Schooling Bait fish

"Joe Haubenreich" wrote in
message . ..
Try a buzzbait, Josh. I'd recommend a Secret Weapon Lures Bleeding Minnow
in
3/16-ounce size with a nickel or red willowleaf trailer blade behind the
buzzblade. Other anglers who use this bait on J. Percy Priest Reservoir
prefer high-profile buzzbaits, like the Midnight Snack Buzzrbait.

A buzzbait is the farthest thing from many anglers' minds when they're
fishing bass in the jumps over deep water, but the lure is a pretty fair
simulation of a small shad skipping along the surface.

Bass use edges to help restrict the movement of their prey. That is one
reason why fishing tight to a bluff wall, against a stump, or along the
bottom is so effective; bass are more successful at the squeeze play than
they are at open-field tackling, so they position themselves to attack
prey
that enters the killing zone between them and the edge to which they're
orienting. In open water, their prey can escape in many directions. When
the
prey is up against an edge, their escape route options are limited, and
the
bass eat better as a consequence.

The water's surface is just another edge to bass. They trap shad against
it,
and when shad are schooling in open water, the predator fish hang out
below
and around the sides, looking upward. A racing buzzbait sputtering and
splashing across their field of vision is clearly visible and is often too
tempting to pass up. The bass are already in attack mode, so they rocket
upward and smash it.

Give it a try. This is effective on stripers as well.

Actually, I was going to add that when bass and stripers are chasing bait
together the buzzbait seems to catch more bass than stripers.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com





--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:55:06 -0500, "Joshuall"
wrote:


Last week my brother in law and I fished the Mississippi River Pool 18. We
caught a few decent fish in the limited time we had, but here's my question.
We found bait fish on all the major main river points and over much of the
shore lines. On the last point there were literally schools of bait fish for
about a fifty yard diameter. We could see larger fish feeding on them, but
couldn't get a bite no matter what we threw. I suppose the bigger fish were
just gorging themselves at that location and nothing would have been
successful, but I wondering what we could have done at other venues on the
river were there were also plenty of shad and we had a hard time getting a
bite. Any tips or suggestions appreciated as ususal. We smacked em again on
the Cal last Friday, but didn't see much baitfish activity at all.

I'd have to look at a map to see if I've been on that pool...but
I've had some amazing days on the Mississippi (different pools)
fishing a rattltrap. When they are gorging on shad bigtime and
feeding heavily, they'll eat up a 3/4 oz. A 1/2 oz. works excellent
when they are feeding heavy later in the year. And when you think
it's all over with, they'll eat up a 1/4 oz. later in the year there.
Best tip I can give you is to learn to "slow roll" the Rap (just
enough to feel the vibration) to catch em' bigtime...

If you are fishing the pads, a buzzbait is also hard to beat and
catches bigger than average fish there. Fish it slow though...

I've also caught a lot on a shallow diving crankbait (white/baby
bass) or small shad raps (#5) there when they school up. (white
during normal times and perch during cold fronts).

A small worm fished off the bottom "jigging like your would for
crappie" that has a "flash" to it like a minnow also is hard to beat.
A craw worm is good...but doesn't have enough flash...IMO...for these
situations. You need a small worm that is designed to be worked
toward the top of the water column...

And...most importantly, rather than focusing exactly where the
shad is located...backoff some and look around you to see where the
"isolated" ambush points might be (ie. laydown, pads, stumps, huge
rock, boat dock) where current or the predominant wind is going
through! Ideally, it shouldn't be an obvious spot, but something
that is hidden. (ie. rockpile along long stretch of regular riprap).

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Dog Fishing: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/onthe...fishing040.htm
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

Hi There folks and Greetings from Alabama...We have schools of baitfish like
you guys are writing about and I use to have the same luck throwing the same
lures you were....I have found out through using everything in the tackle
box over 3 years that a ROOSTER TAIL and a LITTLE GEORGE work well on
schooling fish hitting shad.(Chartreuse, White, and Yellow work the best)
Also I throw a Hopkins "shorty" and bounce it off of the bottom and that
catches a boatload as well..Another word of advise...Are you sure its BASS
under the school and not what we call fresh water tarpon? I lived on the
Tennessee for some time and we would see shad getting killed and found out
over time that it was skipjack making all the noise under the shad...We
caught the fool out of them using very small Rapalas and crappie jigs...Hope
this helps....
"Rich P" wrote in message
. ..
Hey Randy, remember that tournament on Swartswood where we saw schools of
bait and couldn't get a bite. This has happened to me a few times over
the past few years. I'm very interested in what would have worked it that
situation myself. Maybe a falling blade? Maybe something that might look
like what bait could be eating like a senko or some other non-baitfish
imitating bait? Maybe some of you experts can lay your extensive
experience on us novices here please.

Rich P