How To Catch The Biggest Fish Out Of A School
- By: Matthew Lanier
- on
Is it possible to catch the BIGGEST fish from a school??
I think it’s safe to say, we all pretty much want to catch the biggest fish out there.
With fall temperatures cooling, the time couldn’t be better to hit the water in search of giants.
Take a look below!!
Catch The Biggest Fish From A School [VIDEO]
Join the Insider Club and get the Smart Fishing Spots App for FREE
Featured Equipment:
- F.R.E.D. BOMBER
- Slam Shady BOMBER
- Gold Digger BOMBER
- Ala-BOMBER
- Hoss Helix Hooks
- Dr. Juice Saltwater Slam Scent
Right now, the fish are aggressive and moving around to feed as they begin to prepare to shift into winter mode.
At this time, their metabolism slows down.
So the fish are looking to eat more food and the bigger fish need to pack on the calories in time for winter.
You definitely need a few things to align for the chance of catching the biggest fish in a school.
First and foremost, you need to be where the fish are.
You need to have the right size bait on as well as the right profile.
1) Location
During the fall, the fish move A LOT but they often do it in sync with the tides.
You can predict where the fish are going to be based on your understanding of fall fishing patterns.
The fish are going to try and find points and ambush zones in warmer water.
Smart Fishing Spots is the ultimate resource for knowing when to hit the water.
We’ve built a Fishing Hotspot Locator that changes based on the current conditions to indicate how great a spot is for fishing at that time.
Additionally, there are oyster beds and seagrass layers so you can quickly identify a spot of interest.
Oyster beds and seagrass are instantly great fishing spots in the fall because they present ambush zones for predatory fish.
2) Bait & Presentation
The next thing you have to look for in the fall (and year-round) is bait.
If you are not seeing any bait around you, pick up and go find some.
Odds are the fish won’t be hanging where there is no food.
Especially during the fall, your bait NEEDS to be the proper size.
All of the big fish I’ve caught and landed this fall have been on a 5-inch paddletail lure.
My personal go-to for this time of year is the F.R.E.D. 5-inch BOMBER rigged up on our Hoss Helix Hooks.
Our Slam Shady BOMBER, Gold Digger BOMBER, and NEW Ala-BOMBER lures are all must-have lures for fall fishing.
Bigger baits are the way to go when you’re targeting those bigger fish.
Furthermore, the size of the bait is much larger now than the rest of the year.
So you need to match the hatch and provide fish with a presentation they view as a substantial and easy meal.
Just make sure your presentations appear natural because big fish won’t touch them if it looks out of place.
3) Additional Scent
Scent is incredibly important when you’re targeting bigger fish.
Big fish are SMART fish.
The smarter, bigger fish rely on their olfactory senses for hunting down meals way more than smaller fish.
If something doesn’t smell right, they won’t eat it.
Dr. Juice Saltwater Slam Scent is exclusive to Salt Strong and I do not leave the house without it.
This has been the main ingredient for my success this year.
I even put a few drops into the lure bags so the scent is always on these lures from the start.
Conclusion
NOW is the best time of the year to hit the water in search of those GIANTS!!!
All it takes is some larger lures and a little bit of practice but you can certainly get out and pluck big fish out of a school.
Oh, and don’t forget, DR. JUICE WORKS!!!
Do you have any other thoughts, comments, or questions?
Leave them down below!!
Finding The Fish Help
In order to help make sure that you are targeting the right areas based on the latest feeding trends and upcoming weather forecasts, make sure to use the following 3 resources because they will save you a ton of time.
1. Weekend Game Plans (updated weekly)
These regional game plans will show you exactly what types of spots to target in under 10 minutes… just click the video to start, and you’ll be informed on what to do on your next trip.
2. Smart Fishing Spots Platform (updated every 15 minutes)
This exclusive software literally shows you where the most fish are likely to be feeding based on exactly when you’ll be fishing. It factors in the tides, wind, and weather to help you quickly see which areas to target throughout the day.
3. Community Reports (live feed)
The Insider Community platform is what you can use to see what is biting near you, and you can get to know other members who fish in your area. Plus, you can use it to keep a log of your catches so you can use past trips to help predict future catches.
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
This was a horrible video. I understand that you want to promote your products but the video went on and on like an infomercial. The first topic of location was only about your finder app. The next was about presentation but it was all about your soft plastics. What about actually talking about presentation? We’re you jigging? Fast or slow? Top of the water column or on the bottom? What kind of leader? How about type of rod for the bigger fish?
What a waste of time.
Jake Baumel
rbaumel1@gmail.com
Enjoyed the video, Matt. Thank you for the lesson.
Glad that it was helpful Robert! Thanks for taking the time to leave a nice comment!
All good information Matt , nice red
Thanks David! We appreciate you watching!
Are you using Battle Rattles in your large size baits to draw them in???
Curious as whether to use or not.
Good question Mark! I haven’t personally tried it, but Luke and I have talked about trying it out and I believe he may have. Either way, it’s always worth a shot!
Thanks for watching!
Tell us more about your yak What you use and how you rig it up etc.
I will see what I can do about getting a video together about that! Thanks for watching, Larry!
I guess I should of watched the video because I knew all about the other things but I guess I missed the part about a secret hack heck when it comes to scent I probably use more then most anglers do unless I’m using a gulp bait I add procure with dr juice mixed in and also add a small piece of fishbites in shrimp scent but anytime I use scent I use the one appropriate for the lure I’m using ex I don’t use mullet or a baitfish scent when throwing shrimp lures or use shrimp scent on a minnow shaped plug maybe it doesn’t make a difference but I’m just a common sence kinda guy thanks for the info and all you do😉👍
Good stuff Steven! I have had success with the ProCure as well for shrimp presentations. Definitely makes sense! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Always good stuff, Matt! Keep up the great work!
Thanks James! We appreciate the kind words!
Great information 👍 Louisiana
Thanks for watching and commenting, Don!
“How to catch the BIGGEST fish out of a school.” While the headline probably grabs more attention and hits, at best, it should read BIGGER and that’s a stretch as I read nothing about how to identify which are the bigger fish within a school to catch.
“We’ve built a Fishing Hotspot Locator that changes based on the current conditions to indicate how great a spot is for fishing at that time.” First, I presume you’re renaming the SFS “Smart Spots” locator, or I’ve never seen this discussed before, and don’t find it on my SFS version. I also don’t believe the SFS app that I’m using for my area is updating these “Smart Spots” every 15 MINUTES for CURRENT CONDITIONS. The spots 12.5 miles to the south of me have hardly changed except for a few being added, and once added, they don’t change to reflect a change in conditions. The area 12.5 miles north are similar. And there has been several recent posts in the Community questioning why the spots identified for their areas don’t change. And I didn’t see Joe, Nick or other coaches coming in to say they must be wrong and make the claims you’re making. Perhaps I’m wrong but I’ve answered those posts as indicating SFS is still under development, and continuous improvement may ultimately make claims like you’re making fulfilled. However, myself and some other Insiders are not seeing (or finding the SFS button) that causes these spots to continuously be updated. And bear in mind, a bedrock of SS taught principles is that changing conditions (tides, wind, current, temps, etc.) impacts spots to fish. Hard to see the logic that these identified “HOT” spots stay that way 24/7 for months at a time.
Not to high jack your post but I too have reservations about the accuracy of the smart fishing spots app. I scouted a location yesterday that was highlighted on the app yesterday at low tide yesterday and noted as fair. It did look fishy on low water, because of time we did not fish. I looked at the spot again this morning on the app during high water and it was highlighted as great. Based on my knowledge of the behavior of Redfish and their movement with the tides I doubt very seriously Reds would be in the area because the surrounding marsh would be flooded with enough water for the Reds to push way up in the grass to hunt shrimp and crabs.
To be fair, it is possible for the area to produce Trout especially on the high outgoing tide with the number of oyster beds and small creek drains emptying the marsh.
Thanks for the reply, Dan. I’ve found the spots identified to be helpful. I’m trying to figure out if some of us have SFS apps that are malfunctioning as the spots identified do not change, and the only color change I see on the spots is based on changing the zoom level. Anyhow, perhaps the confusion will get cleared up by Matt or Nick.
If you use the blue bar at the bottom to scroll through the timeline you will notice that spots colors will change. But I’m not always able to make a meaningful correlation between the color and the conditions at that time. I think most people use that map as a general guideline. I actually don’t understand why would the color of a spot change based on the zoom level, but only sometimes.
Hi Daniel, scrolling through the hourly time bar does change the colors although the spots themselves don’t seem to change. Two spots close to one another has one at fair and stays fair while the other one goes from great to fair when the blue bar is moved. Need to look at this closer but I’m now wondering if the hourly feeding level projections which were part of the Smart Fishing Tide app are the “conditions” correlated to these Smart Spots. Thanks for that helpful input, Daniel.
Hey Rob! I’m happy to explain as best as I can!
So, the spots themselves don’t change, but the grading does based on the time and conditions (tide, weather, wind) of any given day.
So, if an area is exposed to the east, and there are heavy winds coming from the east, that may not be graded (colored) as a good place to fish for that time period.
Obviously, even as this is based on good and even scientific information at some levels, it’s still not going to be 100% accurate at all times, so it is best to have a good gameplan where you can check out a handful places in one trip.
As David said, there are sometimes some glitches in the zoom feature, but we are aware and working on getting those fixes made in the system software.
I hope that helped answer some of the questions you had buddy! I really appreciate you taking the time to put together the question as we want to make sure that you fully get the best of the app, so that you can get some solid action.
Thanks again! If you have any more questions, never hesitate to ask!
Hey Daniel! Just a heads up, we are aware of the zoom glitch for the spots in the app and we are working on getting that fixed in the system software now!
Thanks for the heads up on this! And thanks for the help with Rob!
Hey Dan, you are right, the redfish will move into the grass at high tide. But in my experience, the big trout move in there at the grass lines and feed well also!
And as you said those redfish have to come out at outgoing tide, and that can be a great place to be waiting on them!
True, the spots in the app won’t always be 100% correct, but if you have a good gameplan based on the conditions in your area and pick a few places to check out on the trip, you have a higher chance of success.
Thanks for taking the time to leave the comment and I hope my response helped some. We appreciate you BIG Time!