Wondering what everyone's thoughts are on an issue I have been having on the lake.

Been having bass swim up to my baits both swimming and topwater then just turn and swim off. Can't get them to hit not matter what I am doing. Trying different baits and retrieves without much success. The area is heaving fished which I am sure isn't helping matters. The hits I have been getting are on the topwater using a Zulu.

In my experience, when a fish comes at your bait but doesnt hit it, its either a size issue, or you are changing your retrieve pattern when they get close. Dont slow down if you see them coming to the bait.

Often if you can see the fish than the fish can see you.  Try longer casts and like someone mentioned don't change your retrieve even if you see them coming.

i will have to dissagree...whenever the fish are hiting close to the shore or the boat right when its about to come out of the water i slow down and they more than likely will hit it

When bass follow behind our offering without engulfing the lure,

I think it's only natural to give them more of a show, but that's usually a move in the wrong direction.

In my experience anyway, "reducing" the action usually works better than increasing the action.

Bass aren't always in the mood to surface, you might try switching from a Zulu (floating minnow) to a Fluke (slow sinking minnow).

Roger

RoLo hit it on the money, fish something similar in color and size that will sink slowly.  White floating worms or sinking flukes work terrific for this situation.  A company out of Buggs Island, Virginia makes a great sinking fluke that I have been using this past year for finicky, clear water spotted and smallmouth bass. Its called Case Plastics and the baits are salty sinking shad (5 inches) and salty sinking minnow (3 inches).  Both work terrific and are loaded with salt, so they are heavy enough to skip and sling for a good distance.  I'm not trying to turn this into a commercial for Case, its just that this bait REALLY works for me.  Website is www.madtoms.com.  Good luck.

Dave

I actually had this happen to me twice the other day. I was fishing in a local spot from shore and the bass were actively swimming around...these ones were only about a pound. It was sight fishing which is always fun. I had on eturn it nose up at a tube so I threw a Husky Jerk and twitched it by the bass which got his attention and he followed it but them turned off at the last second. My sincere thought is scent. Fish have an extremely strong sense of smell, I remember Bill Dance saying it is about 10 times stronger than a dogs. The fish may have just smelled something foul on the lure you were using.

It could just be that the fish wasn'tin an aggressive mood and was weary coming in on the strike then noticed that the lure wasn't a real prey item. This makes more sense since you said that you were getting hits on topwaters. When the lure is on top of the water, the bass can;t get a good look at it to tell if it is fake or not. I'm betting on the fish saw that your lures were in fact only a lure and not anything a bass wants to eat, and the topwaters you were using took the bass' sight away which kept it from seeing that your lure was only a lure.  Hope that makes sense to you.

A Bass that followed but turned away at the last minute have shown they are curious, but something wasn't right.   That bass has basically just told you there something amiss, something that didn't appeal to them.      Changes are to be made.    Whether you change cadence,  color, or size, or different lure, make some subltle changes.

Matt

I would say you need something that you can work quickly and then stop on a dime.  Possible a suspending jerkbait?  maybe a fluke.  You get their interest with the quick retrieve and they cant help but bust it when you stop.