Tips for making fish commit to the bait.

[Brad Sexton]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and fairly new to swimbait fishing. I fish a small trout-stocked lake in eastern Kentucky that has produced several state record Largemouth Bass in Fish and Game samplings. I have caught a few fish in the 7-8 range during the spawn but have come up short when using a swimbait. Or anything else for that matter. Crystal clear water, depths of up to 90 feet, and only 32 acres. For the past 2 years I have had some followers on Hudds, BBZ'S, and Savage Gear's that push into the 11-15lb range but I've been unable to get a fish to commit. I've tried slow-rolling in deep water, top water, around structure and still haven't been able to entice a bite.

 

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

[swole_t]

You can try speeding up your retreive, or try ripping the bait, or throw in some directional changes. Those are some of the ways I've had success turning followers into biters. I think alot when your getting followers while slow rolling the bait, it's like you're giving the fish too much time to look at the bait and decide wether it wants to eat it or not.

[bigpoppabass]

Always a good idea to get onto a lake like that around spawn time to learn that area knowing prespawn fish would be nearby a month earlier bulking up...sounds like you need to fish weather fronts with heavy wind...last thing is u gotta find the magic sb, I have lakes where slammers only work etc., even one where they prefer a trout colored fish arrow monster jack..

Edited March 20, 2016 by bigpoppabass

[Brad Sexton]

What would you recommend as a bait for super skiddish fish?

[jhoozie1]

If you are seeing them and spooking them when you get too close I would suggest backing off as soon as you see one and making a long cast way passed where the fish is to prevent spooking it. As for baits, probably something a little more subtle like a Hudd would be less likely to spook them off, or possibly down sizing a bit might help too.

[KeepinItReelFishing]

Wow....that is an interesting place.  Small and DEEP.  Crystal clear water = deep.  Is it structure or cover less?  Any ledges that you know of....or sunken trees and such?  Such a small place...I'm assuming its just a deep bowl.  Even with structure/cover elements gin clear water = fish dwelling deep.  Safety in clear comes from the dim light that they can only find in deep deep water.  

 

I have a gin clear lake near me, much larger, but same principles apply.  In a nutshell that clear water is great because your gaining the attention of these fish from a distance....hence the followers.  I would make every cast with the assumption I had a follower and then periodically during the retrieve momentarily burn the lure, hard twitch it followed by a stall, etc.  Slow and steady makes for an interesting thing to follow.....but it sounds like you need to make them react.

 

Also.....nighttime.  That large clear lake near me is known to hold giants and under the cover of darkness the majority are taken.  At night time that slow steady retrieve would probably be the better choice due to lack of visibility and the fishes ability to track it down.  Also, under the protection of darkness the baitfish move up in shallower water then they ever do during the day and with them some bass follow seeking to eat.

[Brad Sexton]

Wow....that is an interesting place.  Small and DEEP.  Crystal clear water = deep.  Is it structure or cover less?  Any ledges that you know of....or sunken trees and such?  Such a small place...I'm assuming its just a deep bowl.  Even with structure/cover elements gin clear water = fish dwelling deep.  Safety in clear comes from the dim light that they can only find in deep deep water.  

 

I have a gin clear lake near me, much larger, but same principles apply.  In a nutshell that clear water is great because your gaining the attention of these fish from a distance....hence the followers.  I would make every cast with the assumption I had a follower and then periodically during the retrieve momentarily burn the lure, hard twitch it followed by a stall, etc.  Slow and steady makes for an interesting thing to follow.....but it sounds like you need to make them react.

 

Also.....nighttime.  That large clear lake near me is known to hold giants and under the cover of darkness the majority are taken.  At night time that slow steady retrieve would probably be the better choice due to lack of visibility and the fishes ability to track it down.  Also, under the protection of darkness the baitfish move up in shallower water then they ever do during the day and with them some bass follow seeking to eat.

The lake is full of structure and large weed beds. Has about 6 or 7 deep water points and a large ledge that follows the shore around most of the lake. The amount of grass in the lake makes it hard to fish a bait near the bottom without bringing a huge wad of grass in with the bait. Also the only forage in the lake for bass are Trout, Bluegill, and Salamanders. i have been catching numbers of of small fish on a jerkbait this year but even burning, directional changes, and erratic movement with swimbaits just isnt enough to entice a bite from any of the giants. Beginning to believe the big ones are just too smart to be caught.

[dixonbasslayer89]

Rip your hudds out of the grass....your welcome

[JohnMarino]

I recently had a day where I had a BUNCH of followers and none willing to commit. Started with a 11" Hinkle trout, (Then start DOWN-sizing)  Deps 250, 9" Hinkle shad (got more follows) and then used a 8" Pizz customs Shadley (Glide bait) Used a shad color and had two short strikes, so I changed color after noticing some baby bass 4-8" in size, and reason being because they were not commiting to my shad color.

 

I put on a carp color (which can also represent a baby bass) and I made one cast on the shade side of a dock and had a skittish follower, except I start twitching the bait and making it 180 near the boat and thats when it bit. That fish really did not want to eat, but by reading the body language of the bass you learn over time what needs to be done in order for them to bite. Sometimes they may just not eat it at all and swim away, but you can at least try and you never know, you might get shocked and watch a bass try to eat your swimbait head first right at the boat.

 

 

Check out my video to see this fish being caught: https://www.instagram.com/p/BDt8pCXvKlS/  Its a perfect example 

 

 

When fishing swimbaits, you should always  BE THE BAIT  Act injured, look vulnerable, look out of place in spots you should not belong, bass want a easy meal, pay attention, match the hatch, do your time on the water and you will have success. Honestly If I have a day where I have 20+ follows I had a great day. I learned key spots and seen big fish where they live. Go back give them a different bait, different angle and timing is a key factor, it can be anything, wind, moon, sunrise, sunset, moonset, cloud cover, etc. etc. etc. that may trigger them to eat. 

[Charlestonfisherman]

Speed up your bait, make the fish match the speed or faster than the bait, stall it, hold on. Works for me everytime. If glides and hard baits aren't working I'd try more realistic baits such as soft baits like the Mattlures bluegill or a rising son.

[Mulder]

This has been a very helpful topic. I am newer to big swimbaits as well and have caught some big fish since I have started throwing big baits, but it's those followers who always elude me.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Mulder

[Campobassmaster]

Reading what has been said in here is awesome.... One thing I've heard but not totally sure if it was in here was changing angles, I think John mentioned it kind of.  Also John's video is awesome too.