Sight fishing in Clear Water......

Guys I was on the lake thursday and saw ALOT of fish in the shallows. The lake i was fishing is very CLEAR...the fish were spooky. There was definetly some big females mixed in with them. The males hadnt made any beds but were kinda territorial. They would always come back if i got farther away. Now these fish werent nesting. The water temp was 64. Smallmouth were doing the same thing......This is the first time i had ever saw this. They were in 3-5 feet of water on what would be typical largemouth bedding areas. I found some fish out deep. I had several good fish follow my bait in but would turn away at the last moment. I even downsized to 6lb vanish on a spinning outfit and threw a small fluke and a tail weighted french fry. No results. Any advice on how to catch these fish. I also anchored my boat from the back and front and turned my electronics and trolling motor off. Please help? Do you guys think these fish would bite at night?




Jonas

These fish are very hard to catch. Typically it needs to be done from a distance before you pass the fish or you have spooked it. Once the fish lock onto the beds, they will be easier to catch. But, in clear water, even when they are on the beds, you really have to back off of them. My best results in a situation like that come from getting a reaction bite. If it is around cover, drop a very heavy jig right in front of them. If there isnt much over, quickly bring a jerkbait through the area. This time of year, fish really dont seem to want to investigate something on the bottom as much as they do something zipping by their nose since they are beginning to look up to feed right now. Good luck. Drew.

thanks guys for the advice. I forgot to mention this...I had several fish follow my hawg caller spinnerbait and moonsault crankbait to the boat and back off at the last minute. With the spinnerbait, i would let it sink and paralel the bank. I had a monster smallmouth follow a smaller ky in on the crankbait. I have a night tournament this week and i believe they should be more catchable then. If you guys can offer any more advice i would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Jonas Ertel