aclark609

According to what you told me, it sounds like the fish just aren't biting that good yet. Give it a couple of weeks and I bet money things are gonna change for ya. It sounds to me like you are doing everything right and like Paul said be the one who finds em' not the one who hears about em'. The lake I fish is much clearer and the jerkbait bite is doin' pretty good right now. Not a ton of numbers but quality fish in my experience this year. I'm a little farther north than you but not much. Things are startin' to heat up here but, where you are, cold and dirty water is always tough. I'm sure you'll be fine when the water warms and clears a little.

Couple of questions for ya first. Is the water always that dirty this time of year in your lake, and is the lake you are fishing in a fairly shallow lake or pretty deep? Deep being on average about 30 feet deep off of the banks and coves. I'm guessing it's probably a fairly shallow lake because deep lakes don't generally maintain a foot of visibility. Dirty, cold water is inherently difficult to fish in. Everything you listed would be my first guesses as well. A jerkbait in dirty water would really be a no go in my book. What's the color on those squarebills you are throwin, and are you crashin' em into structure? I'd definitely be throwin' a square bill with some chartreuse in it. Also have you tried paralleling the structure you are fishing? Maybe a real bulky jig like skinny bear's grizz or buckeye's mop jig with some scent sprayed on em would do good too and a bulky trailer that moves a lot of water and slows the fall. If the water is that dirty, I'd definitely focus shallow and check up on a topo for places where fish will stage for the spawn. Long points that drop off into a creek channel or main lake channel that are adjacent to an area that has a hard enough bottom for fish to spawn on should be money, and if you could find standing timber in that area as well; BINGO. It sounds like you're going through a rough patch, and everyone has em now and then especially in the colder months. But those are the best times to learn something new. Lemme know what you threw and how you went about it. Good Luck!

Patterning bass quickly and knowing how to adjust with changing conditions can be tough.

Man I've caught tons of bass in ponds where there isn't any crawfish on crawfish imitating lures. Depending on the cover you have in the pond is how you should fish lures like jigs and soft plastics that would indicate crawfish or anything else. I believe the bass bite it due to territory, predatory nature, and even curiosity. Very little cover would indicate to me to fish fast and look for a reaction bite. Burning a jig with a trailer that has a lot of action has proved to be absolutely fantastic on some days. Fish could be anywhere in a pond with little cover, but they'll probably be on the banks most of the time or suspended somewhere off the bank, and believe me they will chase down a fast moving lure in both scenarios. Heck most of the jigs I've burned to catch some true pond monsters have been crawfish patterned with chigger craws or rage craws as trailers. Thicker cover like lilly pads, grass, willow trees etc. would indicate some texas rigged soft plastics or everyone's favorite, TOPWATER. Snag Proof Ish's Phat Frog is my absolute favorite. In regards to frogs being a food source in your pond, I would say probably not at the top of the bass' list. I believe they don't necessarily want to bite a frog imitating bait because it looks like a frog but because of the action it imparts, regardless of whether it's topwater or subsurface. I've been fishing this pond for the past few summers to test out new equipment, lures, etc. and the same frogs sit in the same place every time I go down there. If bass loved frog's so much, there wouldn't be hardly any in ponds in my opinion. Any way you want to look at it, I believe a bass's predatory nature, territorial instincts, and curiosity, are the main reasons they would bite any artificial lure in the first place. So experiment around and even match the hatch sometimes, but I've seen days where a hot pink creature bait will fish a bluegill patterned paddle tail into the ground. So chew on that lol. Good Luck!