I was at a local lake yesterday that has mostly smallmouth with a few quality sized largemouth mixed in. Not ideal conditions with blue bird skies, constant wind, bright sun. This is a deep clear reservoir with steep rocky banks and it is in the process of getting drawn down for winter so the water has been dropping daily. The water temp is still very warm at 72 and most of the lakes here has not turned over yet. I started in the river portion of the lake and caught one 10" smallmouth on a dropshot but there was virtually else going on up river. I made a move down the main lake and targeted one of the biggest creeks I could find off the main lake that forked in the end. I found a lot of bait in the backs of the creeks in about 20 ft of water. The baitballs were all holding onto or near the bottom. Most of the bass that I saw in livescope were cruising the bottom to and from the baitballs. On occasion, they would swim up to around 10 ft or so and hold but not very often as the bait was low in the water column.

 

1. Jighead Minnow - 5 inch with a 3/16 oz jighead. I would try bouncing the minnow and shaking the minnow. The bass would come up right to the bait but not commit. Sometimes they would follow it back to the boat. Sometimes they would follow it all the way down down the bottom and hold on it but not commit to eat it. 

 

2. Jighead Minnow - 3.5 inch with a 1/8 oz jighead. Exact same result or the bass would come halfway then turn away and not commit. 

 

3. Neko Rig - 5 inch Berkley Maxscent General with a 1/16oz neko weight. Would let it fall past the bass to the bottom. They would follow it down or parallel the bottom to it and hold on it but not commit. I did have one large bass pick it up but when I lifted the rod up and began to reel he let go. He soft struck it without fully committing. 

 

How are some of you more experienced guys catching these bass? 

Big, heavy spoon.

Structure spoon between 3/8 oz to 3/4 oz like a Kastmaster in neon blue chrome adding Owner white feathered treble hook. Start small to determine what those fish are, everything eats small spoons. Cast and let the spoon fall on controlled slack line, lift when the spoon stops.

Tom

I fish for sooted bass. When this happens, it means the lure doesn’t match the size of the bait they’re eating. Most of the time the shad is tiny. A 2” swimbait on a 1/32 oz head works almost every time. You just need patience to let the small weigh flutter down. Several of my friends are successful doing this too. And yes, any size spoon they use is ignored

7 minutes ago, looking45 said:

I fish for sooted bass. When this happens, it means the lure doesn’t match the size of the bait they’re eating. Most of the time the shad is tiny. A 2” swimbait on a 1/32 oz head works almost every time. You just need patience to let the small weigh flutter down. Several of my friends are successful doing this too. And yes, any size spoon they use is ignored

 

 Can you recommend a brand/color for the swimbait and jighead

1 minute ago, RHuff said:

 

 Can you recommend a brand/color for the swimbait and jighead

I sent you a PM

I'm on the side of the ones that said to throw a spoon. Personally, I'd start with a flutter spoon and let it fall near the bait balls. If I toss is on top of the bait balls, the bait will usually scatter.

You have to make your bait more appealing than the 1000s of real bait fish that are there.  I agree with others that a spoon is a good choice. A spoon mimics an injured/dying bait fish so it's appealing because it's seems easier to catch for the bass than a real bait fish.  Still the situation you describe can be tough because the fish you are targeting may have spent the entire day at the all you can eat baitfish buffet. 

4 in flutter spoon has been killing it for me on same situation. Rip it off the bottom...let it sit on bottom...swim it....doesn't matter...it gets inhaled

I have never cast a spoon for bass. I need to try one.

8 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I have never cast a spoon for bass. I need to try one.

I am positive that there are plenty of spoons and situations for them where they would shine for you.

  Johnson Silver Minnow is probably very effective in Maine bass waters.  

   Flutter and jigging spoons may be a bit more limited.   I rarely pull out a flutter spoon or jigging spoon unless I'm targeting bass in water over 15' and keyed on shad.  No doubt there are spoon uses for other prey and depth situations, but I would likely reach for something else. 

  I'm interested in hearing other perspectives, though.   Because the spoon bite is one of my favorites and other uses would be welcomed.

10 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Johnson Silver Minnow is probably very effective in Maine bass waters.  

 

I have one in my tackle box. I just need to remember to use it.

Use a spoon in cold water for near vertical fishing.  If too brushy for spoon I've used a heavy weedless bass jig with a spinner blade attached, kinda like a Little George.

I'd be fishing with a spinnerbait or a lipless crankbait in those conditions.

Try a white spinnerbait with 4 nickel blades and a Yum 3" FF Sonar Minnow for a trailer.

IME, triggering fish that have already fed can be a tricky proposition at best. 

So many overlook timing—just because we find fish on bait doesn't mean they are feeding.

At least half the time if I leave and come back at a different time or day. I get bites. 

That's a 50 percent improvement. Low light surely helps.

Good luck

A-Jay

 

 

Had the very same conditions and situation yesterday, bluebird sky, 70* water with bait and suspended fish between 10 and 16 foot in 25 feet of water. Tried the same rigs as you with no takers. Even tried deep running crankbait along with the jig options but never tied on a spoon, which I carry a couple of.
Never thought of it. Darnit!

 

I couldn’t keep at as it was a main lake point and the wind kept me moving quickly and my anchor rope is only twenty foot long.

Again Darnit!

 

@RHuff do you set up on top of them (anchor or spotlock) fishing vertical or just drift on the breeze or current and keep going back over them?

We have Threadfin Shad and Silverside minnow that school, both tend to be mobile and move. If the bait is balled up you know they are being attacked, in a loose cloud they are not being harassed by predators.

In prefer casting to the bait past them and let the spoon fall through the school. Depth determines how far to back off the bait. Generally stay about 50 away unless the bait is over 30’ deep then get closer.

Tom

So much good advice in this thread. 

On 10/12/2025 at 6:22 PM, Motoboss said:

Had the very same conditions and situation yesterday, bluebird sky, 70* water with bait and suspended fish between 10 and 16 foot in 25 feet of water. Tried the same rigs as you with no takers. Even tried deep running crankbait along with the jig options but never tied on a spoon, which I carry a couple of.
Never thought of it. Darnit!

 

I couldn’t keep at as it was a main lake point and the wind kept me moving quickly and my anchor rope is only twenty foot long.

Again Darnit!

 

@RHuff do you set up on top of them (anchor or spotlock) fishing vertical or just drift on the breeze or current and keep going back over them?

 

I try to position myself down current in the 40-50 ft range to make a semi long cast.. the hard part is staying far enough away not to spook but close enough for accuracy

  Spoons have revolutionized my fishing, I was missing so many opportunities before I dedicated time to it.  The only thing I've learned that I'll add, bass are competitive predators and erratic speed is the trigger more than not and I mean speed that is at my physical limits.

  Matching the size is also very important.  If they are feeding on 2" shad, they often ignore anything in the 3" range.  Currently my bass are in about 25' fow over 35-50' fow and eating 3" gizzards.  The shad are hanging around 12' fow in a clear natural lake and my water temp is in the mid 60's.  For the last 2 weeks, bombing a 1 3/4oz duh spoon, counting down to 30' about 12 seconds, and burning a 7 speed 8-10 handle turns while lifting my rod, then immediately clicking my thumb bar and feeding 7-15' of line, allowing my line to tighten and repeating.  Oftentimes, my line doesn't sink because a bass has chased it up thru the water column and smashed it as soon as the "fleeing" has stopped.  As the water keeps cooling, I'll shrink the amount of vertical water column I'm covering and tightline the slack, but I will continue with speed on the burning cutting down to 2-4 handle burns.

  When the shad and bass are in water 30' or less, I definitely benefit from letting the fall get all the way to the bottom.  The bass you're on have so much real food, that speed, flash, fleeing and being erratic are the keys to getting them to trigger in my opinion.  Being natural gets me ignored in these conditions.  There are times like now, when I cannot fish it fast enough.  This gets the big girls too, they're running on instinct.  I've had multiple 20+ fish mornings with multiple 4's mixed in and 2 5lbers on water that I'm not positive holds an 8lber.  The schools of shad and bass do break up as the day progresses, so this is unfortunately best before noon on my lake.

 

scott

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, softwateronly said:

  Spoons have revolutionized my fishing, I was missing so many opportunities before I dedicated time to it.  The only thing I've learned that I'll add, bass are competitive predators and erratic speed is the trigger more than not and I mean speed that is at my physical limits.

  Matching the size is also very important.  If they are feeding on 2" shad, they often ignore anything in the 3" range.  Currently my bass are in about 25' fow over 35-50' fow and eating 3" gizzards.  The shad are hanging around 12' fow in a clear natural lake and my water temp is in the mid 60's.  For the last 2 weeks, bombing a 1 3/4oz duh spoon, counting down to 30' about 12 seconds, and burning a 7 speed 8-10 handle turns while lifting my rod, then immediately clicking my thumb bar and feeding 7-15' of line, allowing my line to tighten and repeating.  Oftentimes, my line doesn't sink because a bass has chased it up thru the water column and smashed it as soon as the "fleeing" has stopped.  As the water keeps cooling, I'll shrink the amount of vertical water column I'm covering and tightline the slack, but I will continue with speed on the burning cutting down to 2-4 handle burns.

  When the shad and bass are in water 30' or less, I definitely benefit from letting the fall get all the way to the bottom.  The bass you're on have so much real food, that speed, flash, fleeing and being erratic are the keys to getting them to trigger in my opinion.  Being natural gets me ignored in these conditions.  There are times like now, when I cannot fish it fast enough.  This gets the big girls too, they're running on instinct.  I've had multiple 20+ fish mornings with multiple 4's mixed in and 2 5lbers on water that I'm not positive holds an 8lber.  The schools of shad and bass do break up as the day progresses, so this is unfortunately best before noon on my lake.

 

scott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It’s funny you typed this because guess what killed it for me today…the FLUTTER SPOON.. I threw the 6th Sense 4.5 inch 1oz Flutter Spoon in Chrome with a gold feathered treble hook and I can honestly say it was one of the craziest bites i’ve ever been on..  If there were 3 or more bass in an area they would race to get to it first on the fall and many times it wouldn’t even make it to the bottom.. my biggest bass did come out of a brush pile though as I ripped it up right above the brush.. I’m now a believer in the spoon game…. 

Spoon has easily been my favorite bite all year, going back to dead of winter.  The effectiveness alone would do it, but the violent hits are addictive.  I have had one on my deck most of the year, and lately, three or four.  Mostly Nichols Lake Fork and Duh, but the River2Sea Worldwide is sometimes a good alternative. 

1) the spoon advice is really good and has made for a few great days over the last 30 days or so. Like a 10:1 lightswitch when nothing else would get them to eat. 

2) when the spoon doesn't work (like it didn't for me this weekend) swim a big presentation over them (in my case a-rig or 6" swimbait) and when it gets a couple feet past them give the handle a spin - seems like it can trigger fish that are already full. Sometimes a handle turn will be enough, sometimes you have to rip it up like a spoon and then let it fall. 

Several years ago I was fish lake Casitas early fall and was on a spoon bite all day. When returning to the marina there was a tournament weigh in going on and slowed coming past the log boom to watch and stay out of the way. Put my TM down and a school of bait was being attacked under the boat. Got the spoon rod out and instant bite. The anglers weighing in stopped and watch as I caught 2 bass in the 9 lb range, biggest spoon bass that I ever caught.

What I didn’t know was the tournament anglers had a tough day and greeted me at the dock with lots of questions. Spoon bite all day today, there looks on thier faces was priceless!

Tom