Lost / culled fish – Turning a school off?

Have any of you experienced a school of fish turning off after Losing a few fish or culling a fish on a spot. The reason I’m asking is that the last time I was out fishing we pulled up on a spot and caught a few fish right away and then lost 4 or 5 fish. The spot just went dead after that – This all happened in about 5 minutes – I know there was still fish there because I was still marking them. I have had other says they never cull fish on the spot they are fishing – They box them and then back way off the spot before culling them. If you have had this happen – how long before that spot will most likely turn back on again?

Yep, those culled fish went back down there and told their buddies what was going on.

What most likely happened is some subtle condition change. I was on a school of Walleye one day and we were pulling them in as fast as we could get our line down. There was the slightest 5 MPH wind creating a ripple on the water. When the wind died and the ripples went away, so did the bite.

We just stopped fishing and put our feet up (with beverage of course). As soon as the wind started again, the bite immediately started again.

It might depend on the fish species. There have been some thoughts passed around that school fish like crappies can give off a “scent” thru their slime coat that signals danger to those fish nearby. I’ve seen instances with crappies very much like what you describe while c/r fishing but I think it is as Wade suggested, something changed and the fish just quit , moved on or lost interest…maybe the school got disrupted by reeling in the hooked fish.

If I find schooled crappies I try to fish from the top of the school down…I focus on the fish at the top of the pile first. I’ll also look towards the edges of the school before I fish the center of it. Quite often the larger fish ore on the outside edge of a tight school anyway. If the larger fish are high in the school so much the better, but if they are at the deeper end of the school, fishing down to them seems to make them less likely to clam up as compared to fishing right thru to them and having the school open up when they get pulled up thru it.

I’ve never really noticed any issues like this with walleyes but then my assumption would go back to what Wade suggested.

Ive read a report stating that smallmouths will produce a scent when stressed that will turn a school off. Im sure theres something to that

Might sound too simple but maybe you caught all of the active ones? Maybe the rest weren’t hungry.

Lots of research has been done demonstrating that most fish use “smell” to find food, optimal habitat, and to mate. I would guess they also use it to communicate danger. Especially schooling fish like walleyes, crappies, etc.

JP

I am sure that fish have the ability to give off a scent. I have not seen where it has happened to me yet. I was fishing smallies the last two days on Mille Lacs and yesterday found a huge school on a reef. Caught and release over 30 in less than an hour, they never showed any signs of slowing down. In fact it seemed that after the third or fouth fish was caught the entire school was activity hunting food. I think I went 11 out of 12 casts with a fish and most of the time the lure never sank completely to the bottom of the lake.

Ron

I was just wondering about this very thing. Occasionally I will read about bass fishermen that say a fish got off and that immediately shut down a school. Well what about fish they are catching and letting go? Do they pull off the spot, release fish and then go back?

I think this is a good question for Ron Lindner on Facebook, I’m going to ask him.

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Ive read a report stating that smallmouths will produce a scent when stressed that will turn a school off. Im sure theres something to that

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I’ve read the same reports (or similar). What I can recall the schools length of time they shut down was determined by the number of fish emitting the distress fairmont.

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Might sound too simple but maybe you caught all of the active ones? Maybe the rest weren’t hungry.

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I was thinking the same thing. I’ve caught as many as 25-30 fish off a spot half the size of my boat one right after the other, releasing every one immediately. I never have, or will ever put much weight into released fish turning off a school.

The way I see it, why waste time putting fish in a well, then moving off to dump them. Got strike while the school is hot!

I absolutely believe losing them can turn them off. If you are casting to the fish and lose them, they’re still in that school which can shut em down. If you’re yanking them out of there and releasing or culling them a cast distance away they may not go directly back to the school to release the pheromone or whatever it is and probably just go down to the bottom to recuperate and slowly swim back. I also think a lot of other things can come into play such as how tightly grouped they are and how actively they’re feeding, etc

In Lake Erie, many fisherman use a three way swivel with a traditional weighted tube on the bottom and another tube with with injected styrofoam. First smallmounth hits the traditional tube. Supposedly when the chaos begins, the smallmouth immediatley trys to “puke” up whats in their stomach. This causes other smallmounth to follow and eat the puke. Eventually another smallmouth will hit the other tube injected with styrofoam and they have a double. My point being, depending on the area, I don’t think it causes the bite to shut down.

Pulling a largemouth out of shallow cover and stirring up the water; I think that’s a different story.

Tail end of the minor or major in the solunar? I know for a fact that will turn fish off.