So What Went Wrong Today.

[coots]

So we went and fished our bass club "tournament" today. The biggest fish that was weighed in was 5 pounds even. Most boats didn't even put 5 keepers in the boat, most blanked had just a couple two or three fish, no size.

 

So I'm trying to make note of what conditions were around, water temps, what was happening and most importantly WHERE should I have been looking for the fish. We do have a former FLW fisherman in our club, he had 5 nice fish weighing in over 16lbs.

 

So me being the guy I am, start thinking to myself. Where did he go, what did he fish, what was he doing different than the rest of us. Then, how do I implement that with dad the next time we go out in these conditions.

 

What i do know. The BFL is in town on our part of the water this week, so the fish will be REALLY fished or pressured, whatever u want to call it. We went to one spot where dad had caught a few nice keepers during the week, there was literally 8 boats on it. At 5, yes five in the morning. 

 

Anyway, we had some storms roll through late yesterday. So I would take that as a post-front type situation. It was nasty / cloudy / stormy all afternoon yesterday. This morning it was foggy, cloudy, semi-windy. Water temps are around mid 70's and higher in certain areas.

 

It's post-spawn so the fish should be moving out.

 

Talked to a couple other buddies of mine said they've been catching fish 8-12ft (which is where dad caught those keepers earlier in the week) on spinnerbaits over underwater grass.

 

We couldn't buy a bite today. I landed one fish all day (5am - 12pm) and it didn't measure. Dad landed two all day that barely measured 15in.

 

Reading the article on the front page of the website. It appears, following that advice about 'shallow to deep', we could have done a few things differently. We fished some banks, docks etc to see if we could get those few hanging around - nothing.

 

One of my big questions is this though. We went up into a cove that has produced for us in the past. There were baitfish EVERYWHERE. Slapping top of the water... flapping around having a good time. It just seemed like.... there just has to be bass in here somewhere. We threw jigs, t-rig worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, different colored everything. Just simply couldn't get a bass anywhere. 

 

Just kinda wondering if we should have moved out and followed the advice on the front and started fishing 'summer strutuce' already.... 

 

Just a hard day out there.

[Sam]

First, where are you?

 

Second, what body of water were you fishing?

 

The cold front you described turned them off.

 

They probably went deep and suspended or sat in the grass.

 

If it post-spawn then they are recovering and the big ladies will not hit your bait.

 

The bass had already fed on the baitfish or were recuperating from the spawn so they were not interested in your presentations.

 

There are always guys who seem to luck out or figure out the patter on your body of water from fishing it for a few years or studying it in great detail to locate places where the bass would go after a front and in post-spawn conditions.

 

Take notes on who caught what and where using whatever and keep on chucking those baits.

[coots]

First, where are you?

 

Second, what body of water were you fishing?

 

The cold front you described turned them off.

 

They probably went deep and suspended or sat in the grass.

 

If it post-spawn then they are recovering and the big ladies will not hit your bait.

 

The bass had already fed on the baitfish or were recuperating from the spawn so they were not interested in your presentations.

 

There are always guys who seem to luck out or figure out the patter on your body of water from fishing it for a few years or studying it in great detail to locate places where the bass would go after a front and in post-spawn conditions.

 

Take notes on who caught what and where using whatever and keep on chucking those baits.

I fish the Tennessee Rier, due North of Lake Guntersville (Lake G is about a 10 minutes boat ride for me). On a map I guess if you look at it, we fish the entire area around the BB Comer Bridge and down toward Lake Guntersville. There is fish here, the pros hang around fairly often We fish mainly around the Goosepond area, several coves etc back in that area as well as a creek (Roseberry Creek), that comes out into the main channel. That's where there was the swarm of boats where we couldn't fish really.

 

The thing that got me was the bait fish being everywhere.... literally everywhere just flapping around on the top of the water. It's like... come on now.... you know there's bass up in here! The place where they were was back in a cove we fish, it has a really deep pocket in it (23-24ft.) Down in that pocket is some brush etc. I dunno... I've made notes though. 

 

As far as asking the guy who did well today in the club.. that'd be a no-go.. He's the former FLW guy and he is as tight lipped as they come. He did tell me once what kind of rod he used... that's about it.

[Sam]

OK, you are fishing a river in Tennessee.

 

The spawn should have ended and the fish should be out of any post-spawn season. You are now in summer.

 

Summer on a river means the fish will swim around; move in and out of creeks and coves; and look for structure out of the current to hold as an ambush site and one that they feel safe.

 

But you know all of this.

 

Without knowing the body of water all I can suggest is to fish any wood or structure with a wacky Senko or YUM Dinger or a Zoom trick worm on a shaky head presentation.

 

Sometimes a crankbait parallel to the shore or any grass lines will produce strikes.

 

The bass will be looking for cooler water with more oxygen if you have had hot weather. So where on the river can they find a safe harbor with good oxygen levels?

 

If the baitfish are having fun frolicking in the creeks the bass are not around. They may be holding at the mouth of the creek or way in the back in the grass.

 

Wish I could give you a great answer but I have no idea where the fish on this river go after a storm.  Hopefully other guys will chime in with their input and suggestions.

[coots]

Hey man, I just appreciate the idea and your thoughts. I am actually in Alabama, about 30 minutes ride to be in Tennessee River. But the river comes right through my hometown.

[ww2farmer]

You got locked into doing what worked last time. Well...............that was last time. Fish move. What did your graph tell you? Not speaking to your body of water, as I have never been there, but  this is how I generally fish the post spawn. Go up shallow and LOOK (if the water is clear enough).................. if I don't like what I see I bolt. If I can't see much because of water clarity, thickness of cover, etc.. I fish around a few high % spots, but bail on it quick if I don't "feel it" or get a bite or two. The next place I look is in the grass right outside the spawning areas, sometimes they are there, sometimes they are not. An hour will tell you all you need to know. If that's no good, I hit the deep edge of that grass, keeping my eyes glued to my graph while fishing, and making sure I hit any irregular features in the grass line (points, cuts, big bare spots, etc), and if that's not happening I look deep with my electronics. Often they will suspend out and away from the grass, or slide out to deeper isolated cover, and it doesn't have to be a massive thing either. I have found fish around a lone rock in 22 FOW. It's just something they can relate to while they recover. Post spawn fishing can be great but you have to cover water, and basically junk fish. Take the last three days for me, for example. Thursday, I found all my fish on the inside (shallow) edge of the grass line, yesterday they slid out to the deep edge, and today they were out in 15-20 FOW just "hanging out"  The pattern for the next 2-3 weeks here will be, no pattern. One here, one there, a few doing this, a few doing that. Timing is key in this period too. Be where they are when the switch flips, or strike out. I tend to downsize and fish slower this time of year too, I don't know if that helps. But the last three days I have caught (for my best five)  two 15+ lb bags (Thursday and today), and a 20lb + bag yesterday, ( I always keep track, even when not in a tournament.........IDK why, it's just what I do LOL) with lots of keepers to keep me busy between the good ones, when a couple of my buddies have been struggling to just get bites.

[scrutch]

As far as the baitfish breaking the surface convincing you that bass are there, you're probably correct, they're bass, but could they be WHITE bass? This has been a fairly common sight at many of the southern lakes I've fished (like Guntersville, and Kentucky and Barkley). I've been so frustrated on Kentucky while in the midst of this, that I just wanted to quit fishing altogether. I didn't figure it out until I started studying my electronics and scanning coves to try and get a better picture. After I got the hunch, I threw an inline spinner and caught a few. Then I knew. Time to move to different water. They're not always largemouth.

[BamaBoy5]

Two weeks ago we caught 20 fish dragging shell beds in 8-10 fow between south sauty and bb comer with the water temp in the mid to upper 70s so maybe that will help.