I had an interesting experience yesterday.  During my lunch hour a buddy and I drove up to a small pond we fish frequently.  There are many dozens of small birds dive bombing for minnows.  We both figure this is a good sign.  Find the food, find the bass.  We also see frequent surface strikes from fish and minnows scattering across the surface trying to avoid fish.  It was truly a bad day to be a minnow, they were getting hammered from above and below.  All of this activity is within casting distance from the bank so we are thinking that today we are going to slay them.  That was not the case.  We threw everything we had at those fish for over an hour and only managed to land one dink each.  My question is what happened?  Was there so much food in the water that our lures were not interesting?  Did all of the diving bombing birds make the bass more cautious that usual?  This pond has always produced good numbers of small bass and a few 3+ pounds.

 

Air Temp - 84°F

Pressure - 29.92

Moon - Waning Cresent

Sky - Blue and Sunny

Time - Noon - 1PM

Water Temp - No idea, managed to fish an hour without falling in

Maybe it wasn't bass chasing the minnows. I've seen gar and catfish both chase minnows just like bass do. 

I'd say it either wasn't bass, or there was so much real bait in the area that they didn't want what u were throwing.  I've had this happen, its a real downer too.  You see all these birds and bait, and your heart starts racing but you end up not catching anything.

Birds are always a good sign.  I go to a fluke or hard jerkbait into the frenzy, and start off fishing fast, and slow down if the bass are deeper.  Birds are not wasting that energy unless bait fish are in the area, and being driven to the surface.

What kind of birds were they ? Usually when I see gulls and fish attacking shad I catch fish by bouncing a Lipless crankbait on  the bottom underneath them .

Active environment around the water indicates active environment below the water something you should always be looking for.

Bass are predators and taking advantage of abundance of baitfish is what they do when actively feeding. 

You tried evrything you had, what looked like a injured or dieing baitfish size, shape and color?

Tom

49 minutes ago, WRB said:

what looked like a injured or dieing baitfish size, shape and color?

What could look more dead, injured or dying than this?

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Maybe it wasn't bass chasing the minnows. I've seen gar and catfish both chase minnows just like bass do.

I have never seen, caught or fished for cats in this water but have seen plenty of gar and snake heads.  This is possible.

2 minutes ago, BCline said:

What could look more dead, injured or dying than this?

That represents a lively swimming baitfish, it doesn't fall through the bait school like a injured minnow or stay on the surface like popper with feathered rear hook.

Could also have been a Shad spawn, don't know if the pond you were fishing has Shad?

Tom

I agree ,good sign. I try to mimic the bait fish, and usually throw something smaller in size, start fast , erratic then slower, keep throwing, they are hungry looking for a meal

Look closely at that lure.  Have you seen what the Miami Dolphin have been doing the last few years?  Definitely injured if not dead or dying.

Try a throwing a  Rat-L-Trap into the next school of baitfish the next time you see birds diving in the water to eat baitfish.

4 hours ago, BCline said:

Look closely at that lure.  Have you seen what the Miami Dolphin have been doing the last few years?  Definitely injured if not dead or dying.

The Miami Dolphins are my favorite football team and the only team with a perfect season in the history of the NFL. I am sure that every Floridian will love them again if they win another super bowl, just like the Florida Marlin and Miami Heat fans are well known for.

That’s a healthy ecosystem in action. I always take highly active wildlife as a good sign.

 

When game fish give chase to baitfish, the bait will typically ball-up and flee to the surface.

Unfortunately, the surface is a dead-end street, where the bait school is forced to scatter.

 

During a major blitz, things can get real hectic, real fast. Gulls & terns will detect 

breaking water much sooner than fishermen, and from a much greater distance. 

When birds spot surface activity they'll promptly join the fray. This places the baitfish 

in a deadly sandwich between gamefish underneath and birds on top.

There is no better indicator of feeding game-fish than fish-eating birds.

Whenever I spot birds working, my confidence goes straight thru the roof.

 

                              Birds Feeding = Good Sign    

 

Roger

 

We see this with striper fishing. The striper will literally stuff theirselves with bunker and the bite dies for a day or two.  The only way to get them to bite after is a reaction strike and that is tough on its own.  It is a blast however catching them in the act.  Fish after fish gets reeled in. Anyways, imagine going to an all you can eat buffet and stuffing yourself. The only thing left that you want to do is sit on the couch. Lol

On 5/9/2018 at 6:34 PM, soflabasser said:

Try a throwing a  Rat-L-Trap into the next school of baitfish the next time you see birds diving in the water to eat baitfish.

It has been over 2 years since I wrote this and the answer remains the same. I have caught lots of bass fishing a Rat-L-Trap around a school of baitfish being attacked by bass.

I didn’t even realize the post was that old. I seen it pop up in the general feed and thought it was current. Ironic you mention the rattle trap, we use them on stripers with good success as well. 

Ah, well it’s the Waning Crescent moon of course..

 

 

On 5/9/2018 at 7:42 AM, Troy85 said:

I'd say it either wasn't bass, or there was so much real bait in the area that they didn't want what u were throwing.  I've had this happen, its a real downer too.  You see all these birds and bait, and your heart starts racing but you end up not catching anything.

 

Exactly ?

 

Our artificial lures are giving off too many negative clues!

 

Old thread. 

Birds are birds, birds feeding on surface bait fish on a small pond is very different then birds feeding on bait fish on a larger body of water. The birds I watch are Grebes because they feed on Shad and have eyes like a hawk, great fish locators. 

Although our lakes can be close to the ocean we rarely see gulls. The birds I hate to see are cormorants and pelicans, they eat everything including bass.

The OP showed a Rarapla diver that looked like a Shad running too deep in lieu of smaller bait fish on the surface. Rapala floating minnow would have been a better choice.

Tom  

18 hours ago, Craig P said:

I didn’t even realize the post was that old. I seen it pop up in the general feed and thought it was current. Ironic you mention the rattle trap, we use them on stripers with good success as well. 

Rat-L-Traps are a great multi species lure and work well when fish are attacking schools of baitfish. 

On 5/9/2018 at 1:56 PM, BCline said:

Look closely at that lure.  Have you seen what the Miami Dolphin have been doing the last few years?  Definitely injured if not dead or dying.

I'm a dolphins fan and this made me laugh