Help me out Pros

Jake01Frontier · Post by **Jake01Frontier** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 2:11 am

Hey.... I am new here.. but I need some help... i went to a new lake today.... it was the first time i had fished there.... I live in Virginia.. and the water is warming up... today was a really sunny and warm day (about 80 degrees)... fish were really moving around alot.... they were jumping a whole lot out in the middle... i would see 2 or 3 jump every minute.... i tried many lures and didnt have any luck.... i caught one really small bass... but other than that nothing..... like i said they were going crazy around the top water... but werent hitting anything i threw at them.... anyone have any ideas of some good things to try..... anything would help.. thanks....

fishinforever · Post by **fishinforever** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:00 am

I'm not to sure what to use to catch them but i have heard that it can eaither be that the fish are jumping for insecs or just for fun. I really coulndnt tell you what type of lure to use, That kind of stups me also.. Maybe there not in the feeding mode... good luck on the water... let me now also...good question...

Jake01Frontier · Post by **Jake01Frontier** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:51 pm

yeah thats the thing that got me... they didnt seem like they were feeding at all... just playing around ya know hahaha... but i have seen this before... i guess i will just have to keep trying them untill the start feeding....anyone else got any tips....

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:31 pm

Jake,

Are there carp in that lake? Carp really start jumping a lot in the early spring as soon as the sun rays start to get stronger.

The bass in your area should be either spawning or beginning to spawn right now. I just started seeing spawners moving up on the smaller ponds of Long Island this week. In pre-spawn bass will feed heavily in preparation for the time they will spend defending their nest. Once they have finished feeding, their instincts turn towards spawning and these fish are not interested in food until their have completed their spawning cycle and had some post recovery time.

When you encounter a lake where the fish are in transition between pre-spawn and spawn, you need to locate the fish that are still in feeding mode. With largemouth, I would recommend focusing on fishing in heavy, shallow wood cover.

On small lakes, you are sometimes better off trying another body of water that has cooler water temps.

BC

carl · Post by **carl** » Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:33 pm

Jake, about a month ago I was in inlet that had muddied up, so the temp was warmer than surronding water. They were jumping all over the place, but they were small bass. I threw everything at them and had no success. Last summer when ever I found schooling fish on the surface I'd throw surface plugs and lipless cranks; I'd catch fish but once again they were small guys. Wish I could be more helpful. What happened to our pro-staff? Must be out fishing...Good Luck. Carl

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:11 pm

I would have to agree with Brendan they were probably carp. But if you are still not sure tie a crappie jig under a cork and work it through were the fish are jumping. IF that will not catch them nothing is going too.

bass_assassin23 · Post by **bass_assassin23** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:45 pm

I think all of the replies so far are great. I also agree with the suggestion of carp or maybe even Gar fish. I dont know if they have them in virginia but here in Georgia were eat up with these toothy rascals. the only advice that i can give on the fish that are splashing and not feeding is to throw something at them thats going to get there attention like a lipless crank or maybe even a wieghtless trick worm fished very erraticaly. thats about all i have on this. Good luck to all.