Do Bass School Up

[ryno5217]

Buddy of mine was down at a big pond around here, and he says hes seen groups of fish striking topwater in an area together. Could these be bass attacking baitfish or another species. I wouldnt think itd be carp or catfish obviously and havent ever seen anything like this on a freshwater pond before.

[mymomisbecky]

small bass, 13 inches and under primarily, will school.. seen it hundreds of times. generally speaking bigger bass dont. on lakes where there is very little cover the fact that they are all in the same spot is due more to their being no other cover. some say they school, but im a firm believer in bigger bass not schooling

[ToPwAt'R GuY]

I once fished a lake where I saw 50 or so of them together. I usually only see 5-10 in a group.

[Gunny BBS]

Originally Posted by ryno5217

Buddy of mine was down at a big pond around here, and he says hes seen groups of fish striking topwater in an area together. Could these be bass attacking baitfish or another species. I wouldnt think itd be carp or catfish obviously and havent ever seen anything like this on a freshwater pond before.

Heck yes they do and not just small fish either!! Depends of the bait fish, I have found schools of bass with 6 to 7lbers in the school. Not as often as smaller fish, but big fish will school also. Especially in the fall of the year!!!

[bassintom]

of course they do..how do think they become so smart?..lol
i don't see it a lot here in jersey,but i have seen it numerous times in fla.and some of these bass were not small.

[JB]

Often in mid may here the bigger bass school up and chase schools of shad, its a real wonder to watch the water boil as they work the bait fish..
My second choice of seeing schooled up bass is fishing the ohio river when the bass start working the shad to the backs of the creeks, in the fall.... We use single colorado 1/4 white skirt spinnerbait, and in the spring use top water baits.

[Hef]

Gunny is right on this one. I've seen 5-6lbrs swimming together in what they call a "pack". They will get together and hunt for baitfish. I've seen it with my own eyes.

[mack]

at a private pond i fish, youll see about 3 or 4 small bass swimming together past the dock...i always see a couple of groups of fish like that swimming by..so im guessing yes...

[HulaPopr]

I've seen schools of 5-6 bass swimming around, and they can be on the 5+ range. I've seen bass school up on baitfish, I saw a school of about15 bass busting at once, each bass was 7+, these were no dinks.

[BassMoJo]

yes ive seen this to, at one pond i fish 4-6lb bass swimmin in a group (3 of them). its amazing !

[FlyRod]

Of course bass school up. Why, I even know one that got a football scholarship. Not only that, but one of his 12,456 sisters was head cheerleader.

Really! Honest!

FR

[WTL]

Normally when I run into schooling bass that are activly busting the surface, they all tend to be in the 14 inch range. As some have said the bigger ones will sometimes get mixed in or sometimes school by themselves, but that is a little more rare. But yea, they could definitly be bass - sometimes you can also see shad, white bass, stripe or even gar doing the same thing. The only real way to know for sure is to throw at them or get close enough for a look, but even then you don't know for sure. Earlier this year I wasn't doing much good and I saw some gar in a pack busting baitfish so I decided what the heck and threw at them just for the sake of hooking up with a big fish - only to have a decent bass I didn't see slam my spinnerbait.

[flfireman]

I thought school was out for the summer. Dang them fish start early.

Yes bass will school together. This is seen a lot when a baitball of shad pushes towards the surface. The school can keep the ball intact, thus easing the feeding frenzy. You will usually have large or larger bass hanging out below the group. This is why many say switch to a crank or spinner and cast past the ball. Allow the lure to sink down prior to reeling into the school of bass and shad. This will prevent spooking either species and also put the lure down hopefully by the larger fish.

[Rodman_Rob]

they say bass of similar sizes school together, and yes, big bass definately school. When lizards and I went fishing together, he put me on a spot that I caught 4 bass 4-6lbs in less than half an hour, most of that time was fighting fish. Managed to catch them all within 20 feet of each other.

[FishySkater]

I dont know for sure but one of the ponds i consistently fish in i beleive they school up. I used to be able to catch three or four bass in a few hours out of there now i havent caught anything in it the past two weeks. I think that they are all grouped together because they wont bite at my line anymore and also becasue i found that i catch most of them at one end of this pond

[bassthumb32]

80% Of The Fish Are In 20% Of The Lake. It May Seem Like They Are Schooling But I Dont Believe So. yeah you see multiple ones after baitfish sometimes but thats kinda like an all you can eat buffet for free so thats why they are packed up then.