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So I found bait fish, now what?
#11225734
11/15/15 11:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 261
Jkrez
OP
Angler
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OP
Angler
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 261 |
This is something I've been struggling with for a while in my quest to be a weekend KVD. Everything I read and watch preaches about bait fish. "If you find the bait, you find the fish", "go where the bait is" etc etc
So I find the bait...then what? Today was a prime example in my struggles. While on Rayburn I found bait everywhere in Coleman, mainly 20-30' deep, with the occasional baitball in the 15' range, mainly around creeks. But I didn't see any predator fish (bass) on my graph around any bait that I saw, and I saw a ton of bait today.
What do y'all do after you've found the bait? Is bait location just a general rule of where to fish, or should I fish in the immediate vicinity of the bait?
This seems like such a dumb, rookie question, but it's something I haven't quite grasped yet and need a little help.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11225835
11/16/15 12:36 AM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,101
epicoutdoors
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,101 |
Finding baitballs or schools of bait doesn't guaranty that you found the fish. They won't be far away but they are not always feeding. Feeding bass will generally look to push bait into areas where they will have an advantage. Humps, ridges, ledges, tree lines, shoreline pockets and various other structure features are the type of places where you will find bait and bass in attack mode.
Usually, it's a timing thing. Having a milkrun of productive areas and putting in the time to figure out the prime hours for each will help you figure it out.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11225836
11/16/15 12:36 AM
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 2,073
Ricky Taylor
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 2,073 |
Match the hatch if you can
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11225855
11/16/15 12:42 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,101
Wayne P.
TFF Celebrity
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TFF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,101 |
Helix 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G3N and G4N, 1198c SI, SOLIX 10 SI G3, Helix 8 MEGA SI+ GPS G4N, SOLIX 12 SI and G3, MEGA 360, MEGA LIVE TL, RC-1
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226032
11/16/15 01:54 AM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650
senko9S
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650 |
fish the high spots, figure out the timing patterns.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226040
11/16/15 01:58 AM
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 261
Jkrez
OP
Angler
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OP
Angler
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 261 |
With bait, do you have to fish shad type stuff? Or will anything work? If I throw a jig, will the fish even look at it since they're focused on shad?
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226047
11/16/15 02:06 AM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650
senko9S
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650 |
lots of shad swim jigs out there.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226077
11/16/15 02:22 AM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,712
Txmedic033
TFF Team Angler
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TFF Team Angler
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,712 |
If the bait is in a solid ball the fish beneath it aren't feeding. Look for scattered bait and busted up bait balls and you will be ready to go pro you will catch so many. Finding the scattered bait is the hardest part.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226087
11/16/15 02:27 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 9,474
Jake Shannon(Skeet4Life)
TFF Celebrity
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TFF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 9,474 |
Find bait around depth change. You have a much better chance to catch fish that are feeding on shad when they are using things like points, humps, ledges and ridges to ambush the bait. My number 1 bait is a strike king 6xd or 8xd find bait near these higher spots or depth change. Make long cast and bounce that crank along the bottom. Allot of the time bait fish will be hanging out off ledges and off the ends of points 20-30ft in big balls, when the bass start feeding they either push that bait to the surface or push the bait up onto the top of the point or ledge to feed thats when you will catch them. It is not easy to catch bass around large bait balls when they are not feeding.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226111
11/16/15 02:41 AM
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,436
Squirrely Dan
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,436 |
If they bait is balled up tight usually means nothing's attacking them in my experience. Try to find broken scattered schools on graph. I can see the streaks going thru but usually it's sand bass or hybrid. Bass push them shallower. Right now there's a lot of bait fish pooping surface in the backs of coves
Fully sponsored by my mom
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11226808
11/16/15 03:55 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,106
Rudy Lackey
TFF Celebrity
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TFF Celebrity
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,106 |
You see bait ball say 15' find 15' bottom go to work.
Rudy
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Rudy Lackey]
#11227043
11/16/15 05:53 PM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 9,200
the skipper
TFF Celebrity
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TFF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 9,200 |
You see bait ball say 15' find 15' bottom go to work. There are exceptions but this usually works. If I see bait hanging at a certain depth then I start looking for contour changes at that depth.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: epicoutdoors]
#11227898
11/17/15 12:55 AM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 16,867
ezbassin
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 16,867 |
Finding baitballs or schools of bait doesn't guaranty that you found the fish. They won't be far away but they are not always feeding. Feeding bass will generally look to push bait into areas where they will have an advantage. Humps, ridges, ledges, tree lines, shoreline pockets and various other structure features are the type of places where you will find bait and bass in attack mode.
Usually, it's a timing thing. Having a milkrun of productive areas and putting in the time to figure out the prime hours for each will help you figure it out. This is exactly correct.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11227910
11/17/15 12:58 AM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 16,867
ezbassin
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 16,867 |
With bait, do you have to fish shad type stuff? Or will anything work? If I throw a jig, will the fish even look at it since they're focused on shad? A jig works well when they are located on or near the bottom and it works well pitching to stumps on points and near creek channels. A football head jig works well in more open water on points, ledges, humps,tank dams, etc. Drop shots and Carolina rigs work well also.
Last edited by ezbassin; 11/17/15 01:00 AM.
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Re: So I found bait fish, now what?
[Re: Jkrez]
#11228100
11/17/15 02:08 AM
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 13,522
Ken A.
Groovy
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Groovy
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 13,522 |
One of my favorite patterns in the summer at Fork is a 3/4 oz white jig with a white Zoom Super Chunk fished fast around schools of shad. Go to Youtube and look at Stroking a Jig.
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