Jumping Bass... or is it?

[pomerob]

Many a time I have been on the water and have seen in the distance a big fish jumping clear out of the water. Or I have heard a big sploosh just behind me and a could swear that it must have been a big Mr Buckey Mouth.

Last week Robdog and myself spent 2 hours on a small farm dam, when we arrived we saw lots of action on the other side of the dam (typical). At first we were saying with hope and anticipation that it must be bass, when we slowly sneaked to that side of the dam we saw loads of carp and then were dissapointed as a huge carp came stright out of the water, launched itself into the air and SPLOOOOSH! This happened again and again and crushed our hopes of Mr Bucket Mouth feeding on the surface.

Now how does one tell if the fish you can see jumping are bass, carp or fresh water mullet. I thought only bass totally cleard the water to land with a SPLOOOSH but we were disapointed to find out this is not the case.

[Guest]

You can never be 100% sure, but I find that bass and carp make two different noises, or 'jumps'. Carp either make a light bubbling noise with their mouths on the surface, or generally come up and break surface like a small submarine, often 'burping' and make a splooshing sound as they come down on their side and slide back into the water.

Bass on the other hand seem to either jump right out of the water wiggling and shaking and re-enter the water still shaking. And when they break surface but not actually jump out the water, it is still quite a fast snappy tail flicking 'Splash!'

During the KZN tour at Alberts, while fishing with bassmaster, we saw carp hammering downwards like grunter do in the the shallows!

This is a good subject pomerob, I look forward to hearing everyone's experiences regarding this topic.

[robfisher]

Jumping fish always get me into a frenzy? unfortunately it?s invariably Carp doing the jumping? unless the barbel fisherman have been chumming the water in which case the barbel go a little bananas? But Shannon has made me a lot more aware of action in the shallows and any movement causes me to cast right onto the action because a lot of times it?s a bass chasing food!

The best action is when the flying ants hit Inanda and the Carp go berserk? and also when the Carp spawn in the shallows?

[robdog]

I have been on several dams while the carp are spawning and it sounds like the surf on a beach with all their splashing! 8O

[Warrenx]

My first thoughs when I saw fish jumping that it mights be bass but when there were no bites at all I started thinking they might be something else [ carp ] . Later I spoke to another fisherman on a canoe , I asked him what fish were jumping he said they were bass , he said he fishes there often and they jump alot.
Its hard to be sure what fish they were cause you never get a good look at them . Could be wronge maybe they wernt bass.
Still have alot to learn!!!!!!!!!

[Deon]

Read that bass generally don't jump clear out of the water except when hooked and I have never seen one do it either.The article said that if you heard a splash it was not a bass.Carp jumps out of the water generally so anything in between what fishton said about bubling noise and a clear splash will most prob be a bass.

[Ninja]

Only been out there for about a yearand somehow, and I'm not sure why, I am convinced that 99% of jumping fish are carp. I have also found that when they jump the bass fishing switch is off????

I go with Robfisher, if there is movement in the shallows then it's BASS! Cast on the spot and BANG! Works for me. :lol:

[Lukas]

Firstly an interesting post pomerob.

I got info frm a Gauten Artlure member and he explains the following sounds like this. Fiston is correct.

Barble will make a deep gulp noise as they surface due to the elongated tail almost a "bloeb" sound.

Carp will clear the water with a big spalsh.

Now bass according to my source and I have confirmed this in farm dams where only bass are present with smaller species. It is a 'slap' noise as if you get a smack on teh cheek. This I have heard and seen in farm dams.

Deon commented that bass seldom clear the water well that is not rue, no offences Deon :lol: , have you seen bass hunting dragon fklies and swallows(the bird). Bass are lightning fast to breach out and grab a swallow diving to drink water. Andre Pretorius wrote an article in Tight Lines in the '80s or '90s where he caught a bass with a blue swallow still sttuck in its throut. They do jump but teh SLAP is unique to bass. Do not ignore it. When you hear the "slap" and you see the water the circles on the water mark the position on your GPS and return later for that same bass might now you are there already and will not be reluctant to bait any funny looking lure. Remember bass stay within a certain range of their structure.

[lazy-ike]

i try to ignore splashes that occur in deep open water. bass don't usualy launch themselves high out of the water unless they are hitting my zara spook. i tend to look for splashes between reeds and other vegitation, close to the sides....(maybe it's because i'm a bank fisherman)
it sounds more vicious than carp or barble like lukas says a slap kinda sound. almost asif it's shakin to get rid of a lure. slap slap
8-)

[Shannon]

In all my experience I have never seen a bass jump for fun, the only time you see them in the air is when they are trying to shake a hook or chasing a meal.
Carp on the other hand do jump for fun (even my Koi in my pond at home do this). I have seen Carp well over 10kg jump clear out of the water. When you see carp jumping high like this, it is a good indication that oxygen levels are high in the water and the bass will therefore also be active (just not jumping). You will normally find on these days that the bass fight harder as well.
If you see a noisy splash out in the open water it is normally carp as well, but if you see this in the shallows it is normally bass chasing food.
Another reason that Carp jump for "fun" is to rid themselves of parasites (that's why Dolphins do their side slap jumps in the wild)

A slight "boil" and then followed by a tail flick will be a barbel, Barbel do this continually especially in dirty water as their gill systems are not that efficient, but they make up for this by having a set of lungs too, Yes that's right, lungs, that's why they can live in mud. The boil you are seeing is the barbel coming up for a gulp of air, this is also normally where the bubbles rising up under your boat come from.

[Smeegle]

I don't believe it's bass that are jumping. At places like shongweni it's carp and tilapia that do the jumping. Sure a bass will break the surface whilst smoking some poor creature, or just mess around near the shoreline near some weeds etc, but it's a different kind of jump. In my experience only smaller bass do this, and if you cast a weightless dinger or popper towards the rise very accurately, you're in 90% of the time. I do a lot of this 'sight' fishing whilst float tubing at shongweni and the other little dam nearby, next to the furniture factory. So to Shannon and Lazy-Ike, I totally agree with you. (BTW Shannon, I work with your boet and he didn't know about this site till 3 days ago when I told him about it, What kind???!!!!!!)

But like Drew told me, if you see lots of carp jumping, the bass fishing is gonna be kak! So if you cast to the rise and get nothing, maybe it's time to pack it in..... Maybe it has something to do with oxygen levels in the water?

Duzi point at Inanda rocks when it come to fishing ski's and tubes, just watch out for the afternoon wind picking up, and for the recreational jocks. I almost got taken out once 'cos he was focused on his wakeboarder. He did come back and apologise though!

[pomerob]

The first fish I ever caught on crank didnt even wait for it to hit the water. A 1.4kg bass launced itself nearly right out the water to catch my lure. I have positively identified bass jumping out in the open, but 95% of the time you dont get to see the fish you just hear the sploosh and the see the ripples.

I have also seen barbel breathing on the surface and heard the shloop as they swallow a mouthful of air and dissapear again but I have never seen one launch itself out of the water. Fresh water mullet are also airial display artisits especially when you are moving in your boat.

I have also seen fish swim straight up from the bottom, touch the surface and then head straight back down. I have never been able to identify them, could be carp, mullet, kurper or bass.

[basstid]

I have also heard and seen many a fish launch out the water,unfortunately many
being huge carp,although I have also positively identified bass launching.
In December on Homestead we got right up next to a barbel tanning
belly up on the slop,we at first thought it was dead until we poked it with a rod and
it shot off. :lol:

[lazy-ike]

i fished a little farm dam in tzaneen and i threw my plastic through a couple of brances. it twisted around a branch and hung about 40cm above the water. a bass of about a kg launched himself out of the water took the worm and just hung there. 8O

[Shannon]

The most important thing to determine when watching "splashes", is to figure out if it is just a jump or a "chase". If it's a chase then you are normally in the money.
Bass will chase something even into the air like Lazy Ike said but they won't jump for the sake of jumping like carp do.