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Do bass always feed and forage in and around protective
cover?
They spend a great deal of time holding around
logs, rocks or vegetation, waiting to ambush prey. But bass feed
in other ways, too.
Often, they'll suspend in open water and cruise
along looking for food. Bass are hunting baitfish such as shad,
which constitute the largest part of their diet in many reservoirs.
Shad spend most of their time away from the shoreline
in open water. They stay on the move in our lakes, often in gigantic
schools. Even though their depth varies, they're usually
away from the shore.
We've all seen large expanses of a lake's
surface teeming with baitfish that are suddenly attacked by feeding
bass. This also happens underwater. With a little detective work,
you can discover this occurrence below the surface.
Say, for example, I'm fishing an area that
should produce bass, but it doesn't. My first thought is
that bass followed a shad school away from structure or cover.
When that happens, I'll move slowly from structure to see
if I can find bass and baitfish.
You can often spot submerged shad schools by the
oil slick that appears on the surface. Many times, you'll
be able to see baitfish with nothing more than polarized sunglasses.
Schools of shad appear as large dark areas moving erratically
below the surface.
Other times, surface disturbances created by individual
baitfish will be the clue. But if the shad are several feet or
more below the surface, you'll have to rely on a sonar unit.
If a shad school has busted into several smaller
schools, this tells me that bass are feeding. You can bet I'll
spend time fishing the area.
If bass and baitfish are no deeper than 15 or 20
feet, a good lure to throw is a deep-diving crankbait. It may
not match the size of the forage, but what counts is getting the
lure down to where the feeding is taking place. For this reason,
note specific depths when studying schools of shad and bass on
your sonar unit.
Longer 6- to 7-foot rods provide a greater casting
distance and won't tire you like a shorter rod will. Also,
the longer casting distance allows for better depth control for
the crankbait.
Choose a rod with a long, straight handle that lets
you cast with both hands. This increased leverage enables you
to make longer casts with less effort. A medium-action rod with
a fast-tapering tip and a tremendous amount of backbone will ensure
better hooksets.
The slower you retrieve a crankbait, the deeper
it dives. Keep the rod tip low to the water, or even submerged,
to add more depth. Also, lines ranging from 10 to 14 pounds allow
a crankbait to dive deeper than heavier lines.
Regardless of the lure, rod or line weight you're
using, the lure's presentation is critical. Throughout the
year, nearly all the good-sized bass I catch are taken on a slow
and erratic presentation.
Keep boat position in mind. Work the outer edges
of a baitfish school before running your lure under or through
the school. Bass often position themselves downwind of baitfish
because it helps them "follow the feed" much easier.
Cast into the wind. If you get a strike and hang
a bass, you won't pull the fighting fish through the baitfish
school, thereby spooking and dispersing them.
The majority of feeding activity between bass
and shad takes place below the surface, out in open water away
from the shoreline. To catch bass on a consistent basis, add some
of the tactics mentioned here to your arsenal of strategies. You'll
be pleasantly surprised at the results.
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