10 replies to this topic

[Zoff]

I was fishing Smith Mountain Lake Saturday. Was having some pretty good catches in my usual place but the water was a little murky so I decided to go to a location I seldom go clear over to the other side of the lake. Get over there, 15 ft visibility, ... start to check out the points and... WOW... Largemouth everywhere!!!! I mean bunches and bunches of groups of bass all over the place. Anywhere from 7 to 15 or so bass in a group. Dozens of groups. They wouldn't hit anything... spinners, cranks, worms, jigs, top-water... nothing. So... what did I miss? Is there something I could have done to get a bite?

[Sam]

They were probably the females resting after their spawn.

They will not hit anything for another few days until they feel back to normal.

If there was a cold front moving through the area you may have seen the bass staging after gouging themselves when the front moved through.

I would think you saw the females after their spawn.

Anyone else out there have any insight into this?

[Zoff]

I was wondering that. We did have two nights of sub-40°F temperature. Spawn had been going on all over the lake but some areas are pre... some post... some full on. Not sure what this was. Some active beds ion these coves though. I will be hitting those places next weekend so I may know more then.

[Nitrofreak]

They were probably the females resting after their spawn.

They will not hit anything for another few days until they feel back to normal.

If there was a cold front moving through the area you may have seen the bass staging after gouging themselves when the front moved through.

I would think you saw the females after their spawn.

Anyone else out there have any insight into this?

Nice post Sam, What he saw was the females, it's pretty common for the females to group together after the spawn and start to relax and regroup, the cold front had a lot to do with them having lock jaw too.

At Anna they will start to cruise the flats when they are grouped as such shortly after the cold front.

I was fishing Smith Mountain Lake Saturday. Was having some pretty good catches in my usual place but the water was a little murky so I decided to go to a location I seldom go clear over to the other side of the lake. Get over there, 15 ft visibility, ... start to check out the points and... WOW... Largemouth everywhere!!!! I mean bunches and bunches of groups of bass all over the place. Anywhere from 7 to 15 or so bass in a group. Dozens of groups. They wouldn't hit anything... spinners, cranks, worms, jigs, top-water... nothing. So... what did I miss? Is there something I could have done to get a bite?

I most likely would have put a flipping tube on a drop shot rig right in front of them.

You need a slower presentation when they are like that, at least that is what works for me.

[Zoff]

We did try a drop with a white tube, silver/black 3" fluke, white 3" fluke... a plethora of other drop shot combos and no luck. It was like they were afraid of anything in the water.

[Nitrofreak]

We did try a drop with a white tube, silver/black 3" fluke, white 3" fluke... a plethora of other drop shot combos and no luck. It was like they were afraid of anything in the water.

Wow, suspending jerk bait? Hair jig?hair jigs usually work when all else fails during a cold front.

[Zoff]

Didn't try hair jigs but my buddy tried the SJ. They would follow it but turn and wander off instead of strike.

[Nitrofreak]

There we go, how long did he pause it in between jerks? a change in direction or a slight change in color or a really small twitch or a really slow movement after a pause most likely could have inticed a strike.

That tells me they would have struck if the bait looked injured or weak.

I think the hair jig would have been very productive in this case as well though.

Hope you get another chance, good luck and be safe !!!

[Aluma-Bass]

wonder how well A-rig would have worked....Looks like the Carhartt College Series East Super Regional on April 13-14 and by the talks of it seems like they think the A-rig will be a factor during this Tourney. I still think alot of fish there are still in prespawn stage then spawned from what i saw. And your right temps did fall into the 30's the night bf.

here is the write up:
http://www.bassmaste...ountain-horizon

[jrotureau]

Weightless setups have always been my go-to for spawned out females. Flukes, stick-o worms, etc. generally entice females if you keep the bait on her nose for a few seconds. That's the key, keeping the bait right in front of her as long as possible. You won't draw a reaction bite from 99% of spawned out females. You may not feel the bite but you will feel tension. They are not wanting to move at all due to the demanding time spent on bed.

As for the Carhartt College tournament, I can almost guarentee the A-rig will be the predominant bait in hand. I fished the South Super Regional at Guntersville in March and the A-rig made that tournament look like an Elite series event. You had to have that rig in your hand every second of the day to compete with the 25lbs some teams brought in each day.

[Red Earth]

i would have definately tried lizards...