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  1. #1
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    Help!!! I can see them, but they won't bite!

    I like to fish up creeks. This past weekend the water was 76 degrees, the skies were partly cloudy, and the water was really clear. I tried casting a brown finesse worm, brown jig, black/blue jig, green lizzard, a white/silver rooster tail, and a white/silver/chartreuse buzz bait. I could see the bass. They would at first leasurely swim toward my lure and then just turn away like they were not interested. What was going on, and what should I try next time this happens? Or, is it just a lost cause?

  2. Member
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    Dec 2009
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    Murfreesboro, TN
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    #2
    I have been successfully catching these skittish/neutral hunting cruisers (mostly smallies in the Stones River in middle TN) since they went on the summer-doldrums/low-water/hot weather pattern. Granted I have only been fishing here since I arrived this past April 14th, I have caught a few in the 18" range, one 19", one 20", and one 21" (none of which surprisingly hit 3.75 lbs?!?) on various topwaters from 1/4 oz Team Daiwa Poppers, 3/8 IMA Finesse Poppers, 3/8 Buddha Baits Pop Fires, 1 oz Buzzjets, and small walking baits.

    I have caught the majority of these hunting cruisers by casting actively walking and twitching a C'ultiva Zip N Ziggy walking bait ahead of their cruising path, and then intersecting them. What I have done is the same as a popular and forgotten old school floating Rapala techniques.

    It is important to watch these cruisers and how they will react when they get a lock on your lure...make sure that you get them to directly swim towards your presentation, and if they are interested, especially if there are two or more in the pack, one or more will make a move to "smack/sideswipe", your lure. I usually walk my bait at a relatively quick pace to get these cruisers to find the presentation, and then slow a bit or stop until they get within striking distance...after a second or two pause, I will walk it again in a bit more frantic pace and that will usually get one of them to strike/slash/body smack the bait. What I have noticed is that since about the beginning of June here, when the bream and shad were both spawning - that many of these wolf-pack cruisers were not eating the topwater on the initial hit, but smacking/hitting it to stun it, and then would come back to eat the bait once it is in the "dying twitches" phase. This was ESPECIALLY true with the larger near palm sized bream and shad that these wolf pack smallies (and outsider couple of largemouths) would apply as I watched it happen several times on a specific area of the Stones River at Nice Mills for about 1 1/2 months during the bream and shad spawn.

    Here is where you will have to be steady and patient to actually hook one...AFTER the initial hit/strike/smack, let the topwater land back on the surface, let is sit a couple of seconds and BARELY twitch it to mimic a stunned baitfish, then slowly start walking it. This is when one or more of these cruisers will commit to eat the bait, and they will usually grab the middle of the body (with strong jaw grip as well) of the lure and swim off with it aggressively as to keep it from the other fish in the pack. Now, reel your line up tight and SWEEP SET, DO NOT jerk-set those small trebles. What some folks don't realize is that once a topwater/bait forage is stunned and then in their death throes on top of the water after being injured by a larger predatory fish, the hunter will come back to EAT the bait, and it will grab and swim away with the lure/bait with the intention to swallow it, thus you will have more time than you think to reel in slack line and properly sweep-set the treble hooks (or single hooks if you switched out).

    The other tech I use is to wait for these same fish to chase bream and other baitfish out from rocks/structure/wood and cast a 3/8 oz Dark Sleeper past and quickly reel the bait through the same path that these fish were chasing the forage...this also seems to get a reaction strike...as a matter of fact I caught the smaller of three smallies that were circling the back-end of a soft shell turtle in literally less than 3 feet of water doing using this technique with a Dark Sleeper just about a week ago. What we forget is that bass will follow alongside larger fish like carp/catfish and even turtles, as these large bodies will "kick up" crustaceans/smaller fish and create easy feeding opportunities for the following bass (very akin to birds following cattle/large herding animals on the plains to pick up insects that are "flushed out" by the larger animal, or even Ramoras hitching a ride on sharks waiting for meaty scraps from the next shark meal).

    As well, most peeps know to have a soft plastic of some sort (in this case I would select a Fluke type bait) to follow up on missed topwater strikes, however I firmly have proven to myself over and over again literally hundreds of times, that a soft plastic bait follow up is most times NOT needed, if the fisher "plays out the scenario" of the initial smack/hit of their topwater lure, (by following up with dying throes action) of twitching the lure and then imparting an injured baitfish escaping action after the initial hit/strike.

    Anyway, not trying to sound like an Olde School Outdoor Life/Field & Stream article (which is where I learned this technique with the original floating Rapala minnow back in the early 1980s)...I hope this will give you some insight and helps you CATCH more.
    Last edited by dragon1; 08-12-2021 at 08:19 AM. Reason: Font size and grammar correction for consistency

  3. Member Quillback's Avatar
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    #3
    I have a buddy that fishes some really clear water on his vacation. He can see the bass react to his baits just like you do. He says the one bait that works the best is a weightless Senko.

  4. Member Walkabout7781's Avatar
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    #4
    I've lived in TN and Alabama, and have to ask how you define "very clear". Here, I define clear as being able to tell what brand the beer cans on the bottom are, in 12' of water. I have been able to watch my jig/pig on the bottom in 22' and could see the tails of the #11 pork frog waving as I jiggled it. Scary...

    If they know you're there, IMO, they won't bite. If the bait is big, they won't bite. Small is good, and 10# or lighter line is good. If you have docks or similar cover nearby, fish there. Those fish are hiding in the shadows, in ambush mode, so they're wanting to eat. I'd try a Ned rig and an unweighted 3" or 4" Senko. If there's enough breeze to cause any ripple on the water, change to wacky rigged. If your docks are floating types, you might swim a lizard or other creature bait by the edges, but the Senko would be a good choice too, with NO input on your end of the line. Be a line watcher.
    Don't bother me, I'm screwing for virginity.

    I killed a 12-pack just to watch it die.

  5. Member
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Quillback View Post
    I have a buddy that fishes some really clear water on his vacation. He can see the bass react to his baits just like you do. He says the one bait that works the best is a weightless Senko.
    ^^This^^

  6. Member
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    #6
    great info Dragon1!

  7. Member
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    Murfreesboro, TN
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    #7
    Quote Originally Posted by emccarthy View Post
    great info Dragon1!
    It's always good to reintroduce old and forgotten techs and basic "hunting while fishing, applied skills".

    FWIW, I tossed weightless 2.5" tubes, 1/8 oz Neds with Missile baits flat tail grub, and mini hair jigs to these same cruising bass...and no dice. I really believe the skinny water makes them more apt to chase topwaters and to get "activated" to feed.

    As stated above, water clarity, shadows (early morning and late afternoon), along with any water flow and surface ripple and cloud cover, always enhance a fish to be less skittish and feed more readily. Shadows from cover, natural or man-made also helps.
    Last edited by dragon1; 08-12-2021 at 04:04 PM.

  8. Member
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    #8
    When they start swimming towards your lure, speed the retrieve up, change the direction or give it some irregular action. Try and trigger a predatory reaction. Another option is to completely deadstick your lure. Sometimes their curiosity gets the better of them.

  9. Member
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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Greentrout View Post
    When they start swimming towards your lure, speed the retrieve up, change the direction or give it some irregular action. Try and trigger a predatory reaction. Another option is to completely deadstick your lure. Sometimes their curiosity gets the better of them.
    Yeppers...waiting a few seconds for the ripples of a topwater to dissipate will eventually lead to some takes, even from little pumpkinseed barely the size of said topwater.