When to follow up on "follows"

[redhed10]

So I have been wondering this and if it has been talked about i must have missed the thread. I have been wondering when you have a follower that does not commit, how much time do you allow to pass before you return to the spot and fish it again. Is it done for the day? is an hour enough time? if anyone has any info or wants to share their opinions feel free!

[Sciaramitaro]

If the fish bites it and misses the hooks, throw it right back where you got bit. If it gets the hooks, come back in about an hour or two and let that fish calm down. That's my opinion.

[ospreynn]

don't throw the same bait at the same fish more than twice... I usually throw a different bait right after I see a follower.. if it doesn't take it, then I go to a different spot. 

[BuckMaxx]

For me it similar to when I throw a topwater. I ALWAYS have a fluke stylebait in a similar color tied on. When they miss I throw it in there almost always they whack it

[bigpoppabass]

Come back in better conditions, in particular when wind is hitting it or low pressure movement etc..  Those follows often happen during bluebird skies when the fish are inactive.  If you have been catching fish and that follow happens, chances are it is the wrong bait if bite is generally on.  Also, kinda guard your spot, I had a big follow in a club torney, gave a tiny cove a rest, and some local was sitting on the spot fishing the wrong area but he nonetheless moved the fish off of it. 

[R8R]

There are a lot of variables I think in my experience that have taught me if that fish is catchable.

(1) is the fish or fishes just following lazily behind it.

(2) is the fish below your bait like 5 ft or more.

(3) Are there 1 more fish following your bait

(4) How aggressive is the fish

I think #1&2 are fish that are very hard to catch that day, they might be just following to see what's up but won't do anything to bite even if you try a lot of stuff to make them bite, sometimes that's just how it goes.

#3 is better because more than 1 fish creates compitition, sometimes it will compete for that food that is swimming and sometimes you can catch fish just because of that reason. Fish have to eat period.

#4 aggressive fish are the most catchable even if it saw you by the boat, being aggressive shows behavior of fish that it's actually feeding at that moment.

#3&4 if the fish did not bite the first time, comeback like 20 to 30 minutes or when things settle down, but change your angle, sometimes that's all it takes.

[Magic Man CP]

I agree with R8R, it really depends on what the conditions are, and how the fish is following your bait that will dictate your approach. If it's during spawn or post spawn, and you have a pretty decent sized female following your bait, but maybe not acting totally aggressive, she's just doing what nature has programmed her to do, chase the threat away from the bed or fry, if your bait is moving away, there's no real reason to attack. I see a lot of tail nippers around this time too. Fish during this time are some of the most catchable. If they're moving fast, like a dodging or swiping attack, but not exactly striking,, switch to something a lil slower and maybe something that will suspend, last season the gantarel was hugely effective on fish like that. If they're just following to intimidate, but almost lazily, throw something that floats above the bed or fry pods. Baby bass and gill patterns are pretty much all I throw from early May til mid June, and occasionally a wake bait. Dead sticking a baby bass or gill floating freestyle will drive those females crazy, maybe twitching like the bait is feeding on fry. All times of the year will produce followers also, in the fall/winter when they're feeding to load up a bit, and they're following but not committing, they may be very selective and you need to pay a lil closer attn to your tactic and replicating what they want. Clear calm water can add to the challenge. I actually prefer a lil chop on surface, or stain, so the fish don't get quite as good of a look at the bait, maybe induce more of a reaction strike. Pre-spawn like rt now can be super productive, especially if they're just on attack mode to fatten up, you'll get some greedy fat girls attacking your bait while already having a half swallowed shad, crappie, or whatever in its mouth. Don't spend too much time with followers, just keep working the area where you're finding fish, eventually she'll eat or another will take her place. Finding the concentrations of feeders is the first step.

Followers are fun to watch, but don't make for good pictures or stories! If you're getting lots of looky-lous, change up!

[redhed10]

Thank you for the input! Great info and insight. Have always wondered other people approach and I appreciate the time you guys put in to helping other!

[T Dot]

I think many people over analyze things.  Keep it simple and I feel you will do just fine.  I will highlight a few things I try to keep in mind:

 

When dealing with follows, know 2 things:  1 you are doing something right (as they are following), and 2 you are doing something wrong (they aren't biting).

 

I feel the story holds true, if you see them - they see you and they may instinctively react differently when they know you are there.  *Its like seeing a train wreck about to happen.  Instinctively you know what is about to happen, and it appears to happen in slow motion.  I have seen many times where a fish charges the lure and then happens to see the boat - once we are spotted they quickly change their mind and bail out.

 

When there is one, there is many... and when there is many, there is many more.  They do not live alone.  *On more than a few occasions I have experienced this first hand when throwing the correct "wrong" bait.  I would draw them out in packs of 3 or more, totaling over 100+ follows a given run (I know because I counted) - and only managed to land a few.  Those are very low numbers.  However, some of these trips were times where I cared more about where they live and not catching them at that exact moment.  I noted all these locations and revisited them at a later date with a different or bigger bait.

 

When seeing a follow, I try to keep the 2 above mentioned items in mind.  I reel in the bait as quickly as possible, in hopes I don't draw them too close that they spot us.  I note the path they followed, I wind up and swing for the fence.  I try to make 1 cast well beyond where I made the last cast.

 

This is where it gets simple for me.

 

During that cast, I make sure I do a couple of things.  I make sure I truly act like the prey.  Be the bait.  I make sure I throw in a couple pauses during the retrieve.  Not a dead stick pause, but a pause as if you were tip toeing along a path where you know you might be eaten - but do not want to be eaten.  They will ALWAYS creep closer during the pause, so I try to do many of them.  Never with a cadence.  Nature doesn't have a cadence - so why should the bait!?  So... what happens when you are the prey and feel a presence?  You don't die (or dead stick) and wait to get eaten.  That NEVER happens in nature - you gather your senses and you run/flee like the little "Not Allowed" you are...  Those fleeing moments are the the moments where I throw in a few hard reel turns, or a few hard rod rips.  Not so big, when the fish is force to swim great length.  Short and quick enough to always be within eating distance.  Those are the exact same moments where the rod should load up.  I do all of this when the lure is way out of sight.  Where I cannot see the bait and the fish cannot see me.

 

It works for me!  Hopefully it works for you.

 

This takes a lot of practice.  To this day, I am still in awe on every fish that follows.  I too still get worked up and try to catch that one that follows.

Edited March 4, 2016 by T Dot

[northeast_trev]

killer write up T Dot. Lots of good advice in there. For me if i feel a bite or a hit, i'll kill the bait (like a fish that got hit and stunned) then a couple of twitches and burn it out of there if nothing comes for a second look

[Campobassmaster]

Golden advice, lets get this forum rolling again! Reading these tips got me pumped to try and go out again today, I'll throw in my 0.02, but I only have good experience with follows on one bait so far, the gantarel.

 

Here's what I know, with the gantarel being my best producing bait, would be my favorite but those 250's are just mesmerizing, 

 

Only fishing big baits for around 6 months or so now (started in May) I have, sadly, only caught (with pics) fish on the gantarel, and a few on smaller glides or multi-jointed baits (4,5")  With the gantarel I got bit on my first day out with it! it got me pumped, during the spring there were tons of flooded bushes and a high water level and I  was slowly working it just below the surface and thought I got hung on a bush but wham was a fish, would explain the story but thats for got'em.....

 

Anyway enough off-topic

 

The next cast I got an unknown followers which prompted me to think these baits really do have drawing power, I had just seen the bait and was curious what it was like on a burn, I burned the bait and a fish, probably in the 6-8# range ate the bait head first on a turn and spat it out a second later.... So one way to do it is burning it.

 

With the gantarel being a slow-float style style bait I have also realized that it is like that on mono, but with 20# fluoro it is more suspending and super slow-float, I really like this because in late fall/winter/maybe early spring, it can pause and sit there to prompt the bass if it wanted to take advantage of the easy meal or to maybe keep following or turn off completely. I have the majority of my fish from the summer, fishing a clear water lake in the foothills of the Sierras. I was using a 5.3 round reel with my daiwa dx H and 20# big game. The advantage of this lake was I learned how to use my gantarel for followers, I would get many fish that would not commit but I found out that if one is following farther away I will either burn it and slow it down or if it is super far I will slow it down and make it look injured. Sometimes if you slow it down and let it float up to the surface and twitch it the fish will approach and once it is close I would give it 2 quick reel pops and then kill it again and they would hit it either once it reacts or is back on the surface. A few fish came off of just letting it suspend/slow float, I think the reason this works with this bait is it's realism in the screenprint. 

 

In general I believe the tips R8R, T Dot, and everyone else gives was great, I'm curious to see what people say about topwater baits or soft baits aswell

[danthefisherman]

Great write-up, Jack! I'll be sure to try implementing what you wrote when I get those followers too. Once they see me though, it's game over haha

[Onthefly_25]

There are a lot of variables I think in my experience that have taught me if that fish is catchable.

(1) is the fish or fishes just following lazily behind it.

(2) is the fish below your bait like 5 ft or more.

(3) Are there 1 more fish following your bait

(4) How aggressive is the fish

I think #1&2 are fish that are very hard to catch that day, they might be just following to see what's up but won't do anything to bite even if you try a lot of stuff to make them bite, sometimes that's just how it goes.

#3 is better because more than 1 fish creates compitition, sometimes it will compete for that food that is swimming and sometimes you can catch fish just because of that reason. Fish have to eat period.

#4 aggressive fish are the most catchable even if it saw you by the boat, being aggressive shows behavior of fish that it's actually feeding at that moment.

#3&4 if the fish did not bite the first time, comeback like 20 to 30 minutes or when things settle down, but change your angle, sometimes that's all it takes.

I'm new to the big swimbait game, but I am starting to see some correlations. Previously, I fished the typical traditional baits with an emphasis on frogs up in the Northeast. Now I am onto swimbaits. I completely agree with what was said above except for a few modifications: 1. If the fish is lazy on the follow, immediately switch to a bait that you can keep in front of his face long enough to produce a reaction bite. 2.  if there is more than one fish following, throw a bait that is absolutely crazy (color or bait type) for the conditions. From my experience, it weeds out the "groupies" and gives you the most aggressive fish. it may not be the biggest but a fish is a fish. 3. If the fish didn't bite after all of this, give her at least an hour minimum. I prefer 1.5 hours. This just gets them back into their cover that they were in previously and they forget what happened.  

 

That's just me. When they are following, it's gong to be a rough day. Why not have some fun and play around with presentations?

[Campobassmaster]

I'm new to the big swimbait game, but I am starting to see some correlations. Previously, I fished the typical traditional baits with an emphasis on frogs up in the Northeast. Now I am onto swimbaits. I completely agree with what was said above except for a few modifications: 1. If the fish is lazy on the follow, immediately switch to a bait that you can keep in front of his face long enough to produce a reaction bite. 2.  if there is more than one fish following, throw a bait that is absolutely crazy (color or bait type) for the conditions. From my experience, it weeds out the "groupies" and gives you the most aggressive fish. it may not be the biggest but a fish is a fish. 3. If the fish didn't bite after all of this, give her at least an hour minimum. I prefer 1.5 hours. This just gets them back into their cover that they were in previously and they forget what happened.  

 

That's just me. When they are following, it's gong to be a rough day. Why not have some fun and play around with presentations?

I'm going out to a tough lake today with some buddies going for trout and cats, it was recently stocked with trout on Wednesday so it should be good! Hopefully at least. Its been raining all day and I will def be trying this out, along with my new floating freestyle trout

[colbypearson]

Capitalize on that moment while it is still there, as soon as you feel like the fish isn't responsive don't add insult to injury and change something or leave. Wait for a condition to present itself, or the spot to cool off and come back in with a new approach or bait. I've seen fish on one day, and came back a day or two later and caught the same fish, but that's risky business and really depends on what the fish is doing. This works well for me during February to April (Water 40 and warming, to 65) where I've left fish for hours or days and still found success on specific fish. Once Summer rolls around I really try to get the job done that day, preferably within a few hours. During the Fall I feel like my window is longer again, but the fish don't seem to be as easy to pattern as far as definitive locations, there's a 'spot' but not so much 'spot on the spot' as earlier in the year.