Do you guys have any tips to turn some of those big followers into hook ups? I had a huge dissapointment yesterday when I had at least a double digit fish follow my bait, mere inches from biting it. All of a sudden he just turned and left.

Thought I'd ask....

Thanks,
Eric
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Go big or go home!

switch to a smaller or biger bait, add sent, and/or change retreave.

when that happens to me I change bait size first. I always start the day with a bigger bait and move to smaller if i get followers. If down sizing my bait doesnt work i go with the castaic plat. when i reel it in i will jerk the bait into a 180* turn.. that some times will get that reaction bite

just my .02

z

Whether followers bite or not seems to have a lot to do with how smart / conditioned the fish are. Over the years I've noticed that at certain lakes, followers simply never bite, ever. At other lakes (almost always at lakes where the fish are 'stupid' to swimbaits) you will get followers that actually commit to the bait. Basically, I wouldn't feel discouraged if you are getting followers that don't bite, it's quite normal.

For me, when I do start getting followed a lot, that's my queue to make longer casts and position the boat way out of the strike zone. I may try ripping the bait or killing the bait to get a fish to eat it but for me, varying the retrieve to get a strike almost never works.

At most of the lakes I fish in Nor-Cal, the bass will not follow the bait out in to deep, open water because that isn't the zone where they want to eat. I also think that generally lower water temps in Nor-Cal affect how willing the bass are to chase trout. In So-Cal, when I've fished at lakes like Casitas and San Vicente, the fish will follow in to very deep water way off shore. I don't know why that is exactly, but I think they are just willing to expend more energy because they generally metabolize faster down south.

Anyway, think about it logically, a bass doesn't want to try to catch a fish in open water, they want to pin it up against something. A dumb analogy would be if you were trying to catch chickens in a pen 100 yards wide. Would you chase the chickens out in the middle and try to grab them? No... you'd chase them up in to the corner and grab them. Bass that do follow a bait out in to open water may simply be hoping that the 'fish' they are chasing decides to change direction and go somewhere more convenient to be eaten :) They may also be following just out of instinct or curiosity. It's hard to say.

In any case, I try to avoid fishing in ways that will cause me to get a lot of followers. That almost always means longer casts, keeping the boat further from the prime areas, or positioning the boat close to shore to where the fish will be forced to commit at the last second or run in to the shore. The more you fish that way, the more you will just fish that way to begin with, and the less followers you will get. I prefer to get as few followers as possible.

I have the same problem at some of the lakes I fish down in So-Cal. The water is gin clear and the fish are very conditioned to every bait you can imagine. They like to follow ond bump baits with their back to see if they are "real". I try to pause and then rip the bait hard as if the bait is trying to flee. Sometimes you get the bite and other times the fish simply continues to follow the bait.

I agree with Rob and how the fish try to corner their meals. Bass are ambush feeders and normally try to spend the least amount of energy as possible. Boat posistioning and long casts are a must to get the bites you want. Keep the bait in the strike zone as long as you can. Then do what I do...go fish at night }(

There's no followers at night :)

roflmao at the chicken pen example.

http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/bigreenjobass/

Followers..

You can't do much about followers. I just rip it just on the off chance that one will react. I just keep casting. And try to put the bait in the strike zone.

http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/bigreenjobass/

I still have followers at night when I can see them. They just try to come up on their side in shallow water to eat the bait and miss...

Thanks for the tips guys.

I was fishing at Lake Poway, in San Diego, and followers have become all too familiar for me. Lake Poway is a clear water lake, 60 acres in size and yep you guessed it, heavily pressured. Im bound to shore so I have the opposite effect; big bass coming from deeper water into shallow water. I have these bass wired and know where the big ones are, but struggle getting bites.

My thought was, the bass are following the bait and then they start to come too shallow to bite. The water is ULTRA clear and the bass just get a little nervous in that shallow of water and spook. Or it could be the 2 bulky treble hooks on the bait... I have tried fishing from a boat and have the same problems you guys talked about, fish that follow too deep and head back shallow. See my frusteration? ;(

Ah well, hopefully my persistence will pay off. Thanks again for the ideas.
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Go big or go home!

add scent! when i run out of water ill rip/ kill the bait, mix it up. dont psych yourself out worrying about the hook size..the fish will eat. keep casting and casting and casting and casting and casting and casting and casting

Kill the bait

Keep casting

Scent Scent Scent

Follow up with a Kill bait ( Jig, Huddle ) These baits you can dead stick. The ultimate dead stick that I can think of is Mike Longs Big fish. Dead in the water for over 1.5 hours then Twitch BWAM fish on.

If the fish is saying in the same area dead sticking is deadly. Cast out with a jig have a cup of coffe twitch have another cup. I have done this with one cast 20 min. It nearly killed me but it paid off with a 10 lb fish. I don't have that many 10 lbs to my name but most of them have come off dead sticking.

my 2 c






:-)