Frustration

[bigdawg74]

i am starting to think that i should have found a different hobby to fall in love with, been fishing this lake for weeks and haveing no luck at all. i know the fish are in there, my wife got one, and people i know have gotten them, i have tries every piece of advice i have gotten here and fished 4 hours thismorning spending 1 houre in 4 diferent spots with not as much as a nible.

[Crestliner2008]

O.K., first off, what kind of lake is it? How clear is the water? Are you fishing from a boat or from shore? What are you using? Lots of variables to consider in giving you any kind of decent response to your question. Need more info please.

[bigdawg74]

not sure how to explain the lake. it is about 2000m across and about 1500 wide in spots. it is fed by a river but is pretty shallow were the water comes in. it seems to be pretty deep in spots and seems to drop off fast from the shore line in allot of spots, there is also a small islane that seperated the town beash from the rest of the lake, thismorning it was brownish and i could start seeing my lures about 4 feet from the surface in the deeper parts.i am fishing from a canoe using either tubes, i have dark green a brown with a florecent tain and a white. i also use alot of pond magic spinnerbaits , id i try to use a hook and worm it get stolen by small perch rock bass and sunfish pretty fast.hope that gives a litle help in any advice posible.

[bigdawg74]

and also when you guys say go deeper inhot clear weather does that meen 30+ feet in the midle of the lake or 10+ feen neer the shore?

[Crestliner2008]

You are fishing a small reservoir then. In summer, smallmouth bass (>2.5 lbs.) inhabit off-shore, deeper bottom structures that baitfish frequent. No bait...no fish. It won't be until mid-Sept., before they start moving in shallower areas of the lake, following the bait. Without a portable sonar unit, you are definitely handicapped in finding bigger fish at this time of the year. I'm not saying that you would use it to find the fish...rather to find the bait. The fish will always be nearby.

Until you can get together a few coins to get an inexpensive sonar for your canoe, make a "hand sounder". Get a 40' length of parachute cord. Tie a 4 oz. large nut & bolt to one end. Tie simple overhand knots every 10'. You can use this to "sound" the depth of the lake pretty accurately. Thereby finding humps, holes and hard/soft bottom areas. It won't tell you which of these structures the bait is on, but it will get you into the ball park.

Get yourself fishing the drop shot rig. A google search will give you plenty of advice on this technique as well as the articles at the top of this forum. Then, once you find a spot which you think may hold bait, a few probes with the drop shot will tell you if you are correct or not. When the bait starts moving shallow (as the water cools in the fall), a jig & curly tail can be dynamite. 1/8 oz. ball head jig with a 3" - 4" curly tailed worm trolled along the first break will definitely get you bit at this time. You will learn where that first break is with the "sounder" I described earlier.

This should get you off the ground. Good Luck!

[bigdawg74]

thanks so much crestliner for all the advice. ilooked into it and i think i am going to get a fishfinder today, i found 1 for 110$ at canadian tire near my house that has some reaL good reviews. i am also going to try drop shot this weekend or wenever i get back out again. can you use live worms for this?

[roadwarrior]

Drop shot a Slug-Go or Fluke; Fat Ika weightless;

flutter spoon and Rage Tail Baby Craw.

[MarkH024]

What is the name of the lake? Try finding a topographic map of it. Google does wonders. If you can find one, then start marking out the map where it looks "ideal" for smallies to be and start hammering those areas. Find the breaks from shallow to deep, find the humps, etc...Try them multiple times a day if you can. 30 min at a spot and then change...if you're getting hit on a spot, stay until you catch one. Record how you were catching them. Write down as much info as you can about it and then try it at the next spot exactly how you did before.

If you give me the name I'll try to track one down for you.