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Post by CarolinaAngler on Sept 5, 2020 10:27:08 GMT -5
I was out on the water this Thursday and saw a bunch of ripples in the water that seemed to be moving together...thought it was a bunch of bugs but to my surprise they turned out to be a school of what looked like minnows. I then noticed dozens of these same bait balls swimming top water and it looked like they were moving down the river into coves.
This is my first time fishing the Summer/Fall transition. Should I be following these bait balls and using top water lures or shad swimbaits?
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Post by 31Airborne on Sept 7, 2020 5:34:59 GMT -5
yessir, definitely something to look for and follow. as the water cools huge schools of baitfish will move into creeks and main lake cuts/coves. you'll sometimes see places so thick w/ baitfish it'll black out your sonar screen. top water baits will be effective when the bass start schooling up to feed on the bait fish pods near or on the surface. weighted swimbaits will be effective when the bait fish pods go deep. running your swimbait just under or above can be killer. key here is to match the hatch - 4" baitfish, 4" swimbait. spinnerbaits, squarebill/medium running/lipless crankbaits, and bladed jigs can also be effective. this time of year it won't take long for the fish to tell you what they want.  |
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johnr
New Member
Posts: 1,295 
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Post by johnr on Sept 7, 2020 13:23:55 GMT -5
This morning at Philpott there were several schools of large bass chasing and busting these schools of surface bait, back in the main creek channels adjacent to points and the backs of shallow cuts. The bass were, at times, pushing the bait literally right up onto the shore and out of the water.
This time of year at SML, it’s not uncommon to get into schools of busting mixed species in the calmer evenings. Have caught LMB, stripers, white perch out of the same school of busting fish. In the mornings, go back into creeks as far as you can. The bait will be there. Just wait for the fish...
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Post by CarolinaAngler on Oct 12, 2020 16:42:53 GMT -5
Saw that there was a tournament on SML this past Saturday, and the winners said they focused most of their time far up the blackwater. Is it true that most of the fish are past B26 on the blackwater and above the bridge on the roanoke side?
Caught my PB at 3.7lbs Sunday near B26 and I'm thinking that might be the direction I fish in more often...
Also, jerkbaits have become my confidence lure. Shadow rap deep 11 and the Husky models.
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Post by hammerit on Oct 25, 2020 21:47:04 GMT -5
There's more tournaments won mid lake then anywhere else.
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