Fall Transition...Bass not eating on purpose???

So I have a question and my own Theory/Excuse...

Obviously this time of year (Fall Transition) there is a bunch of smaller bait in the water(Shad 1- 2 Inches)

They are popping the surface but don't appear to be running from bass...just flicking the surface

I was told when "Flicking the surface" the shad are Communicating to the main school when they get seperated

I'm graphing a bunch of SHAD in larger/Deeper coves but not many bass in these schools eating?!?!?-I know the bass are right behind them soon...

But it appears the Bass (Especially the larger ones) are still on the MAIN LAKE semi stationary...Then a bunch of bait in the larger deeper coves.

Why is this???

MY THEORY: The bass are letting the Bait get larger so they are easier to target and get their bellys full fast?

Beats chasing- expending a bunch of energy chasing 1 inch shad

Either this a real scenario or just a lengthy excuse why a cant catch many fish in the past 2 weeks...When I'm setting on a bunch of bait-I seen to have this same problem every year.

Also at what time frame do the bass starting keying in on the larger Gizzards? Not Threadfin/Small Gizzard... Does all this happen at once? Or are the BIG Gizzards on the mainlake too?

Thanks TFF!

Big fish do not migrate miles and miles. They will migrate the shortest distances they have to, they are "plus sized".

How many "larger" people do you know that put their refrigerator like 2 miles away from their regular everyday paths?

We've had a warm November so far.

The shad don't migrate all at once up the creeks, but it's usually the weekend after Thanksgiving for the large mass waves of creek migrators.

There are some lakes where the creeks aren't all that great, and the shad will just move shallower on the main lake--shallow rock, grass, timber, culverts, rip rap.

Bites have not been plentiful like I expected, but the fish we were catching this weekend looked like they had swallowed a tennis ball or larger. They are feasting.

They are targeting the bigger shad, not the small ones. When the big gizzards make the move the bass will follow. We saw it last year really good. Thousands of 8" gizzards in small schools in one cove and there were some huge bass eating them. The fish were near impossible to catch because they would just cruise under the shad and grab one when they wanted. There were some of the biggest gulps from bass I've seen or heard when they would get hungry. It was an awesome sight. Actually, the big shad made that run before the little shad

Doug: Big fish not moving much makes perfect sense...I get that but I'm still not getting bit

I have a lot of Fat/Overweight friends and now I know why they have me pick up lunch and snacks on the way to the lake...(Bring the food to them)

As far as where I'm fishing-I'm clearly not in the right area to catch'em consistantly...

I have always heard : "Find the bait and you will find the fish"

Apparently this isn't always true... I primarily target Big Fish with Big baits just need to be patient and keep chunking

Hope to get more reply's...Always learn a ton from ya'll veteran fishermen

Thanks

In my limited knowledge I will say that fall fishing is tougher than a lot of people think it is, day in and day out.

The fish tend to be on the move more in the fall and "if" you find them they are usually easy to catch, but that is the hardest part in the fall, IMO.

A lot of people like to throw the cliché out there "find the bait and the you'll find the fish", sometimes that just doesn't work.

I tend to focus on areas that would be good ambush places in the fall, creek channel swings, shallow water with nearby deep water breaks, and such...

Renner, having a GF has changed you!! All warm and fuzzy and helpful

Don't let Doug fool you, he knows what he's talking about if it bass fishing.

I agree with Doug. Schooling smaller bass do a lot of chasing along with all the other species that are taking advantage of the Shad migration. Bigger fish are close by and I believe the Shad being present brings them out of hiding. They are letting the schooling smaller fish do their dirty work for them. They are taking the dead and injured. What I have found that the bigger fish are interested in is how the other species are relating to the Shad. Other species are working the Shad just as hard as the small Bass. Big fish will key in on this. Other bait fish that are acting out of the ordinary are much more interesting to big fish than the Shad pattern. The larger Bass just do not like these species darting in and out on the schools of Shad. This crazy action causes them to key in on the unnatural display that is taking place. The larger Bass will swoop in and take out a Blue Gill, Yellow Perch or Sand Bass that are feeding radically. Pattern these other species for the larger Bass.

A good bait to mimic the Pray Fish is the Blade Jig (chatterbait). Fished with an erratic action. Once those larger fish get to the back of the coves they also find that the Crayfish are doing there thing right now. My guess is that many of the larger fish have turned there attention to a bottom feeding dinner plate. They love Crayfish and once discovered in abundance, they will leave the Shad.

I grab a jig this time of year more than any other bait when Im looking for larger bites

A fb jig in the fall/winter hhhmmm that is not a bad idea. That might make a good video....

I will say something maybe a little odd, when the fish are really gorging on shad and they have thousands to pick from I like throwing something that stands out. Lately I have been doing really well on a chartreuse crank bringing it right through the shad. Its easier for the bass to pick it out from the crowd. I'll give my crank alot of jerks and pauses as I'm working it to make it stand out. Not sure it helps you out, but it has been working for me.

If you can find the waters that contain resident fish AND is a place for the migrating fish you’ll be in position to catch them consistently. Isolated cover, nearby deep water, abundant structure and food supply. Big ones and little ones will be there all year ‘round!

Ditto; I agree 100%.

I grab a Biffle bug.

That's a bigger bite.

Grab a spinnerbait and turn and burn

I don't have lot of experience with a 5 inch flutter spoon but over the last two years when I see schooling bass busting on top and can't get them to bite a moving bait anywhere in the water column, I've had some success dropping the spoon straight down through the bait schools and just holding it perfectly still. I will occasionally slowly lift it a foot or lower it a few inches to touch bottom... but no sudden movements to scare them. The bite is very subtle and rod just loads up. I call it turbo crappie fishing as it reminds me of fishing for crappie when they aren't biting much either. Had two trips in November last year to Fork where it was the only way I got bit. Never got bit on the fall or pumping it and didn't see any fish under the bait on graph.

Would like to hear from anyone else that uses that technique. Still can't imagine why a fish would hit a non moving 5 inch piece of metal. I don't enjoy fishing that way but the more I try it the more I like the results.

Yes, that is deadsticking a spoon, mimicking a big shad that has died, fluttered to the bottom

If the current is making it difficult to stay perfectly still, just barely slowly lifting it a few inches and letting it fall again so that the spoon just turns over and over slowly on the bottom can work also

Bring a plug knocker

If you are getting snagged repeatedly, let it fall to the bottom, then just a couple of turns of the reel and repeat the technique with the spoon just a couple of feet off the bottom

Same techniques work with the blade baits—silver buddy, xps blade bait, etc as the water temps get below 55

From what I have noticed this fall, I fished a lake this fall two weekends in a row. First weekend a nasty cold front hit and wind was howling and most of our better fish came off of the first couple cuts on a creek. Also secondary points were holding fish but what this showed me is that the shad had not moved to the backs of the creek but were beginning too. I fished the very, very back of the same creek that weekend with no luck in about 2-3 hours of fishing so I moved back out towards mainlake and began to catch fish. Second weekend I went to the lake it had been cold(for Texas) the whole week in between. The secondary points and small cuts I was catching my fish out of just simply weren’t holding fish. I made my way to the back of this major creek where I previously didn’t get a bite. And a light went off in my head, first flip I had a fish on ( that I shook off). I could just notice in the area I was fishing that the shad finally made it back there and I could see life I previously wasn’t seeing. Shad were flickering and what not, I proceeded to catch a three pounder on the next lay down and then left the area realizing the fish are there. What I took away from this: the bass were following shad. Even though they were not literally blowing up on top, it was obvious that the bass began to make the migration with the shad into the skinnier water. Have a tournament on the lake next weekend so pretty excited to see if some more fish have moved back into the creek for me to catch.

Yesterday at Fork:

https://www.facebook.com/lee.livesay

Lee found a time machine or something!!

I have found that fall fish are more scattered than summer or winter fish thus harder to zero in on and if your where food is the fish are not far away.