Alright, I got a question to ask you guys.

What are bass doing up shallow, right near the surface, just sitting there. They are in groups of at least 5, and they are every where! They don't want to eat, and just follow your lures, and nudge it at the most. But they are in schools, some not in shade, right in the sun.

Perhaps those are groups of females waiting to be escorted to a bed? (a guess)  What is the water temp?  Are you in the spawning range?  New beds around yet?

Are the fish in each group all the same size, and if so, would they be the larger class in your lake or the smaller class in your lake?

It would be extremely helpful if newer members would at their location to their profile  

It would be extremely helpful if newer members would at their location to their profile  

He did silly.  Antioch, Ca.

Funny though, I was replying and thinking,...where's Catt,...he'll know this....?

Well duh, sorry only had one cup of coffee  

Well,...finish it up and answer this guy ;D ;D

(I'm limited to one cup myself,...ran out of that stuff the Texans don't know exists,....cream,lol)

I don't know why bass do this; I've seen this behavior numerous times and it's like there is no rhyme or reason to it. It can happen at any time of the year and you can't even buy a bite so I usually ignore them.

There times when bass will leave the most seasoned Biologist scratching their heads  

They are heat soaking. Read though the "temperature s trends" thread from a couple weeks ago.

I am not convinced they are heat soaking. I asked a question in that thread that went unanswered, although it answered more questions than I was ready to ask!

   The bass here, especiallyat after ice out, when the waters here are crystal clear and cold, do this more than any other time, mostly on overcast days. I have excellent polarized glasses so it is not a matter of me not seeming them through the glare on sunlit days. If they were trying to warm themselves, granted the shallow water is degrees warmer than even water only 8 ft deep, why dont they do it when the sun is high and strong when the temp is a lot warmer in the shallows. I know the obvious reason is they are spooky then, just wondering everyone elses take on this.

Thats what I thought, that they may be soaking up the sun!  I see bass do this all the time and it is very frustrating since they could careless about eating.

I've noticed this recently to and it does seem to happen more on overcast days. Perhaps they become desperate for heat and because the sun isn't out they feel the need to get as close to the surface as possible, just an idea. :

I guess they are just sun bathing, after all the Micropterus salmoides is in the sun fish family

Catt, I think you're onto something. But you're not alone.

From the Temperature Trends post:

Bass, at least in my small waters, do appear to be heat seekers. I understand more and more why they are called sunfish. Very soon, as we approach the spawn, you'll start seeing the posts about large bass lying near the surface, (and un-catchable). These are heat seeking females.

From Doug Hannon's book Big Bass Magic:

On days when the sun has a warming effect, bass will often move shallower. They may move upwards and suspend near the suface, or can move shoreward into shallower water that warms quicker. The bass is the largest member of the sunfish family which derives it's name from this sunning activity.

So... FROG...I've got to ask: Did you really see this, or are you trolling?

Muddy, I think you were just too early. You are describing post-winter conditions. I don't see sunning until later. I start seeing it when surface temps (in protected areas) approach 60. This first is the feeding binge thing. The heat-soaking females (apparently not feeding) seem to come later -during pre-spawn, or maybe it's just rarer to be in the right place at the right time when females are still grouped.  So, keep watching.

I see them in shallow areas protected from wind mixing and away from deep water: coves, shallow flats, inlets, and right off the shoreline, especially where there is some cover. Same for both early feeding binge fish and the later heat soaking females. Not that females don't feed during pre-spawn -they certainly do, but the difference between the two scenarios is that during the earlier "initial warm-up period" the bass and bluegills (and carp) are all squeezed into tighter quarters together. Later, as warmer water gradually reaches deeper the fish are less concentrated. But the females largemouths, when conditions are right, continue to sun, seemingly more interested in heat than food.

"Heat seekers" are natural in all waters I am familiar with and are definitely finicky eaters at that time. Important not to spook them too much but return later to fish the nearest off shore cover and structure as normally they will not be far away. This finicky posturing sometimes requires finicky bait presentations till the fish get into a higher gear.

www.ragetail.com

Well, aside from all the ho-hum about what they're doing, I may have the solution to catching them. I've seen this in a couple lakes here in May (which is probably the stage you're close to now in CA). I have caught bass two ways in that condition. One is a heavier RatLTrap that you cast about a mile past the fish and run it by them noisily as possible. You have to do this Over and Over and Over. 10 minutes of cast and retrieve would be acceptable. The fish don't seem to care about the lure at all and wont move or might turn away. Eventually they'll start trying to bump it and finally one will just open up on it. Sometimes though they'll turn you down for a half hour or better. The other thing that worked for me to a lesser extent was a stranger rig which I believe is called an Arkansas rig. You put a sinker about a foot above a floating crankbait and make the bait look like its pecking the bottom. It becomes more obvious when you try it but I havn't used it to extreme extents myself. The idea is to annoy the bass and try to disrupt whatever its trying to do.

Saw the same thing this weekend. We are in a definate spawn cycle here in NC and there are a TON of bass on the beds. I'm not a bed fisherman (don't believe in that part of the sport, to each his own) so I fish the mid creek secondary structure & cover where I hope to pick a few off coming and goinig to and from the beds which just happens to be where I found this exact same thing going on.

The spinner bait bite here has been tremendous the past 3 weeks so guess what I'm throwing? Yup, my favorite spinner bait. The water is around 62-68 in many parts of the lake, the water is crystal clear, and I'm targeting cover in the 12-20 foot range and calling up fish left and right but they are not eating all of the sudden?

I bail on that spot, motor to another hole that I have luck with and come up on this big ol school of sunbathing pigs. Just bobbing around like a bunch of apples with no particular agenda, they are just hanging out going though what looks like 5-10 foot vertical changes. So I throw way out past them and bring this spinner bait through em hoping to get some love; NOTHING happens, they just look at it, swim along beside it, wink at it, but don't bite it. I don't have any dynamite with me so I go to the rattle trap, then the floating trick worm, then the fluke, crankbait, still nothing so I put my rods down and just hung around them with the TM on low and watched them since they were not buying what I was selling that day......

Wish I could explain what was happening but I can't . All I can say is I got up close and personal with the biggest single school of big bass I've actually seen with my own eyes in open water and enjoyed it for what it was since there was no catching them with any artificial lures I packed that day.

Frustrating? Yes. Educational? Not so much, can't say what was taking place... A memorable experience? Absolutely, just another chance to see GOD's creatures up close and enjoy them for what they are. Big ol lazy no eating my $400 worth of every darn bait made including my "A Game" arsenal floatilla of fish....... I still love em anyway, but I'd rather catch em and put em back.

LKN,

Do you think those were pre-spawn, or post spawners? Pre's will have noticeable swollen pearly bellies (eggs). Post will most likely be thin in the flanks. Any idea which they might have been? Thanks.

They are in groups of at least 5, and they are every where!

That sounds like a conspiracy to me, I'd be VEEERY careful

Roger

Yeah, when they group like that and hang on the surface, and the biggest bass in the lake too(!), they are conspiring to pi$$ you off! In the good ol' days when snagging and pitchforks were AOK, they'd never have done that.

I have seen bass do this after extreme cold periods, as noted, these bass were asorbing heat.

  Thats why the trap bite on top of the grass is so effective in Texas in the winter.   Bass come up in the holes near the surface and sun them selves for some quick rays.

But never seen a group or school that tight together.

Russ, again, most men don't put cream in their coffee, but our ladies do!   LOL ;D   The ones that do are usually mamas boys.   LOL!  

I know if I said that to most, some would take it personal,   I know you want.    ;D ;D

RE: Do you think those were pre-spawn, or post spawners? Pre's will have noticeable swollen pearly bellies (eggs). Post will most likely be thin in the flanks. Any idea which they might have been? Thanks.

I think they were pre spawners that had not moved up yet only because the spawners I'm seeing have bruises on them and look skinnier to me.  These fish were fatso's and then some.

LKN,

Thanks! that's what I'd have expected. I've not seen post-spawners grouped, but I wanted to check in case I'm missing something. You never know unless you ask.

To PaulRoberts: Yes, this really did happen, and I saw it with my own eyes.

Thanks for the help guys. It was only that one day they were like that. Maybe trying to get their body temps up? I dont know. They confuse me!

FROG,

I'll bet that was a sunny day when you saw them. Yes?