Fish follow but won't bite; what's going on?

[Chuck D]

Fished yesterday and caught some nice ones on a spinner bait but had a BUNCH more follow it all of the way up to the boat but not bite it? What gives? Are they not as agressive or just not liking what they are seeing? The ones I caught just hammered it but I'd have 5 or 6 follow the bait back to the boat for another 10 casts in a row? This happened all day. I'd pick one off and then get a bunch of followers.

I changed baits; went to the worm, the jig, fishead spin with the fluke, downsized to smaller spinner bait, went slower, but they had no interest in anything but that one spinner bait but the others just would not get on it for some reason.

I just kept moving since they were not all on it and kept looking for the next aggressive bite. Good approach or not? What would you do in that situation?

[R.D.]

well sounds like you covered bases................must not have been interested then


maybe go to weightless worm(senko) bait??

[Luke]

A lot of times that i have seen that you can make a color change and it will make a diffrence.....they are wanting the bait cause they follow it so your presentation is on the $$ but color could be a bit off

[gatrboy52]

you can change colors,size,presentation,type of bait....and sometimes trigger those fish...sometimes, they just aint gonna bite.if size or color dont do it,i go to a reaction topwater bait.something they cant get alook at and only bite out of reaction.if that dont do it,leave em alone.

[Trapman]

i would come back later and try them again....maybe it just wasn't the right time

[OrygunBasser]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A lot of times that i have seen that you can make a color change and it will make a diffrence.....they are wanting the bait cause they follow it so your presentation is on the $$ but color could be a bit off </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is where I put my money, mabe even a blade change or the attractant you are using or lack of. A lot of people do not use an attractant on a spinnerbait as they think that they are only a reaction bait.

[Primitive]

Same thing was happening to me this morning. Only caught 2 small ones on a jig and hooked up with a few on a shallow crankbait but wasn't able to boat them. The ones that hit smashed it, but the fish were just not responsive.

[Fish Loco]

only thing I see that I would have done diffrent is leave that fishhead spin in the boat. You could have caught them fish on a weight less fluke or a floating worm and a senko would have been great. Try a bright colored floating worm or a fluke you'll get bit, pre spawn and post spawn fish love them.

[Powerworm]

Add a trailer bait, change color of trailers? Good question. Throw a swimbait at them maybe.

[Chuck D]

"only thing I see that I would have done diffrent is leave that fishhead spin in the boat. You could have caught them fish on a weight less fluke or a floating worm and a senko would have been great. Try a bright colored floating worm or a fluke you'll get bit, pre spawn and post spawn fish love them"


That is good advice. I have some flukes, floating pink Zoom trick worms, and Senkos but the darn wind was so strong that I felt like I had to throw the spinner bait and keep my distance so as not to blow into docks and boats and such. Plus I did not think I could keep those lighter baits in the strike zone long enough to be effective with the wind carrying on like it was that day. Boat control in that heavy wind was a nightmare and this with a 101 lb Minn Kota Maxxum TM. The pink floating worm "old sexy" will be back on the line for sure here before long. Good advice!!

[red dog]

SPEED IT UP............I know it sounds crazy but sometimes they get too good of a look at it.

[Flipping57]

I have seen bedding fish follow a spinnerbait like that, I have seen them bump it with a closed mouth. I think they are just trying to run it away from there beds. If you can not see them good enough to see if they go back to a bed try something fished real slow like was said allready (fluke, senko, trick worm)

[xm sean]

during your retrieve you need to pop it every now and then like you would a jerkbait. sometimes that poping will cause the skirt to flare and move erratic. this sometimes will cause more of a reaction bite. just be ready after you pop it......

[JoeBro44]

Jerkbait!!! A suspending Rogue should do the trick. Any time I have follows or "flashes", there's no hesitation.... time to tie on a jerkbait!

[Palico]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xm sean &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">during your retrieve you need to pop it every now and then like you would a jerkbait. sometimes that poping will cause the skirt to flare and move erratic. this sometimes will cause more of a reaction bite. just be ready after you pop it...... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sometimes it's helped me to just stop and let it fall or make it do something a bit erratic to get them to take it.

[Javelin389]

Quoting the words of KVD, never fish a spinnerbait on a steady retrieve. The only time I do it is at night, when it seems to help the fish hone in on it.