Hi there, long time lurker, first time poster/question.

Fished Tawakoni on 12/9 and stopped by one of my usual spots. On the water at 3 pm. Shad was active everywhere through the entire cove//hump/area. Several birds were there but only working a few minutes at a time. Marked fished under the plethora of schools of shad. Saw only a few fish surfacing here and there. Shad schools looked endless and you could see them just jumping out of the water for several hundred yards. Tried almost everything. Slabs, spoons, crankbaits, swimbaits and spinners. Chased the birds for a bit while they were sporadically working. Tried different fishing methods for 2 hours and even started trolling. Did not have enough time to try deadsticking. I was trying to stay patient but could not get a bite with artificial so eventually gave into casting a net full of shad and spending last few minutes of sun light bait fishing. Managed one stripped bass and several nice size catfish.

Any suggestions on what you try or notice when you see this type of activity and fish aren't taking artificial. Fish marked did look like schools of sandbass and some hybrids/striped bass. I ask because this is not the first time it has happened in my years of fishing. Gets pretty annoying when you see so much bait activity and not fish biting. Should I have left and tried elsewhere and looked for actively feeding fish not wasting so much time? How long do you try before you move on? Fish were not surfacing like a usual frenzy but bait was everywhere and fish were marked. Just one of those days and too much shad "steak" in the water? Maybe i just hit a school of blue cats gouging on bait. FYI I did manage one nice size catfish on a slab so maybe the fish i marked were schooling blue cats? What's your strategy when you see this type of phenomenon?

Small umbrella rig with baits and blades. Sometimes that will fire them up.

Maybe freeline some live shad?

@Squib I did use an umbrella rig with 3 in swim baits with no luck.

@Bones, that is what I eventually ended up doing and managed 1 striped bass but was seeing what others say about using artificial and tactic when so much bait around.

The shad I did catch were in the 5-6 in size so it may have been bait size?

That's one of the biggest sayings on this and all forums. "Find The bait and find the fish." "Fish win blown points." Like you sounds like., no brainer, right? Its easier to find the 10% of the lake that holds 100% of the fish.

All kidding aside, its a never ending puzzle. There is no storage of bait. Sounds like your throwing the right stuff. Just has to be around fish. My lake has acres of bait. Birds are only working the bait, hoping a stupid one surfaces, or a water turkey pushes them up.

No expert here, but sounds like to me the fish you marked under the bait were catfish. Maybe not, but you caught some.

Tawakoni is one of my favorite lakes and I learned the first time I was there that you don't just find fish; you create a commotion and let the fish find you. Bang the boat with an oar or a net handle at a steady pace and the fish will come. It is called thumping and it works. As the lake gets colder you can try this anywhere on the lake. I drift fished down by the dam in 48 feet of water and had a school of fish follow me for over a mile. If you are trying to mark fish and catch them, you will be often disappointed. They are moving with the bait and won't hang around for you to put a lure on them. They hear the thumping and come to find an easy meal. Fish under the boat with your favorite set up and catch the fish that have been activated. By the way this works on all the lakes in Texas.

Next time copy screen shot and let one of the many anglers here id the intel ! With that much bait present and no fish, move to fish another pattern or establish one. Ambush spots, timber, creeks and shoulders of same, humps, wind blown points or wind blown extended sand bars etc...Drifting with bait via wind sock or troller controlled drift is IMO the best way to dead stick. Don't forget your ghost poles set at various depths.

The winter was mild last year for the most part and we didn’t have any shad kills on any of our lakes so shad populations are extremely higher than normal. Up here on Texoma if that happens we just move and go find another place to fish and Check back later and see if the fish have moved in on the bait. Lots and lots of factors but that’s what keeps it interesting :-)

Thanks guys for the feedback! I probably should have spent more time locking in on schools of fish with my electronics than chasing the sporadic bird action. Also, sticking to one area so long... Lesson learned!

Finding bait with electronics, is easy. Finding fish suspended under and around the bait is easy. Finding busted up schools, with fish actively feeding on them, is a lot tougher, most times. At least that has been my experience.

Lately I have beed dealing with the same thing.. I scaled down to 6lb braided or flouro with the smallest castmaster spoon they make. Fish are on the bottom, or near and not seeing many large schools. But if I work the bait very lightly on the bottom, finessing it with an occasional hop they are all over it.. very light movement, almost a cross between a dead stick and wiggle. Caught over 250 fish last week this way, but for the record about 90% are small fish. Even tried a mepps technique but the were not cooperating. The finess is fun, but you have to be patient. But one thing, on GP the fish will spook if you start your engine, or drive over them. Lately I have been catching fish, and the village idiot will pull up and kill the fishing. Dern fatties, are out but I can't pinpoint em. Temp supposed to be 43 and thinking of going out for a bit today and see whats out there... Sharpen your hooks as good as you can, really helps. I am using a excaliber hook that is small and scary scary sharp. Cant even set the darn thing down on the boat because it gets snagged on everthing.. Really makes the near misses hook up.


Prosise

Is that water temp you are saying is 43? Wow

I think he meant ambient temp. I have yet to see sub 50 surface temps, on any body of water I've been on.

My thoughts on Tawak from last two trips.

The fish are going deep and yes they are under or around the bait. LOOK FOR LOONS ( they dive down to the bait and get the injured shad ) One thing about loons is they can't dive very deep so they are looking for injured shad that the fish below are chasing and stunning and float up enough for them to dive down to grab ( you can watch the loons looking in the water for some floating). The water temps are in the low to mid 50's so i don't think we are quite into full dead sticking swing yet. Like said above thump the boat . After five minutes of thumping if fish don't show up on sonar then move to another spot. Most of the fish we have been catching are in about 40 to 45 foot of water. And last , don't even try on a blue bird day after a strong cold front. Both trip we did were that situation and we had a hard time getting them to bite. We had fish under us they were just not aggressive at all. When the water temps get below 50 they should be easier to catch because they will be more consolidated and will react to dead sticking slabs, A-rigs and flukes. This i just what i have noticed on tawak lately