splash. Carp will not hit your bait and I have never caught a catfish after seeing them jump and splash around. Bass usually will make a single hit on a small baitfish and you can see the baitfish jump or get hit out of the water. Bass also "suck in" their prey so many times you will see and hear the "blop, bubbles and water vibrations" and that is all. You will probably have to look around to see where the hit is located. THROW TO THE SPOTS WHERE YOU SEE THE BASS BREAKING THE SURFACE. You may or may not be successful but there is a largemouth bass in the area. I throw a wacky Senko if I have one rigged. Otherwise it is a crankbait or shaky head. If in doubt, throw to the area in question and see what happens. Quote
Bill Porter Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 Right now Bass are targeting schooling shad, so YES these are bass! Throw something in the middle of the pile and hang on. Ideally you want to throw something that will get to the bottom, the big bass hang out and wait on the wounded shad the little bass leave behind. Keep throwing to the spot were you see the commotion and you might land a big one! Quote
Super User J Francho Posted October 3, 2011 Super User Posted October 3, 2011 Yesterday, they were definitely bass in my local waters. Quote
Super User WRB Posted October 3, 2011 Super User Posted October 3, 2011 You should be able to determine the color of the jumping fish. Fish jump for a variety of reasons, bass jump to catch the prey they are chasing, it's usually momentum carrying them out of the water. Carp make a load water slapping jump, bass don't. Carp are light brown to golden color, LMB bass are green, trout silver. Watch closely. Sammy's, Spooks, Splash-Its, Pop-R's work for surface feeding fall bass. If the splashes are reoccuring in the same area, there is a school of active fish in the area. Try a 1/2 oz structure spoon at various depths, they cast a long distance and most game fish will strike a spoon. Tom 2 Quote
zip pow Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 I agree with WRB try cotton Cordell spoon small version cast at the action see if they hit it on the fall if not jerk it a couple time no takers reel it in do it all over again always works for me Quote
Green Hornet Strikes Again Posted May 14, 2022 Posted May 14, 2022 On 9/29/2011 at 1:21 PM, BassAssassin726 said: So at my home lake i steady see fish jumping. But i cant ever catch them. Ill see ripples in the water or even sometimes see the whole fish jump out. Ill cast right to the spot but nothing. I assume theyre feeding on something on the top. Even using topwater lures i cant get em. Are they even bass? I know the lake has carp, brown trout, catfish, largemouth bass. No smallies though. Also sometimes i see bubbles coming to the surface. Is it fish producing those bubbles i see? You cant catch them because their jumping out the water running for their lives.. Happens by me all the time and ive been going through what you are going through not being able to get them to bite.. Seeing bubbles seeing rings almost like bait fish but not bait fish until i locked into a monster pike shortly after seeing 4 bass jump strait up out the water 2 couple pounders and 2 were big. The pike peeled 50 yards of my line out twice.. Fought him over 20 mins.. This is like a 30 pound pike making 8 to 10 pound bass torpedo strait up out the water.. Needless to say it got off 15 feet away.. This happened twice now Quote
uglyasheck Posted May 16, 2022 Posted May 16, 2022 That whole energy theory is just hard for me to believe to be honest. I see bass jump 2 feet out of the water to eat one dragon fly . If the whole energy thing is true a dragon fly must be one more energy packed insect. 2 Quote
Super User geo g Posted May 16, 2022 Super User Posted May 16, 2022 It all depends where your fishing. Here in south Florida you will often see fish break the surface and many think the bass are going crazy. This often are fish that gulp air at the surface, such as gar, mud fish, catfish, armored catfish. If O2 levels are low you can see thousands of these junk fish, gulping air to survive. Not a good sign for catching bass. The bass have either moved off to better waters, or in a real funky mode not willing to eat anything! Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 16, 2022 Global Moderator Posted May 16, 2022 2 hours ago, uglyasheck said: That whole energy theory is just hard for me to believe to be honest. I see bass jump 2 feet out of the water to eat one dragon fly . If the whole energy thing is true a dragon fly must be one more energy packed insect. Indeed the energy thing is BS, makes humans feel good about themselves to say it though. Bass will also follow a lure a dozen times without biting it, even when it’s cold. They aren’t “smart” persay, they just have a survival instinct. as far as jumping bass, I catch them all the time. Did it yesterday. The key is, a bass or other predator actively eating shad will always jump more than once. Carp just fly through the air once most of the time. It also sounds way different when a predator fish hits, carp just jump without eating 2 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted May 16, 2022 Super User Posted May 16, 2022 The OP on this moldy thread has been MIA for 4 years. A-Jay 4 Quote
Super User Bird Posted May 16, 2022 Super User Posted May 16, 2022 2 hours ago, A-Jay said: The OP on this moldy thread has been MIA for 4 years. A-Jay Original thread almost 11 years ago, betting the guy is still fishing but from a Rascal. ? 1 Quote
Trox Posted May 17, 2022 Posted May 17, 2022 Last time I visited my mother I was fortunate enough to meet her new pet... a beta fish... She told me that they blow bubbles when they are happy... So now when I see bubbles floating up in a lake, I know the bass must be happy there too. 2 Quote
CrashVector Posted May 17, 2022 Posted May 17, 2022 On 9/29/2011 at 12:21 PM, BassAssassin726 said: So at my home lake i steady see fish jumping. But i cant ever catch them. Ill see ripples in the water or even sometimes see the whole fish jump out. Ill cast right to the spot but nothing. I assume theyre feeding on something on the top. Even using topwater lures i cant get em. Are they even bass? I know the lake has carp, brown trout, catfish, largemouth bass. No smallies though. Also sometimes i see bubbles coming to the surface. Is it fish producing those bubbles i see? Where I am, it's usually carp or mullets. Quote
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