In The Jumps

[TOAJosh]

Hey guys I'm having a bit of a problem. I can be in a huge school of shad I'm talking atlest 100 yards and once every couple mins the bass will get into the jumps for a few seconds at a time and I've been throwing a poper rattle trap and crankbait and I might only get one for almost a whole hour of chasing the shad. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions to get fish in the boat when you know they are there ?

[Khong Y.]

Reel slower and also pause. Allow the bass to observe it like a injure or slow easy target shad. LMB are not like striper that chase their fish. They are ambush predator fish that exert a big energy to hit or swallow a prey.

[zip pow]

Dlb fluke rigs and 4 1/2 inch casting spoon

[Hi Salenity]

It may be the time of day. I fish a lake that they bite in the morning or evening. During the day I don't catch a lot there. Another thing the last time I was down the ones I caught were super fat I couldn't imagine they had room to eat anything else.

[Hi Salenity]

Did the shad look like this ?

[TOAJosh]

Yea with glasses on

[Hi Salenity]

I mean were they schooled this tightly together?

[Hi Salenity]

BTW

[TOAJosh]

Thank you and yes

[webertime]

It's just a game of numbers. Your bait is one of Thousands of potential prey items for maybe at most a few dozen bass. You've got a lot of competition for their attention.

[J Francho]

I would target the bigger fish, waiting at the bottom of the school. The one's chasing up top are usually the smaller fish.

[quanjig]

Scrounger

[deaknh03]

Try the Alabama rig.

[SirSnookalot]

My explanation will cover LMB as well it works and I've done it, but as in all fishing nothing works all the time. We get this situation frequently this time of year in the ICW, bait so thick you could literally walk on their backs to get to other side, usually fish will busting all over the place inhaling the bait. As mentioned it's a matter of luck that fish happens to get your piece of plastic when there is so much live action that's easy prey. A few ploys that may be helpful, 1. wait until the bait starts to thin out( not that you won't be casting but it will pretty much be futile) 2. cast the edges of the bait pods, I've caught many that just happen to be lingering. 3. this isn't for me but people do it and that's live bait. The question would be " how do they pick my live bait?", the answer is easy. Francho hit on it ( he was referencing artificial, but the tact is similiar ) clip one of the fins on the bait, it will swim eradic and most likely at the bottom of the pod, now your bait stands out.

Just this morning this happened to me, bait and fish everywhere, and 45 minutes of casting NOTHING. Bait thins to almost nothing and I nail a 20 pounder on an xrap, this exact scenario has happened to me 4-5 times in the last month or so.

[basscrusher]

Several people had it right...this is often (not always) the toughest condition you can face. The bass are gorging on the real thing, so how can your artificial compete? The best strategy is often to have lots of options at the ready -- fluke, popper, shallow crank, spinnerbait and swimbait burned to run shallow. One of my local lakes has ungodly amounts of bait every evening from july through september and it can be humbling and frustrating.

Also, J Francho had good advice...often your best bet is to try to pick off the scavengers waiting beneath the maelstrom, which means having a senko or worm (in addition to all those aforementioned baits) ready to go, too. But that's why we buy 30 rods, right? On that same lake I referenced, I've sometimes dropped a simple 3" grub through the schools, let it drop down nearly to the bottom, and then felt that telltale tap. an exposed hook plastic bait is useful in this scenario, when you might need to swing fast at the slightest little tick, lest the fish drop it and move on to real morsels. And believe me, they'll do this when the feed is in high gear.

[J Francho]

often your best bet is to try to pick off the scavengers waiting beneath the maelstrom

Those scavengers are often bigger fish. "Honey Badger, you do all the work, and we'll pick up the scraps. OK, stupid?"

[RiverFisher13]

Fish slow and to the bottom of the school. Make sure your your bait looks like the shad and your retrieve mimics a wounded shad, These big boys dont want to be chasing food, they want to conserve energy and grab the easy meal.

[brushhoggin]

never underestimate the power of the spoon. i did, for a long time too. next time at least experiment with one.