Ok so I'm looking for a bit of advice here. Fishing a private reservoir that has a few aerators in about 17 feet of water. Water is a bit stained maybe 6" of visibility. The are huge bait balls of shad that are all up and down of the bubbling aerators. I know that is where the bass have to be with these huge schools of bait. I just don't know how to approach such open deep water like this. There is going to be a tournament here this weekend and I just can't seem to lock down a pattern. Any advice on how to fish this situation? I appreciate it!

It doesn't matter how deep the lake is and 17' isn't deep. What matters is how deep the bass are. The aeration system is a structure element that bass tend to stay near.

So let's talk about the bait, you say it's Shad, Threadfin Shad? If the Shad are moving around in a loose fanned out school that looks like a cloud, bass are not feeding on them at the moment. If the Shad are in a tight ball that is a defensive school that is being attacked by some predator fish like bass.

Fishing suspended Shad schools means presenting lures that are a similar size, shape and coloration. Tail and underspins work good and structure spoons work good. Small to medium size crankbaits work good. If you see surface activity a popper with tail feathers like a Splash-It (Pop-R) works good. Flukes can be very effective presented using a keel weight hook with a jerk bait retrieve. Hard jerk baits can be very effective.

Targeting the aeration structure with a nail weight worm is effective, use Shad colors 5"-6" worms with wacky hooked and 1/16-3/32oz, nose inserted nails.

Lots of lures and presentation to try out that work. Remember you want your lures to run just under the baitfish schools or let's them flutter down through the bait, bass tend to position at the depth under the schools and move up to feed or look for injured bait falling down.

Tom

I like throwing flukes on aerators, but if you're fishing 17 feet of water maybe try vertical jigging a spoon. It will create a lot flash and when you get bit then you will know what depth the bass are sitting around those schools of shad. Then you can go with a bait or technique you are more comfortable with fishing at that desired depth whether it be near the bottom ( i.e. texas rig or dropshot) or more suspended fish (i.e. cranks, spinnerbaits, swimbait, etc.)

Find what depth they are feeding at and try to throw something that "Matches The Hatch". My experience with fish feeding on big bait-balls is they hone in on bait of that same size and color and may not bite anything different. It is not to say they won't bite something bigger/smaller but that is the general rule. "At times" larger fish being lazy as they are will hover below the feeding frenzy and pick off injured/dead fish as they fall to the bottom. Try a crankbaits, small spoons, flutter-spoons, small swimbaits, curl-tail grubs, and even a roostertail type spinner may work.

The reservoir I live Om has a long aerator pipe system that bubbles all along the pipe but in places bubbles more forming a wider range of bubbling water.  Lots of baitfish.  The oxygen is like crack to them.  One spot along that line holds huge bass and when they are actively feeding I can pull out six to eight pounders on a regular basis using white 3/8oz spinner baits. Just yesterday, using a Zara Spook I landed a 9lb 10ozer.  This is usually better in the fall just before Sunset.  

On 8/23/2017 at 10:52 PM, WRB said:

If the Shad are moving around in a loose fanned out school that looks like a cloud, bass are not feeding on them at the moment.

 

I'm shocked that somehow I never came across this nugget anywhere. Maybe I'm the last to know? Seems kind of obvious with the benefit of hindsight, but ... wow. 

 

@WRB Please please write that book everyone keeps hounding you about. 

 

 

8 hours ago, txchaser said:

 

I'm shocked that somehow I never came across this nugget anywhere. Maybe I'm the last to know? Seems kind of obvious with the benefit of hindsight, but ... wow. 

 

@WRB Please please write that book everyone keeps hounding you about. 

 

 

Exact same situation here, all the days and days of staring at a graph and can't believe I had never heard that...and I had that exact reaction as well ?

An idea I thought of is throw a shad pattern lipless and as you get it under the bait ball let it sink and maybe pop it some and let it fall. Sounds alot like how you work a spoon. Although ive never actually used a spoon, it sounds similar to how they can ne retrieved. 

On 8/23/2017 at 11:52 PM, WRB said:

It doesn't matter how deep the lake is and 17' isn't deep. What matters is how deep the bass are. The aeration system is a structure element that bass tend to stay near.

So let's talk about the bait, you say it's Shad, Threadfin Shad? If the Shad are moving around in a loose fanned out school that looks like a cloud, bass are not feeding on them at the moment. If the Shad are in a tight ball that is a defensive school that is being attacked by some predator fish like bass.

Fishing suspended Shad schools means presenting lures that are a similar size, shape and coloration. Tail and underspins work good and structure spoons work good. Small to medium size crankbaits work good. If you see surface activity a popper with tail feathers like a Splash-It (Pop-R) works good. Flukes can be very effective presented using a keel weight hook with a jerk bait retrieve. Hard jerk baits can be very effective.

Targeting the aeration structure with a nail weight worm is effective, use Shad colors 5"-6" worms with wacky hooked and 1/16-3/32oz, nose inserted nails.

Lots of lures and presentation to try out that work. Remember you want your lures to run just under the baitfish schools or let's them flutter down through the bait, bass tend to position at the depth under the schools and move up to feed or look for injured bait falling down.

Tom

This is good info.  This last Sunday the Saginaw river which is a big river had miles and miles of Shad in it.  Every so often I’d run across a tight ball of Shad.  Looking for the bait balls in the river would help locating active fish rather than just aimlessly casting up and down the bank for miles and miles in all of the Shad