How to Catch Suspended Bass Around Baitfish

Finding bass throughout the year isn’t always the same. Sometimes it’s pretty easy, like when they’re pushed up shallow during the spawn. Other times, it can be much more difficult, like when they’re randomly suspended throughout the body of water you’re in.

However, when bass are suspended, it’s rarely actually random. In these scenarios, the bass are relating heavily to where the baitfish are. With that in mind, here’s how to find the baitfish, find the bass, and keep your lures in front of them so you can start landing fish this time of year.

So why do bass suspend around baitfish? The short answer is that they’re following the food.

Whenever baitfish decide to move out from shallow cover, or up from the bottom of the lake, they’ll often be suspended out in the water column. Instead of staying tied to traditional structures, bass are going to move with the baitfish schools to these suspended areas as well.

Common areas where you’ll find baitfish and bass suspended are near creek channels, points, humps, standing timber, steep breaks, or out in the open water. Suspended doesn’t have to mean deep, either. If you’re fishing for suspended fish in water that’s 50 feet deep, they might only be 8 feet down.

So we know why bass are suspending near baitfish. But how do you actually find the places where this is happening?

Well, for starters, don’t just assume that the bait is all related to structure. You’ll need to get out and actually find where the baitfish are schooling up. This is where your electronics are going to be your best friend. Not only will your electronics help you find the bait balls, but they will help you see if predators are holding nearby too.

These schools of bait can be tight together, split apart, or being pushed upwards, depending on whether bass are in the area trying to feed on them.

If you have forward-facing sonar on your boat, that makes your life a whole lot easier when finding schools of bait and bass. You’ll still want to look in the same areas, but with FFS, you’ll be able to see a lot more detail about what’s going on under the surface. Pay attention to whether bass are holding below the baitfish, or way off to the side waiting to swoop in for an easy meal.

You don’t have to just pay attention to what’s happening below the surface with electronics to find these spots, as there are a couple of good indicators above the surface as well.

Birds can be a dead giveaway for schooling baitfish. If you notice them diving under the surface chasing after food, chances are pretty high that there are baitfish in the area.

You might also notice some activity right on the surface from nervous baitfish. If bass are attacking suspended bait from below, that prey is going to try to escape upwards and create that flickering. Even if the surface activity slows down or stops, you’re likely still in a good area; you may just need to shift to a deeper presentation or find the baitfish again in that area.

The exact depth you should fish for suspended bass near baitfish is going to depend entirely on where the baitfish are and where the bass are in relation to those baitfish. However, the only depth that you shouldn’t fish for them is underneath the bass.

If you’re underneath the fish as they’re suspended, chances are they aren’t even going to know your lure is in the area. They’re way too focused on the baitfish in the area to look down. So, make sure that you’re fishing slightly above where the bass are, and only work down as necessary to put lures right in front of them. With FFS, you’ll be able to determine this in real time by seeing where the fish are and how they’re reacting to your lure. Without FFS, it will be a bit more trial and error to figure out if you’re fishing the right depth.

When it comes to picking the right lure when fishing suspended bass near schools of baitfish, there are a couple of really good options.

Jerkbaits are one of the best options when fishing suspended bass because of how long you can keep them in the strike zone with minimal effort. These baits aren’t going to sink. Instead, they’ll swim down to a certain depth on your retrieve and slowly float up on the pause, keeping them right in front of the fish.

You’ll want to match your jerkbait dive depth with the depth of the fish, not how deep the water is where you’re fishing. For example, if you’re fishing 30 feet of water, but the bass are suspended at 10 feet, you want a jerkbait that only goes down 10 feet on the retrieve.

Jerkbaits can be fished with twitches on the retrieve as well, which helps trigger strikes from active fish. If the fish are less active and need a slower presentation, you can mix in plenty of pauses and still keep your lure looking realistic to the bass.

Swimbaits are another solid option for suspended bass. You’ll want to get one in the 2.5 to 4-inch range that closely mimics the type of baitfish in the area. Using a paddle tail on a swimbait jig head is a great presentation that lets you cast it out and count it down to the perfect depth.

You’ll want to pick the right jig head weight that matches both the size of your swimbait and the depth you plan on fishing. If you’re using a larger swimbait for bass in deeper water, go with a heavier jig head. On the flip side, if you’re using a smaller swimbait for shallow fish, go smaller.

You’ll fish a swimbait similar to a jerkbait, but pauses will be tougher without getting higher above the fish. These baits aren’t going to float, so you have to be careful about letting your presentation sink below the bass. That being said, you can still fish these fast or slow depending on how active the bass are in your area.