Some advice on bass please

After changing where I was fishing to try and find more fish iv found a small estuary with good sand rock mix.
Now here is my problem ,Every night over the last few days there have been at a guess 50-60 bass shoaling right up at the shore at high tide but I cant get any of them to take with any conviction,only small tips and foul hooks.Iv tried everything hard lures,plastics ,bait of all sorts but they just wont take.They don't seem to be feeding and eventually they seem to spook and move on.
Tonight we fished shallow lures on both sides of the shoal and were able to contain them but still they wont take but were following the lures.
I didn't have this problem last year but its a different area and I feel it might need a different approach.

Is there anything I could try or am I doomed to this horrible limbo ? its becoming increasingly frustrating

there more than likely mullet bud. when u pass lure across shoal is there movement on surface if so its mullet.

am thinking the same as thecatcher... mullet.... i no bass expert but came accross the same myself till i founf out they where mullet not bass.......

I was thinking they could be mullet but they seem very active for mullet.As in a lot of jumping,lots of fins out of the water.Some of the fish jumping are easily 4-5 lbs.But they do all move at once when the lure crosses them.
What made me think they were bass is that they had hit some of the plastics and had a bit of damage to the tails and they are in deep water 10-15ft and I have never seen mullet in deep water.

If they are mullet what would be my best bet in hitting them ?

If they are mullet what would be my best bet in hitting them ?

Start getting them to feed on bread flakes.
Once they start to show signs of feeding it's time to start fishing for them.
After that get ready to have your brain turned inside out trying to catch them.

They sound like Mullet alright have you tried fishing for them with a bunch of maddies and a savage amount of patience??

At a risk of annoying you to the point you'll probably feel like thumping me in the face - can I suggest that they might be mullet?

If they're bass I'd love to be there to see it.

John D.

I tend to agree with the other lads that the fish you see are Mullet.With the rough weather we had on the East Coast recently the waves would have pushed lots of weed high up the beach out of reach from the normal tides and this would allow the seawwed fly to lay its eggs.We now have big Spring Tides at the moment allowing the water to reach the seaweed high up the beach which by now will be full of the Larva from the hatched eggs. So what i think you are seeing are the mullet waiting for the big tides to bring the larve to them. Hope this makes some sense

Ground bait with bread and then bait up with bread and bring plenty of 1cent for the swear box....

Patience is going to be your only friend with these lads
Pre bait as mentioned and put in the hours, have a look at any weed washed up and maybe
put some fly larve/ maggot that you can find in the weed on small hook to see if thats what their eating.

Let us know when you catch one

Thanks lads.I went down again this evening for a few hours feeding them.I kept feeding to a minimum a hand full of flakes every 10 mins or so 3 hrs and did no fishing just observing I feel an obsession coming on.

What kind of rig should I use ?
Would a small clear bubble and 10lb mono to maggot hook work ?
Should I float the line ?

Standard course floats be it peacock or waggler are best offering least resistance or disturbance use a size six hooktied to some 3-5lb flourocarbin fly leader . Also be sure to use a soft rod like a spinning rod or course rod to ensure the hook doesnt pull or line doesnt break . Vary your depth from bottom to mid water as you go and if your going off the surface use a controller float . only fished for them once a few years back but my uncle swears by these tactics

Have a go with a fly rod and try a Mullet bread fly.

I called into Dan in halfway yesterday and he went through the whole set up with me.I spent another few hours feeding yesterday and again this morning.

As of the fly fishing ,its not my thing im afraid but the lad i fish with was down there yesterday whipping the life out of the water but no takes as of yet.

Would anyone recommend some flies t0 use ?
Should he be using mullet bread flies ?

tnt or semtex