FS Digest

I live in north Jersey and yesterday was the first real warm day of the year; hit 72 if I’m not mistaken. Packed up my gear and went to one of my local lakes.

It was early afternoon which has usually not been a great time but the bass were literally jumping out of the water! However not one bit.

Now I’m a fairly new freshwater fisherman so I wasn’t surprised to get nothing. But with that being said the four other people fishing for bass got nothing either, we were all perplexed! I ran a buck tail with a lizard trailer, then switched to a spinner, then even a top water buzzer. Zero interest by the fish.

The woman I chatted with ran some spinners, some jerk bait, and some Texas worms, and one of the other guys just drop shot some night crawlers.

What could we have done differently?

TIA!

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by Scottd13

FS Digest

Just keep going out there my man. My first 4 trips didn't result in 1 bite. Before you know it you'll find your groove.

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by Kaevek

FS Digest

Yup. Just keep trying. I'm in MO and senkos get lit up right now. My favorites are 5 inch Gary Yamamoto pumpkin with black flake or pumpkin with black and green flake. Another one I have been trying this year that works well is the Hogan baits slim shake worm in natural color.

In times where I'm having trouble catching (and idk what your state regulations are when it comes to number of poles or hooks in the water at once) I'll throw a nightcrawler on a 1/4 oz. Slip weight to sit on the bottom and then another on a slip bobber at whatever depth seems right. Then I'll be casting a lure as well.

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by ure93

FS Digest

I live near you and experienced that weather. Keep in mind its still "winter" for them. It takes a lot of warm days to get the water temperature up. Theyre still not in normal warm water bass mode. The bass are beginning to move into pre spawn. Certain water temps trigger different actions for them. If the bass were actively feeding like you say then they were probably specifically targeting a group of baitfish youd need to mimic. But last year i had the same experience early in spring. Fish were going nuts. They werent eating though, they were fleeing from a couple musky that moved into the shallows. Do you have pike pickeral or musky in that lake? Either way, the bite will be very difficult until water temps breach about 58 to 60 degrees. I see you used a backtail with a lizard trailer. Next time you get out, when its warm enough that the bass have gone into spawn, texas rig that lizard. Throw it out let it sink, give it a couple twitches with your rod and repeat. Fish it slow and methodically. You should get pummeled. Lizards or salamanders eat their eggs, therefor bass love to eat them.

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by ShiftyUsmc

FS Digest

Was it as windy in NJ as it was in PA yesterday? If so, I may have an answer but as I am new to fishing as well - I’m not certain that I’m correct. So yesterday my BF and I took our kayaks and fishing gear out on a local lake. Due to very windy conditions, we were being pushed along the lake despite our small coffee can anchor (both kayaks were tethered together).

At one point, I unhooked from his kayak and paddled out to the center of the lake to cast. The wind quickly pushed me toward shore and grounded my kayak on the sandy bottom, As I sat and tried to push myself out of the sandy bottomed area with my paddle, scores of large fish were literally jumping out of the water (straight up) all around me.

It appeared as though the current in the water was so strong that it pushed along the large fish into shallow water and they seemed to be jumping straight up in an attempt to move toward deeper water. After getting myself out of the shallows, I joked with my bf that we should’ve brought nets not rods because we got zero bites but the fish were everywhere on that side of the lake. I did make it over to the other side and did not witness any fish jumping out of the water.

As we pulled our kayaks out of the water around 5 pm, all the anglers started heading in. No one had caught anything. I didn’t get a chance to discuss with the other fishermen if my theory was correct - but that’s what appeared to be happening to me.

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by Msmokav

FS Digest

When you say that they were literally jumping out of the water, do you mean that they were hitting some type of prey? Like maybe some shad or small minnows?

If this is the case then they may have been locked on that specific prey. In these scenarios, it's hard to get bass to come off the prey they're after.

It can be done by matching the prey exactly, or presenting something nearby that is similar and can distract them from the prey they are attacking.

Either way, when they're locked in like that it can be hard.

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by CubanMissle

TheKoz Loc: North Jersey

After living in North North Jersey all my life, the easiest answer to your dilemma is to move somewhere else. Jersey fishing is at best hard. Actually, after 60 years doing it here, I have come to the conclusion our water has to be 55 or more for everything to start happening. Any temp below that and it's haul water time. Remember, just because the AIR is 55 the water is still cooler than that at this time of year. So wait a couple weeks and then hit them. Don't forget...C&R during closed season April to June.