All follows and no takes

Another follow, this time all the way to the bank, almost to your feet. It's one of the most frustrating sights in all of fishing and there's hardly a species that doesn’t commit the offense. Pike, smallies, bucketmouths and even trout can all be notorious for these crimes against angling, but it's not hopeless. Study and try these tips when curiosity seems to outweigh hunger.

The dead drift

This technique seems to work especially well on smallmouth during low and clear situations. The clear conditions make smallies very cautious. Fishbrain’s last trip to Wisconsin was during a historic low flow of the Milwaukee River. You could see smallmouth everywhere, but coaxing one out of the shadows seemed near impossible. It wasn’t until our last day that we broke out a new technique. The fish refused to commit to a moving lure, or fly, but when we dead driften a crawfish imitation and let it settle into the rocks, they finally slurped it up. 

The trick here is seeing the fish and giving as little movement to your lure as possible. Cautious bass will want to inspect it first, before they finally take and you can set a hook.

Check your lure action

Your lure’s action can mean several things. If the fish is following, it's clearly doing something right, but the lack of commitment means something is wrong. Check how your lure wobbles at different speeds as these motions can make a fish curious, but not strike their instinct to bite. 

Watch for lures that roll onto their sides, as well as this unnatural action can turn a fish’s prey drive off.

It could be that the fish are just not attracted enough to that particular action in the current conditions. You may need to swap lures, trying for something with a more drastic action, or a less defined one for the moment.

Change speed and change size 

Your retrieval speed is also imperative. Too fast, or too slow, but if they’re not committing to a lure, you need to try for a slower approach for sluggish fish, or a faster reel to try and trigger the feeding response. The point is, there is usually a sweet spot for your retrieval cadence and if they aren’t taking, then you haven’t found it yet.

All these factors may need to be interchanged for you to achieve the perfect combo and the profile of your lure can be a critical aspect. Big baits usually attract a more aggressive, or hungrier fish, but small baits are more universal for species, time of year, or condition.

Pitch in the strike zone

Fish can be picky and there's no denying it. Sometimes your speed and bait are perfect, but oh no, you’re at the wrong depth. Sometime’s fish are feeding at a very specific depth, but will follow something out of curiosity higher, or lower in the water column. So if you notice fish following, but slightly rising to do so, try throwing on a little more weight to get into the right strike zone.

On a less active day, fish will most likely hold tight to cover and their strike zone will be much smaller than on an active feeding day. Seeing short follows should indicate a short strike range and help you hone in on where to make a cast, or where to let your bait sit longer.

Looking at fish biology

We asked Fishbrain’s resident fish biologist, Ryan Hearn, to help solve the puzzle of following without feeding.

According to Hear, there are roughly three primary mechanisms as to why fish follow. 

1. Bait may not be worth the energy “Fish will often follow slowly behind because they want to see if a meal is worth their energy. If it's not, they'll abort, either because it's not caloric enough to be worth their time or it seems off and they can tell it's a lure. What you should do here is one of two things or both, upsize your bait so it seems worth their time, or make the bait more reactionary. Add pauses, twitches, vary speed, figure-8 to make it seem more realistic to a weak or dying fish and give them less time to react. Adding fluoro carbon leader could potentially help as well to make the line less visible.”

   

2. There is no competition nearby “If there is no competition from other predators, fish can take their time and follow because they aren't particularly worried about losing out on food. If this is the issue, it can be harder to adapt as an angler. You can try the same above methods, increase size and make it more reactionary -, but another option is to create the illusion of competition, with something like ike an Alabama rig where you attach multiple lures or jigs on one line.  Ultimately though, you may have to find a different location with a higher density of predators if they're being particularly tricky.”

3. They are breeding/nesting and just scaring it off. “Fish may also follow shortly if they're breeding, or nesting and simply think they’re scaring the lure off briefly. In this case a big, bright, lure can imitate a potential rival or egg stealing fish and is the best bet. Rather than just scaring the lure off, they may decide to take it, if it seems formidable enough. Being consistent and making multiple passes is key to pissing them off in this situation."

It's not personal. Fish that follow but won't commit aren't rejecting you, they're testing and a few adjustments can turn that hesitation into a hookset. Changing your retrieve speed, changing your bait size, or just critically observing the situation can help turn a curious follower into a confident biter. 

Now let’s go fishing.

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