Keeping that school of bass fired up, can yield another big bass in your boat! Photo: Jack Gavin
Keeping that School Fired Up!
You’ve put the work in to find that hot schooling bite on a lake or river.
You know the one … where cast-after-cast results in a bowed up rod and bass coming across the gunwale of your boat!
We all know that this fast and furious action will come to an end; but we, as bass fisherman, want to extend that bite for as a long as we can.
Whether you are in a tournament or just out fun fishing, catching a pile of bass is just a blast!
These schools of bass could be an actively feeding school that are breaking the surface of the water gorging them on food or they may not be visible. The school may be feeding on submerged structure, such as a rock pile or a main river ledge.
LURE CHANGES FOR A SLOWING BITE
In the first scenario of a school of bass breaking the surface, the common presentation bass fisherman rely on is some form of a topwater plug.
The first thing I’ll do if that the action begins to slow down is switch up the topwater plug I’m using.
This may mean going from one walk-the-dog style plug to another, such as going from a Zara Spook to the Rapala Skitter V, which has a very unique action. The other switch I can make is going from a walk-the-dog style plug to a popper, such as a Storm Chug Bug or Rapala Pop X.
WATER COLUMN CHANGES FOR A STILL DYING BITE
If that switch doesn’t fire that school back up and keep the action going, you may need to go below the water’s surface to reignite that feeding frenzy.
For me one of the best ways to do this is with a small Carolina-rig.
If the water is on the cleaner side, I’ll use a lure to mimic the baitfish the bass were feeding on. I usually opt for a Zoom Super Fluke or Fluke Stick Jr., if the bass have become very tight-lipped.
If the water is on the stained side, I may choose a Speed Craw for my presentation.
SUB-SURFACE ACTIVITY
When the bass are active, but not visible to an angler, a good rotation of lures will keep that school fired up and biting.
The common initial lure offering to these deep water, structure-oriented schools is a crankbait, whether that is a deep-diving or medium-diving bait, will depend on the water’s depth.
To start, I’ll go from one style crankbait to another, as the different lure profile, wobble or noise may just make the difference. The other changes I adopt, when it comes to crankbaits, is color patterns and sound. I will go from a bait that has rattles in it to a silent bait.
OTHER TIPS TO KEEP ‘EM BITING
Other possible ways to keep that school going include going to a subtle swimbait, as it can be fished like the crankbait, but has a more natural profile in the water column.
Many times, I go for a hollow-bodied, paddle tail bait on a jighead.
Anytime I’m fishing for offshore schools, I’ll have a five-inch Zoom Baits Swimmer rigged on a TroKar Swimbait head, as I can cast this lure way out and just slowly retrieve it back through the school of bass.
OFFSHORE SCHOOLS
Often, schools of offshore bass can be seen on your electronics as little white dots. As the action from that school slows down, you may need to fire your outboard back up and idle around the area to relocate that school or find a unique spot-on-the-spot that you’ll need to make precise casts to.
When fishing for schooling bass, the use of a HydroWave unit from T-H Marine can be imperative, as the sounds coming from that unit mimic the bait in the water. When that school begins to shut off, I’ll play around with the settings on my Hydro Wave, first by altering the volume or delay, then going to a completely different sound package.
As those water temperatures begin to climb and bass begin to put on the summer feed bag, be sure to have a plan in place on how to keep that school fired up and the action in your boat going!
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