Where do the bigger sandies hide?

So I put my wife and kids on some sand bass this weekend. We all had fun but everything we caught was small.

So here is my question...........When I've located the fish but all we are catching are unders what should I do next to try and find some bigger fish?

Keep fishing through the small ones until the big ones show up?

Try a different spot?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bigger fish will be under the smaller fish. If you are having problems getting your slab down past the smaller fish, try a heavier slab that will sink faster.

I was bouncing a 1oz slab off the bottom.

I always use 1.5 oz it gets to the bottom faster

Thanks Luke and Champ. So I am taking away from your responses that its not so much how fast it is getting from the boat to the bottom but how long the 1oz us taking to return to the bottom when I am bouncing it. I appreciate the feedback!

Also try not lifting your rod so high so the slab stays in closer contact to the bottom.

What lake are you fishing. Some lakes just don't have hardly any large Sandbass. Or, not enough to target them...some lakes do though.

Lewisville? Also the small sandies tend to hang out with their peers, you may wany leave that group and go hunt for larger group.

I agree with SPT. I hate leaving biting fish but if size is what you are after, you have to go looking for larger size school. Going with larger slabs may help but if you are in a school of small fish, you will likely end up catching less with with a larger/heavier slab.

Yes, I'm on Lewisville. Next time out I'll try to shorten my bounce. If that doesn't work I'll move to a different spot.

Thank you!

Based on chasing the Sandies for the past twenty plus years on Richland Chambers, I'd agree with the couple of comments about "like size" fish schooling together. It's uncanny how often you'll be on a school of good size fish and the bite slows and then all you catch are small Sandies (or Yellow Bass on RC). Might as well raise the TM and move elsewhere. Often times you may only need to move 100' or so and find the school of big fish again.

I've never had much luck dropping a Slab below smaller fish and finding the larger ones. It's usually just more small fish regardless of the size Slab. We do put a 1.5oz. or 2oz. Slab on for the Hybrids but small, medium or large Sandies will all hammer a 1oz. RSR Shad or Minnow Slab. ( www.rsrlures.com ) We've not had much Top Water action the past couple of years on RC so not much recent history on finding bigger fish below smaller Top water fish.

Good Luck and keep playing around with a Slab and you'll figure out what works best in different scenarios!

Thanks Gone Fishin'. I was using a chartreuse RSR.

+1, at Lavon last weekend we were fishing behind the schoolies. I was actually just letting my slab sit on the bottom. I was getting a magnum almost ever cast for a while.

In the water. Use a larger lure that the smaller fish can't inhale...

So we went out Monday evening and had the same issue as ou sooner. I had fish all over the graph and on top. But I couldn't get one to bite on a slab with a jig above it. Is there just sometime when they don't bite slabs like they do in spring. I thought I would have been catching doubles with all the fish under us but I could only catch them by chunk a hellbender out to the schooling fish. Just curious about everyones thoughts.

Slightly unrelated, but how do you guys find these schools to begin with? Do you just idle around while watching the graph?

Like winter just flop it, leave it touching bottom .

You will see guides trolling when in triple digit temps. Or you can down size your lures, or use spinners like mepps. Read Dennis Christian link regarding smaller online spinners to simulate trolling.

How small are you catching? Are they keepers? When I am fishing to fry I like smaller ones. Less toxin. If you have them located on graph on a point or hump ffish the deeper side of them slab only. Hope it helps.

Here are my thoughts:
1. If you are catching smallish whites on structure, sometimes the bigger fish are together ona different part of the structure - even within casting distance. SO, cast around to different parts and see if part of it is holding bigger fish.
2. If you are catching smallish fish schooling on the surface, then is the time to use a slab or whatever and fish the bottom under them to catch bigger fish.
3. If you can't find bigger fish on the structure you are on, go looking on other structures.