I fish this private lake and we constantly see jumping bass, always chasing small 2-3 inch baitfish. We threw everything at them, spinnerbaits, small cranks, small topwater, small senkos, and we only connected on a couple of these bass 2-3 lbs.
It is very hard to get these bass to bite that are concentrated in this paticular area, but other parts of the lake where they are not jumping out of the water, we do get them on the baits listed above.
Do you guys have any suggestion on how to catch these fish, very frustrating as you can see 3-4 fish jump out of the water chasing these baitfish?

I've has this happen at lakes down in Diego, try a little george tail spinner or a small hopkins spoon. Cast past the boils, retrieve back to the boils and let it flutter down in that area and hang on. If that don't work, ya may need to resort to live bait.

Tight Lines,
Bank Pounder

Thanks, Bankpounder, i was looking into a tailspinner but haven't tried that.
Do these work more for the schooling/suspended fish (in this case) or can you use this like a crank or spinnerbait in other parts of a lake where you would usually fish a crank/spinnerbait?

Revenge makes a good tail-spinner too, very similar to the Little George. I think Bass World West has them on sale. Good luck with those fish.

--John

you may want to try a small, (3") Sluggo, w/ a nail weight, or even jig a small Kastmaster, or maybe even the good ol' Super Fluke.

Yeah, sluggos. Lightening Shad(shad immit.) or Amber Green(bluegill). These are a good go to bait when the fish are reluctant to bite. I've caught lots of fish, big and small, on those little suckers. You can also just fish them on top with a size 1 worm hook. Also try em' on the split or drop shot. They're a proven all around producer for me. Other good colors are Blue Flash, Amber Blue, and Aaron's Worm. I keep a box with about 10-12 different colors.

I mainly use the tailspinner for these bait chasing fish. I've thrown the whole tackle box at em and this and a small silver spoon have been the best for me.

Tight Lines,
Bank Pounder

I've had the exact same problem on a set of private ponds. Here's what worked for me, if you fly fish, try some medium sized bright streamers in short quick strips just below the surface. If you don't fly fish, resort to soft bait minnow imitations. Silver/gray combos worked best for me. Especially the banjo minnow I'm sure you've seen on TV and whatnot, but anyway, something like that. I fished it in quick small jerks, so that way the bait is moving fast like a small baitfish would, but it's not covering much distance which means you can keep it in the hot spot longer, and again, fished just below the surface. And if that doesn't work, I agree with the article a few up from this, live bait. I'd use a very small float about 2 feet up from the bait, your bait won't stay two feet down, it'll come up to the surface just like i'm sure those baitfish you're seeing are doing, but it'll give the bait some room to swim around and look less suspicious. Good luck, let us know how you do.
Hunter.

Thanks for all your feedback everybody, i'll try some of the options you have given, but leaving out the live bait option. I'll post back any results...
Thanks....