Soft water feeding Frenzies

[Sandbag]

I remember as a teen fishing of the pier in Erieau for Perch with minnows on pickeral rigs. Once the schools came in, you could shelf the minnows as all that was needed was the flash of gold from the hooks. The double headers would last for maybe 20 minutes and they would be gone as fast as they came.

 

I've had some similar experiences when ice fishing and a school of Perch came by.

 

Anyone else have the same experience? And has anybody has the same thing with another species other than the beloved Perch?

 

Cheers

 

 

Craig

[Rich]

Had many of the same experiences fishing Lake Erie.

[fishindevil]

While salmon fishing several miles off shore,i have seen probly rainbows,or coho pushing a big school of boatfish right to the surface,and man there tens of thousands of small baitfish jumping right out of the water,as well as big boils from whatever was pushing them to the surface,and ive seen it sometimes at least several hundreds of feet in diameter !!!! it looks totally awesome when you seeit,i think i have some pictures of them i will have alook !!! cheers

[Beats]

I've definitely experienced that ice fishing for perch on Lake Simcoe. Nothing for a while and then fish after fish for 10 minutes. I don't have a boat so I can't say much for open water fishing in this regard.

 

 

I think that if you are fishing a large body of water and targeting a species of fish that schools in large numbers you will have periods of down time and then experience bursts of fish after fish as the schools move through.

[ch312]

up near temagami with walleye off the dock. every cast would yield a 20" + fish for a couple hours.

[tdotfisherman]

I've seen it at Lac Seul.. pulling up numerous Walleye in a very short period of time.. but then again thats Lac Seul for you, its a fish factory..

[Leecher]

Got into a pickeral frenzy while ice fishing on the Ottawa and caught 22 of them between the 3 of us and kept our limits for a fish fry

[Greencoachdog]

There's a technique called "Jump Fishing" that we use down here in the South. It is when a large school of fish (usually White Bass, Stripers, or Spotted Bass) push a large school of Shad to the surface and the water will literally boil with the feeding frenzy!!! This phenomena happens in the early morning (just after sunrise) and evening hours (right before sunset) in the summer and fall. You can find these feeding frenzies by looking for circling and swooping gulls. All you have to do is throw something that roughly resembles a shad into the school and it's a fish every cast!!! The predator school won't necessarily be all of one species of fish either, you can catch a White Bass one cast, then a Striper, then a Spot, and even a Largie! It really is amazing to see! I like a small Heddons Torpedo or Tiny Torpedo best for this type of fishing, but it really doesn't matter what you throw as long as it looks roughly like a small baitfish... a Crappie jig will work!

 

I'll try to get some vid of this some time.

 

Here's a link that explains a little more:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ciZvNIIsW...esult#PPA118,M1

Edited October 26, 2008 by GCD

[Leecher]

Cool stuff Glen.... like to see that "jump fishing" in action

[Sandbag]

I've seen flocks of seagulls feeding on the baitfish and tossed right among them. The Perch schools have been right below the bait on the feed. Never seems to last too long before it disperses, but pretty fun while it lasts.

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[bigugli]

Jump fishing for silver bass on L. Erie years back. would watch for the surface action, run in and hit 10-20 minutes of action. Would have 2 rods baited to get a couple of quick catches in case the school moved. All of the panfish will behave like that at different time. Crappie, even Gills

[jwl]

happens once in a while when fishing part of Lake Erie for these guys too..this is from January 2008..3 of us caught about 30-40 of these puppies a day between us for like a week..I myself caught at least 40 in 3 trips out...then gone as fast as they came in, lots of double headers in the mix too,don't be alarmed by the "meat shot" that was between 3 of us so technically speaking we could have kept 10 more and we let a good 40 or so fish go that day..average was about 32-36 inches,lots of 10lbs plus fish in the mix...it was an awesome week or so of fishing to say the least.

 

This also happens about once a season on the Upper Niagara, there is a very small window of time when all in about the same 2 weeks the mixed bag is pike,lakers,bows,browns, and big walleye, also some OOS muskies in the mix..all in the same spot...then after about 2 weeks...gone

 

A good place to see a big baitfish push like mentioned as well is the Lower Niagara..the big trout will shove the baitfish right up against a drop-off backing them agaisnt a wall so to speak...then plow through them on a feeding frenzy..then there are times when a couple guys can boat 20-30 steelies in a couple hours..then nothing

[DRIFTER_016]

While salmon fishing several miles off shore,i have seen probly rainbows,or coho pushing a big school of boatfish right to the surface,and man there tens of thousands of small baitfish jumping right out of the water,as well as big boils from whatever was pushing them to the surface,and ive seen it sometimes at least several hundreds of feet in diameter !!!! it looks totally awesome when you seeit,i think i have some pictures of them i will have alook !!! cheers

 

I have had Lakers do the same thing up here. it happens a lot in saltwater, it's called a Blitz.