Swimbait followers...

[Dbarba11]

Fished a local lake this weekend with the BBZ swimbaits. Had a ton of bass follow the bait but no hits. I changed up the speed of the retrieves, darted the bait once I saw a follower, pulled a 180, used smaller baits etc. I started throwing worms as a follow up once I saw where the bass were figuring they may hit something different but still nothing. Water temp was about 58 degrees. Do you have any suggestions on how to make these followers commit?

 

[muskiemike12]

A couple things I would try that work for me. Try burning a 3/4oz spinnerbait or a 1/2 oz trap. Fast as you can reel. You are looking to get reaction strikes. The bass are eyeballing you bait too long, make them think it's going to get away! If you know right where they are hanging you could also try dead sticking a Senko or a Fluke. Fished weightless, t-rigged, give it a couple of twitches then let it sit there motionless for at least 30 seconds before you repeat.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Fished a local lake this weekend with the BBZ swimbaits. Had a ton of bass follow the bait but no hits. I changed up the speed of the retrieves, darted the bait once I saw a follower, pulled a 180, used smaller baits etc. I started throwing worms as a follow up once I saw where the bass were figuring they may hit something different but still nothing. Water temp was about 58 degrees. Do you have any suggestions on how to make these followers commit?

A lot of times a change in color will "sell" the bait to bass that just want to follow.


I always start out any swimming bait (swimbait, crank, spinner) at a fast pace and then kill it for a second. If something was following it, it'll eat it instead of running into it.