Smallmouth Bass Chase Shiner Minnows

Standing beside the river early one spring morning while I was threading my fly rod I saw a chase over a shallow gravel bar as a large bass came out and fed on the shiner minnows.  The schooling minnows are easy for the bass to capture as he cruised through the shallows.  Usually a chase will last 3 to 5 minutes before the bass returns to the security of the deep water close by.  If you are close enough to cast to him when you see the minnows fleeing in the shallows go for him.  However, even after the chase is over you can still catch many of these bass by fishing the deep water adajacent to the gravel bar.  The bass cruise these drop offs and by fishing a Silver Outcast or a Murray’s Shiner here you can catch many large bass.