In the shallow, grass fields where I fish most often, there's been days when bugs on the surface are the only thing the bass are poppin'. Mini-buzzbaits, 4" senkos, frogs, weightless lizards and anything else I can think to throw around/into the thick grass are completely ignored. Late last summer, there was one of the days and a couple of fly fishers cruised up to the flats and the bass were slammin' their flies.

So the question then, for us spinning/baitcaster guys ... what do you do when bass seem to be only hitting surface bugs?

Bass eat insects far more than people think...Especially in lakes that don't have shad or crawdads prevalant.

For a brief period at a certain lake I fish, the dragon flies fly low to the water to drop eggs (I assume).

Bass everywhere literally jump clean outta the water to hit em. I tried with mixed results to find a mimic until I started throwing the nories bug by kinami baits.

At times I can consistently catch a fish a cast when the bite is right.

Another favorite is the rebel crickhopper/poppers. VERY underated baits, just make sure you put better hooks on them. Don't ask me how I know. I've caught some toads on the poppers, and the cranks are great for numbers.

River to sea makes a dragonfly hardbait that looks good, but I hear their baits are hit and miss.

I had a pretty productive day with some centipedes I got at Wal-Mart. I forget what the brand was, but they were crazy cheap. I was fishing them weightless on a river for smallies. I had good numbers with them, 3 or 4 in the 2 hours I was there. Those are good numbers for me.

Poppers

8-)

disregard that last one, I just saw you meant on the surface.

I have seen some pretty big bee poppers for sly fisherman, I wouldn't see why the wouldn't work with spinning gear. Might not get you any size bass, but it'd be pretty cool having a bass hit on a bee popper.

Yeah, I'm all about poppers and have a fair collection of shapes/colors/sizes etc. but they're just about off limits in my prime target area. I can work them on the edges with nominal success but getting into the thick of the grass and small pockets are where the fish hit the most. I can drag frogs and buzzbait right through the thickest of grass but anything with treble hooks or downward facing hooks is toast. Those fly fisherman were able to consistently hit just the pockets in the grass and would basically "sting" the water 3 or 4 times, pause and then it would explode.

You can the grass in the background of the attached photo.

disregard that last one, I just saw you meant on the surface.

I have seen some pretty big bee poppers for sly fisherman, I wouldn't see why the wouldn't work with spinning gear. Might not get you any size bass, but it'd be pretty cool having a bass hit on a bee popper.

Are you talking about something like these?

http://kent-klewein.com/georgia-fly-fishing-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/basspopper3.jpg

rage tail frog

rage tail shad

possibly rage tail eliminator

thank you come again.

disregard that last one, I just saw you meant on the surface.

I have seen some pretty big bee poppers for sly fisherman, I wouldn't see why the wouldn't work with spinning gear. Might not get you any size bass, but it'd be pretty cool having a bass hit on a bee popper.

Are you talking about something like these?

http://kent-klewein....basspopper3.jpg

Yea, but after doing a quick search on Google, it seems that its more of a panfish thing.Unless you find a HUGE one. I thought that it didnt really matter what the popper looked like, that the bass are just hitting it because its ticked them off so much.

In years gone by, I used a split-bamboo flyrod during an insect hatch,

and threw a floating gray-brown Hair Bassbug. Althouth I no longer use fly gear for bass,

that's the ultimate approach during an insect hatch.

Florida undergoes a series of mayfly hatches and associated surface activity throughout the year.

I've had fair success with a 2" Rebel Pop-R, and if that doesn't produce, I'll chalk it up to bluegills

Roger

In years gone by, I used a split-bamboo flyrod during an insect hatch,

and threw a floating gray-brown Hair Bassbug. Althouth I no longer use fly gear for bass,

that's the ultimate approach during an insect hatch.

Florida undergoes a series of mayfly hatches and associated surface activity throughout the year.

I've had fair success with a 2" Rebel Pop-R, and if that doesn't produce, I'll chalk it up to bluegills

Roger

Yeah, I've thought about carrying a small flyrod for those days. But it's random and doesn't happen very often. Usually frogs, buzz and weightless plastics do the trick. But it's irritating when I happen on those days and am not prepared nor have a clue what to do.

Oh and I never thought about paying attention to insect hatches. I track the crawfish/frogs/baitfish but not the bugs. Thanks for the tip!

I usually have a flyrod in the rod box and a dew dry flies and emergers. Great fun when the bass are feeding on flies.

Up here, when we have an insect hatch, I pull out my Noodle rod that I use for Steelhead (It's a spinning rod substitute for non- fly fishermen) I use 6lb mono because it floats, with a slip bobber, and a fly which I usually tipped with a maggot, or half of a wax worm.

You could problebly get away with using a ML or Med rod because of the weight of the slip bobber, just be careful with the hook set.

If I was anywhere near that stuff in the pic you posted, I would have my flippin' stick, braid and a 10" Rage Tail Thumper worm pegged with a 1/4oz Tungsten weight.

Forget about the ones you see and target the ones that you cant.

If I was anywhere near that stuff in the pic you posted, I would have my flippin' stick, braid and a 10" Rage Tail Thumper worm pegged with a 1/4oz Tungsten weight.

Haha! I'm already there! Well, almost. I do have a setup with braid and 10" rage tail anaconda's ready to go to town. I'm just waiting for it to get a little more aggressive ... probably just another couple weeks.

I chuck em' weightless with a 5/0 gama spring lock hook. This slop is only 1.5 ft deep and gets thick but there's plenty of 5 pounders in it.

when your're in Rome ya act like a Roman

To sorta match a dragon fly, try a Damsel...

An unweighted Super Fluke, rigged with the nose bent up, so that it will jump to the surface when twitched, can be deadly when the bass are on the bugs.

I believe it looks like a smaller fish eating the bugs, so the bass get right after it.

An unweighted Super Fluke, rigged with the nose bent up, so that it will jump to the surface when twitched, can be deadly when the bass are on the bugs.

I believe it looks like a smaller fish eating the bugs, so the bass get right after it.

Thanks Ghoti, that sounds like something I need to try 

Roger

try this (its a weedless popper)

http://www.jdcbaits.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26&osCsid=a097c7ea1ded20f0d39c780754f377fe

try this (its a weedless popper)

http://www.jdcbaits.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26&osCsid=a097c7ea1ded20f0d39c780754f377fe

Now THAT looks interesting! Have you ever used it?

An unweighted Super Fluke, rigged with the nose bent up, so that it will jump to the surface when twitched, can be deadly when the bass are on the bugs.

I believe it looks like a smaller fish eating the bugs, so the bass get right after it.

That's a great idea! I'll start with this tip first and let you know how it goes. THX

Space Monkey, weightless, and burned across the surface.

got a pack of space monkeys ... haven't tried them yet ... heard good stuff about 'em though

Flyrod. Grasshopper flies and small deerhair poppers with legs.