Why won’t all these Michigan largemouth eat?

[Bandersnatch]

I fish a small little lake with good size largemouth in mid west Michigan. (GR area) 

 

each spring these bass all come dirt dirt shallow, I’m talking dragging my glass ranger in the grass/much shallow. There are literally thousands of bass and thousands of baitfish, I believe perch right now, bluegill a little later. I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at them over the past few weeks and outside of a few random strikes on a glide bait they won’t even looks at my lures. I threw everything, even a floating worm. I threw a popper, whacky rig, swim jig, jig, Texas rig. Water has been around 54 degrees for several weeks but the weather has been iffy. It’s been warmer lately and today the water was up to 58. This has happened to me each year on this lake and I just haven’t been successful until post spawn or later. To be fair, outside of them really chewing a jackhammer one spring I haven’t ever really gotten them to bite this time of year. I might just not know what I’m doing. 
 

all these stuff and the only bite I had was them smashing a glide twice but spitting it. 
 

what am I doing wrong ? 

[MediumMouthBass]

In PA its about the same, has been since March. Several different lakes and ponds too. From 40 degree days a month ago to our 70-80 degree days the past few weeks.

The bass dont seem to want anything, fast, slow, big, finesse, quiet, loud....

The big bass didnt even come out for pre spawn this year, weve already got smaller bass up shallow in 6" of water and a few 2-3lbers along with them, and even the people fishing beds arent catching any.

 

Ive spent several hours this week fishing, covering as much water as possible.

Once on the kayak and the other trip fishing from the bank, fished almost everything i could think of, weightless senkos/flukes, various texas rigged stuff, cranks/jerkbaits, chatterbaits too.

Seen a few bass up shallow, very shallow but aside from that theres 0 signs of life aside from panfish or trout.

But the other night and today just before leaving the lake i decided to tie on the 1/2oz lipless crank (red of course) and thats when i started getting bit, 1 the other night just before leaving and 2 on back to back casts tonight. If it werent for that lure i wouldnt have caught a thing.

Id highly suggest trying one if you havent already.

 

[MIbassyaker]

If you figure it out, let me know.  

 

I have only been out once, Wednesday last week, and had exactly one bite in 3 hours.

 

If your lake is public, I probably fish it sometimes too, and pre-spawn always seems like a crapshoot no matter where I go.  I think a lot of it has to do with weather volatility and stage of weedgrowth -- things have to be timed just right to find them in the right place(s) at the right level of activity.  I get the feeling they move up and back off a lot.   And small waters are always going to be more affected by our temperature swings than bigger places are.    

[Swamp Girl]

Here in Maine, I don't feel dialed in at all. I have managed to catch bass, but there's no pattern. Here are where I found them on my last four fishing trips, all within the last ten days:

 

1. 80' -100' parallel to the shoreline in about 8' of water.

 

2. Tucked under shrubs along the bank of a narrow river. I literally had to place my lure under the shrubs, so accurate casting was the key.

 

3. In the middle of a shallow pond, here and there.

 

4. Super tight to a rocky shoreline, in about one foot of water.

 

I have varied my retrieves and I've caught them with a slow, medium, and stop-and-go retrieve. 

 

I love to use different lures, but one lure caught 98% of them: a gray and white 4.3" Keitech Fat Swing Impact on an Owner underspin with a chrome willow blade. I think the hook size is 3/0. Maybe 5/0.

 

The last time I fished, the water temp was 47.5 degrees, but I've seen it as high as 54 degrees. I think the incessant wind and yo-yooing temps are muddling the typical pattern.  

 

However, when the weird wind and weather door opens, it opens wide, as shown by @A-Jay's incredible day. I also caught the biggest bass of my life in this patternless spring. I caught her trolling my underspin, which is an uncommon way to catch a largemouth, but it was simply too windy for me to cast, as I'd cast and be blown away from the area I wanted to fish. 

 

I think you're doing the right thing, @Bandersnatch, by kitchen sinking it. What success I've mustered is by going off-script, by not casting to where the bass are supposed to be. 

 

 

[MickD]

Try a Rage Menace in watermelon/red flake and/or black/blue flake behind a Ned jig and retrieve it slowly/steadily like fishing a grub.  Worked recently for me.  The light jig allows a slow retrieve without fouling in the weeds.  

[TnRiver46]

Sounds like early spawning activity to me, usually the only time of year when they just quit biting. It’s quite ironic as everyone is typically always looking forward to the spawn, IME it’s the worst time of year 

[Bandersnatch]

Does it pick up right before they spawn or was the period before this period where they don’t even look at a bait?

[Wildbillb]

Is it muck where they are at?

 

Is this a natural lake?

 

Have you tried wearing something other than crocks?

[TOXIC]

I see your problem, no spinning rigs with DShad, Ned, or dropshot. 😉

[Bandersnatch]

2 hours ago, TOXIC said:

I see your problem, no spinning rigs with DShad, Ned, or dropshot. 😉

Sounds like no catching fish for me then. 

[T-Billy]

Happens here in OH sometimes too. They get super spooky when they're up that shallow in clear water. A TRD bug on a 1/8oz  jig head, 6# mono gets em biting for me sometimes. Other times I've had them run from that little thing like it was the Boogie Man when they see it. 

[MIbassyaker]

6 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Does it pick up right before they spawn or was the period before this period where they don’t even look at a bait?

 

The typical largemouth spring trajectory has them peaking in activity at about 55-58 degrees, and then they slow down a bit ahead of spawning around the low 60s, with smaller, slower presentations working better the closer you get to actual spawn.  That's the generalization, at least. Its never ironclad and fish are individuals, with different fish in different stages of the spawn at the same time.  It could be the shallow bass you're seeing are slowing down feeding activity and about to spawn.  It's possible you'd find more willing pre-spawners at this point behind them, in a little deeper water.  It's also possible they're just ignoring lures because there is so much bait.  But as I said above, I always have trouble finding a consistent answer too.

 

[Cuddy]

Bring a spinning rod with 4Ib fluro and tie on a cricket. Don't forget to match the hatch too. 

[PaulVE64]

My winter this year was unusually mild. After the thaw it quickly got past 50 °F which is also rare.  We followed that with a month of record rainfall. 

June finds me just as confused as the bass. 

To say I havent patterned them yet is an understatement. Usually prespawn on the river is the best season.

[FishTank]

On 4/28/2024 at 8:04 PM, Bandersnatch said:

I fish a small little lake with good size largemouth in mid west Michigan. (GR area) 

 

each spring these bass all come dirt dirt shallow, I’m talking dragging my glass ranger in the grass/much shallow. There are literally thousands of bass and thousands of baitfish, I believe perch right now, bluegill a little later. I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at them over the past few weeks and outside of a few random strikes on a glide bait they won’t even looks at my lures. I threw everything, even a floating worm. I threw a popper, whacky rig, swim jig, jig, Texas rig. Water has been around 54 degrees for several weeks but the weather has been iffy. It’s been warmer lately and today the water was up to 58. This has happened to me each year on this lake and I just haven’t been successful until post spawn or later. To be fair, outside of them really chewing a jackhammer one spring I haven’t ever really gotten them to bite this time of year. I might just not know what I’m doing. 
 

all these stuff and the only bite I had was them smashing a glide twice but spitting it. 
 

what am I doing wrong ? 

 

 

I'm not 100% positive but I think the Crocs with extra bling had something to do with it. 🤔 😁

 

On a serious note,  that time of year I down size to small stuff,  like a 2.75 Swammer or 3in Easy Shiner (take your pick of swimbait). I also use small gobies and tubes. Another option is a ned rig with small crawl baits. Then my go to when nothing else works are small BFS trout baits and cranks. I will catch whatever on these though but at least they're fish.

[MickD]

On 4/28/2024 at 8:04 PM, Bandersnatch said:

I haven’t ever really gotten them to bite this time of year.

I think it's the shoes.  🙂

[MickD]

12 hours ago, FishTank said:

BFS trout baits and cranks.

Good idea, Norman Crappie Cranks and Deep Tiny N's.  Light line, long casts, stop and go if steady slow doesn't work.

[Swamp Girl]

19 hours ago, Cuddy said:

Bring a spinning rod with 4Ib fluro and tie on a cricket. Don't forget to match the hatch too. 

 

I agree with this. I'd also try a nightcrawler hooked once in the head on super light line. Hard to cast, but they won't be able to resist it.