Two Bites Finally - Prjavelin's Diary Updated 10/3/12

[deep]

I sure would love to fish where you were fishing! Glad you beat the skunk.

[prjavelin]

@MCS I caught it on a KVD spinnerbait. these are turning into my crutch really fast. btw I bought 2 terminators yesterday, so more and more Spinnerbaits for me.

@ deep, whenever you come to Puerto Rico for vacations or anything, Let me know and ill take some days off to take you fishing.

[prjavelin]

Went fishing on Thursday. Man was I disappointed. 6 hours fishing and no bites yet for some reason I sticked to the same spot. My uncle was trolling the lake on his boat while I was fishing from shore and he told me the bite was slow. ******* has taken me fishing on his boat once in 2 decades. I hate when people are greedy. I was supposed to go fishing today since its ly day off from work but my wife I coming back from a weekend with her parents in a hotel, while i was working too, and her car is acting up so here I am waiting in case Anything happens. This last trip was hard to me took some of that desire to fish from me. I have to go to my best friend son birthday. So no fishing later today either. Tough times...

[prjavelin]

I went fishing yesterday for two hours or so. The bass were going nuts on topwater eating shad. I couldn't catch one. If only I could cast farther I would be right on top of em. I will go fishing again on Sunday. I will go to a spot where I caught bass before.

[deep]

No matter what guys say, it's not always easy to catch schooling bass that are busting baitfish on top. Ask me how I know?

[HeavyDluxe]

Another novice, bank-bound angler here... I would add my voice to what others have posted. If the bass are passive and holding down in cooler, deeper water, then slowly dragging/twitching a soft plastic sounds like a reasonable approach. Gets the bait to them, keeps it down there and provokes a strike.

I know *I* don't want to chase anything much this time of year...

The best advice someone gave me was to watch bassresource videos on YouTube about jig basics (I was using GYCB Fat Ikas on the end of the line). That has made a huge difference in my fishing so far this summer.

[prjavelin]

A tropical storm just passed thru here. I have a day off and like the wfn saying: everyday its a great day for fishing. Yes I'm going fishing, I know the odds are against me. Same thought I had before and I've caught fish. I'll be fishing for two hours. Hopefully the lake doesn't look like hot chocolate.

I will fish a anaconda, spinnerbaits and a senko. Maybe a livetarget crank

[prjavelin]

Skunked again. For some reason the bass were at the weeds not where I was where there aren't as many weeds. It's been 4 skunks back to back, close to 6 like the last time. I only fished for 2.5 hrs. I used the baits I talked about in the previous post.

I noticed that my reel got broken in or something cause all of a sudden it started casting a mile and feeling extremely smooth. Has anyone else noticed this with their reels? Mine is a daiwa laguna. I will put vocal bearing on it and polish it when I get a chance.

[MCS]

The two tropical storms that passed near here in Jax this year, the best bite was the day or so before and during. Once the storm passed it was weeks before the bite came back on.

[prjavelin]

And Im back at 5 skunks. This sucks. the lake was kinda weird. It was a cloudy day and the fish were NOT splashing and eating on top water like they usually do. Maybe they were somewhere else. I didnt heard many splashes from bass. for some reason either the reel keeps breaking in or im getting better or both. I can cast really far with it with minimal effort. I did a guesstimation and I think im between 80-120 feet.

I used poppers, the rage shad and spinnerbaits. There was a lot of dirt and leaves in top of the water which made it worse if i tried surface lures. I may go fishing tomorrow again but ill go to another lake(30min farther than my home lake). I dont know.... wish me luck i guess.

the picture in the first post is the picture with the spot i was fishing, the one with no water on it and bushes in the back part of it.

[MarkH024]

Sometimes even in the best "conditions" they wont bite on the surface. Did you have a cold front come through? In any event, whenever the bite is tough, slow down. Work a worm on the bottom or through the weeds. Slow and subtle is your ticket to a non-skunked day. I like to power fish about 95% of the time. Cranks, spinners, jerkbaits, flukes, etc...anything that creates reaction bites. If that stuff isn't doing it for them, then I will switch to a texas rig, wacky or shakey head. Something a little more subtle. Usually you'll find one hungry mama.

[prjavelin]

im starting to try to back away from the power fishing style ive adopted and going into a finnesse fishing style. I believe this may suit my lake and the actual condition im in. Im thinking about shakey heads, hopping jigs, senkos again, developing skills on the texas AND carolina rigs. So im watching a lot of fishing videos. Im trying to figure out what do I need to fish those styles.

like you say, reaction strikes are so fun. sometimes you just have to go with something that catches fish. Bottom line i want to catch fish regularly. right now regularly is one ever 3 weeks or something stupid like that.

[prjavelin]

6 empty trips. the levels of the lake went UP. I have 3 or 4 spots to fish when i used to have a TON of shoreline spots. For the next trip im gonna consider two things since im fishing from the shore: im gonna go into a different reservoir or im gonna go extremely early to see if i can catch the early risers. Im kinda frustrated.

I need a boat, a canoe, anything that may help me float and reach those places where the fish are holding. My situation sucks!

[Gotfishyfingers?]

You need a NEW spot!

[prjavelin]

I finally broke the spell. It was kinda weird cause I went over to talk to the ranger and he is also a fisherman and he has caught only 2 bass in that lake. I started talking about tackle with him and I told him about senkos, he didnt knew what were the senkos so I brought my tackle box over and showed him and then I did the most reasonable thing, gave him two senkos and a hook. He was really happy and thankful. I then went to fish by the boat ramp, there was nobody fishing the lake but me. I went over to pick up the spinnerbait rod and I something told me to go with the senko like I told the guy. made my first cast and by the time I was doing the third pull she took my line in and I pulled her out. I couldnt get the hook out so I cut the line and I slid the eye out and off of the fish. She is not as big as she looks like. She is around 11-12 inches.

Another fact is that the lake went WAY up almost about to spill over.

I fish from shore that boat is the boat of the rangers. I have 2 spots that I can fish right now. I used to have like 15 with the lower levels.

I saw somebody selling a bass hunter 10.2 for 750 obo. I dont know if that a good deal but It doesnt have the trailer and Im gonna pull it with a car so i need a trailer. I need something to float and fish in this lake.

[Sniffles]

I finally broke the spell. It was kinda weird cause I went over to talk to the ranger and he is also a fisherman and he has caught only 2 bass in that lake. I started talking about tackle with him and I told him about senkos, he didnt knew what were the senkos so I brought my tackle box over and showed him and then I did the most reasonable thing, gave him two senkos and a hook. He was really happy and thankful. I then went to fish by the boat ramp, there was nobody fishing the lake but me. I went over to pick up the spinnerbait rod and I something told me to go with the senko like I told the guy. made my first cast and by the time I was doing the third pull she took my line in and I pulled her out. I couldnt get the hook out so I cut the line and I slid the eye out and off of the fish. She is not as big as she looks like. She is around 11-12 inches.

Another fact is that the lake went WAY up almost about to spill over.

I fish from shore that boat is the boat of the rangers. I have 2 spots that I can fish right now. I used to have like 15 with the lower levels.

I saw somebody selling a bass hunter 10.2 for 750 obo. I dont know if that a good deal but It doesnt have the trailer and Im gonna pull it with a car so i need a trailer. I need something to float and fish in this lake.

Why not just get a kayak. If you dont have alot of money just get a more affordable sit-in. Its what I have, and If I want to stand I just find a nice peice of shore I otherwise couldnt have reached and get out. And also have a blast doing most of my fishing from the yak. My Sit-in is just a pelican, one hatch in rear, Two flush rod holder built in the back, great for trolling. and one scotty rod holder in the front. I only paid 200$ new and couldnt be happier

[prjavelin]

The lake is changing a LOT. I got fishing today for like 2 hours. the fish were going crazy all over the place I could see many 2-3 inch bass 1 foot from shore. I also saw a lot of tilapia small mostly. I had a big 3-5 pound fish couple feet from shore that I tried luring into my spinnerbait. It just looked at it and showed no interest. Still seeing a big bass feet from shore is better than seeing a lot of bass in the middle of the lake where I cant catch them.

I guess things are looking up!!!

[deep]

Sounds like it's going to be a good Fall for you PR. Good luck, and good fishing!

[prjavelin]

I dont know if I should be happy or mad. screw it im happy. I got 2 bites today in around 1 hour of fishing. considering I was catching 1 bass per month I think it was a good day. First fish came after pulling a jig head on the bottom thru rocks.the action simulated something feeding on the bottom. I got her on a cheap spinning setup i have with 6# mono . when she, a 12-14 inch bass, came close to me she jumped out of the water like these beautiful creatures love to do and broke my line. considering i have a baitcaster with 50 pound braid I almost punched myself. It was the only worm i had on that color, it was a ashy linda silvery color. I emptied the tackle box looking for another and I found nothing. A bright green worm, a limetreuse, and a brown worm(straight tail from zoom that has a fatty end. sorry i cant remember the name) ohhh yeah zoom trick worm.

second came on the brown worm same presentation and it bit the worm like 4 feet from shore started running, i didnt set the hook right and i missed her. Either way Ive finally figured a way to entice bites.

I WAS STOKED. maybe next time i get to pull one and I get more pics.

what jig head is good for dragging on the bottom?

[deep]

Good stuff PR. Glad to know you're getting some action!

[pbrussell]

I dont know if I should be happy or mad. screw it im happy. I got 2 bites today in around 1 hour of fishing. considering I was catching 1 bass per month I think it was a good day. First fish came after pulling a jig head on the bottom thru rocks.the action simulated something feeding on the bottom. I got her on a cheap spinning setup i have with 6# mono . when she, a 12-14 inch bass, came close to me she jumped out of the water like these beautiful creatures love to do and broke my line. considering i have a baitcaster with 50 pound braid I almost punched myself. It was the only worm i had on that color, it was a ashy linda silvery color. I emptied the tackle box looking for another and I found nothing. A bright green worm, a limetreuse, and a brown worm(straight tail from zoom that has a fatty end. sorry i cant remember the name) ohhh yeah zoom trick worm.

second came on the brown worm same presentation and it bit the worm like 4 feet from shore started running, i didnt set the hook right and i missed her. Either way Ive finally figured a way to entice bites.

I WAS STOKED. maybe next time i get to pull one and I get more pics.

what jig head is good for dragging on the bottom?

Way to look at the positive. Now you can take the information you gathered in that hour and apply it next time. For your next go around perhaps you can take your baitcaster with braid and a slightly heavier jighead and use the same methods. This will not only ensure your line not breaking, but I would imagine the braid would have more sensitivity than the cheaper mono you were using despite the pound test difference.