The bass are almost complete with the spawning. Most of the bass are in a post spawn mode. They are protecting the fry or are moving around looking to make up for eating time lost during the spawning process. Yes, it is really close to topwater time. Shiners are still producing. Senko type baits are producing. We caught a couple on Rattling Chug Bugs. Look for the artificial pattern to get better and better.
My clients experienced some unusual bass fishing this past few days. On Monday we began with live bait at the spot where a few weeks ago loads of monsters came from. The result was a very slow bite. The bass would scare or spook the bait and not eat it.
After a morning of this I moved to a location in the Southern portion of the Farm where I found some crystal clear water. We threw Senko type baits and caught a couple. Then I tried a Rattling Chug Bug that produced a couple. Then we went deeper into the Southern portion and found some bass willing to eat the Senko type bait. These were some really nice bass.
The next morning the half day trip used live bait and we again found the bass biting in an unusual fashion. It was slow action on live bait. The monsters refused to eat.
That afternoon for the half day trip I moved to the Southern portion of the Farm in the clear water and we used live bait. This produced very well. Seems like there are a bunch of bass running around in the seven to eight pound range. A lot of folks are reporting bass caught in this weight range. We caught some, too.
Wednesday morning was a half day trip with four folks. Pretty crowded. We found the bass bite to be unusually slow. Much like the previous two mornings the bass just were not willing to finish the job they would start.
Stick Marsh is full of trees as is the South end of Farm 13. We were fishing with live bait in the South end of the Farm. When you do this the shiners will end up by a tree. If they end up by a tree leave them alone. They will swim off. Or a fish will take them off the tree. If you pull you will stick the point of the hook into the tree. When a fish strikes the shiner it is easier to get the fish around the tree than the shiner. The fish will have the hook on the inside of him and therefore the point of the hook will not get stuck in the tree. It works! It's true!!
On one particular cast the shiner swam by a tree. A person pulled on the line and the shiner got stuck. Then the person pulled harder. The shiner got more stuck. Well now it was too stuck. So we had to break the line. 25 lb test Big Game is not easy to break. Any how the shiner was stuck to the tree. The Balloon was still on the line. It was about an hour later and this fish just kept trying to get that shiner. It finally did. Then when the fish swam away with the shiner it also had the balloon as a trailer. The fish swam out of casting range. Then it turned and swam a little closer. I reeled in one of our lines and threw out the new shiner ahead of the swimming bass. Shure enough it turned and made a B line to the new shiner. It took about five minutes but the bass on the balloon ate the new shiner. And my client caught it!
Two things to note. First is the obvious part about leaving the shiner alone and letting it do it's job. Second is how long it took the bass to eat. Leave the shiner alone and let it do it's job! A bass will eat the shiner. However, most of the tine, it takes time. You may be making the bass bite because the shiner is there. Not having the bass bite because it is hungry! There is a distinct difference. Put it into the perspective of a human. Do humans feed like mad all day long? Neither do bass.
There is an article on Shiner Fishing posted on my website that presents my opinions and my methods of fishing wild shiners. Take a gander and lets hope it improves your opinion of live bait fishing and your techniques of live bait fishing.
I'm looking forward to one of the most exciting summer seasons at Stick Marsh and Farm 13 in years. Give me a call 321-722-3134 or drop me an e-mail Hugh@HughCrumpler.Com and YOU could be next!
