Summertime Funk

[aqualkinbush]

You used all those lures in 3.5 hours?

I fished from about 6AM to 4PM I was out there over 10 hours or more.

[Revival]

I fished from about 6AM to 4PM I was out there over 10 hours or more.

 

Ahh....i was reading your original post.  

[prjavelin]

On 6/26/2013 at 10:44 AM, aqualkinbush said:

Spinner baits ranging from 1/4 oz to 3/4 oz a wide spectrum of color and blade type combinations. reaction bait

Crank baits some with rattles, some without, various sizes and depths, craw colors, shad colors, wide wobbles, narrow wobbles, Scatter Raps minnows shad firetiger pattern. reaction baits

Buzz baits red/black, white chartreuse. reaction bait

Football jigs, regular jigs, swim jigs with swimbait trailers in shad and sunfish colors, PBJ 1/4 oz to 3/8 oz finesse jigs, craw patterns.  mostly reaction baits

Weightless senkos, Zoom 10in worms rigged weightless and texas. Hand Poured Finesse worms. Yum mud minnows. 10 inch to a slow neutral bass is a huge bait. Finesse worms fished how? senkos what size?

tube baits.

soft frogs Lazy bass on top water ... meh not gonna happen, it that was a sinking kicking frog or something like that its also a reaction bait.

I even threw my small BPS flash mob imitation ARig reaction baits

Dipped the plastics in JJS and fished them without.

 

Fished them slow fished them fast and everything in between.

 

Im trying to help you please believe me. You are trying to fish like KVD. He is the best ever, but as we saw in the last tournament of MLF in Florida He has to power fish. He hates slowing down and fishing slow finesse baits. Power fishing is not the way to go. It is in fall but when the bass are neutral its useless. You and I dont have his boat or the 200,000 acre lakes he fishes to cover enormous amount of water. Dont hate slowing down. Catching a bass finessing and fishing painfully slow is better than not catching a thing. I am a finesse fisherman and I was a spinnerbait chucker. I would spend 5 hours chucking the spinnerbait to get what? 2 bites? until I met a master of finesse fishing.

 

Find, buy or use the most sensitive spinning rod you can find in ML Fast 7feet.

decent reel.

8 or 6# flourocarbon. I love seagar...this is a whole new discussion though...

fish 3 rigs:

 

slider heads(my favorite, Im very good at it) in 1/16. the ones with the really light wire hook. use 4 inch plastics on it. Zoom finesse worms, ring worms and my favorite, a 4 inch ring lizard. This bait is extremely effective at my home lake when I fish it, just bump it slowly with stops in between. for the finesse worm you can do this or just reel it slowly. for the ring worm just leave it in the bottom and move it 2 inches then stop for like 20 seconds and repeat, leave the line with a little slack.

 

shakey head from deep to shallow, painfully slow. I love a round head in 3/8 with a trick worm or the shorter trick worm. watch the video from Glenn and fish it slower than him.

 

drop shot. Watch a bunch of videos on it and fish it considering that you want to do it to learn the technique.

 

in that order. fish for at least 4 hours early morning. LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE AT HOME.

 

How clear is that lake right now?

 

Unless you have seen a ton of dead bass, IGNORE every person telling you to switch ponds. You will not learn a thing if you decide to do it this way. Instead, take this time fishing this tough environment as a learning experience and growth. when the time comes that you are fishing this important tournament and the bass are lip locked you will have something to fall back on and that wont be a skunk.

 

report back your findings.

[Brackish Angler 228]

This is exactly dead on.  You're using massive baits for a pond.  You shouldn't need anything over 1/2 oz EVER for a small, calm pond.  You definitely don't need a 10" worm.  4" - 6.5" worms on either shakey heads or light T-rigs with either 2/0 or 3/0 light-wire hooks (round bend for actual worms, EWG for thicker baits like senkos, craws, etc.)  Dip in JJs, cast and set your rod down (not litterally, just don't move the bait for at least 30s).  Then fish painfully slow and stop and shake or doodle for a second then let sit for another 30s.  You want your bait to sit still more than it moves.

[A-Jay]

 You will not learn a thing if you decide to do it this way. Instead, take this time fishing this tough environment as a learning experience and growth. when the time comes that you are fishing this important tournament and the bass are lip locked you will have something to fall back on and that wont be a skunk.

 

 

Very sage advice.

 

A-Jay

[aqualkinbush]

On 6/26/2013 at 9:58 PM, prjavelin said:

Im trying to help you please believe me. You are trying to fish like KVD. He is the best ever, but as we saw in the last tournament of MLF in Florida He has to power fish. He hates slowing down and fishing slow finesse baits. Power fishing is not the way to go. It is in fall but when the bass are neutral its useless. You and I dont have his boat or the 200,000 acre lakes he fishes to cover enormous amount of water. Dont hate slowing down. Catching a bass finessing and fishing painfully slow is better than not catching a thing. I am a finesse fisherman and I was a spinnerbait chucker. I would spend 5 hours chucking the spinnerbait to get what? 2 bites? until I met a master of finesse fishing.

 

Find, buy or use the most sensitive spinning rod you can find in ML Fast 7feet.

decent reel.

8 or 6# flourocarbon. I love seagar...this is a whole new discussion though...

fish 3 rigs:

 

slider heads(my favorite, Im very good at it) in 1/16. the ones with the really light wire hook. use 4 inch plastics on it. Zoom finesse worms, ring worms and my favorite, a 4 inch ring lizard. This bait is extremely effective at my home lake when I fish it, just bump it slowly with stops in between. for the finesse worm you can do this or just reel it slowly. for the ring worm just leave it in the bottom and move it 2 inches then stop for like 20 seconds and repeat, leave the line with a little slack.

 

shakey head from deep to shallow, painfully slow. I love a round head in 3/8 with a trick worm or the shorter trick worm. watch the video from Glenn and fish it slower than him.

 

drop shot. Watch a bunch of videos on it and fish it considering that you want to do it to learn the technique.

 

in that order. fish for at least 4 hours early morning. LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE AT HOME.

 

How clear is that lake right now?

 

Unless you have seen a ton of dead bass, IGNORE every person telling you to switch ponds. You will not learn a thing if you decide to do it this way. Instead, take this time fishing this tough environment as a learning experience and growth. when the time comes that you are fishing this important tournament and the bass are lip locked you will have something to fall back on and that wont be a skunk.

 

report back your findings.

 

 

On 6/27/2013 at 6:51 AM, Brackish Angler 228 said:

This is exactly dead on.  You're using massive baits for a pond.  You shouldn't need anything over 1/2 oz EVER for a small, calm pond.  You definitely don't need a 10" worm.  4" - 6.5" worms on either shakey heads or light T-rigs with either 2/0 or 3/0 light-wire hooks (round bend for actual worms, EWG for thicker baits like senkos, craws, etc.)  Dip in JJs, cast and set your rod down (not litterally, just don't move the bait for at least 30s).  Then fish painfully slow and stop and shake or doodle for a second then let sit for another 30s.  You want your bait to sit still more than it moves.

 

Let me give a little bit of background info on this water. It's 10 acres, usually stained to muddy, water visibility is usually about 1 ft with my cheapo polarized lenses. You can take a look at an older shot of it by going here: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215149613406625210540.0004e024fb06969f7e1e0

This was back when they were constructing the park around it. It's much nicer now.

 

The visibility is why I have been throwing larger baits here, plus I simply like to thrower larger baits to be honest, always have. Not to mention before this long stretch of funk I was catching quite large bass for  a pond. Nothing under 2lbs. with the biggest being 5lbs. I have even landed some really big crappie on a 1/2oz  spinnerbait in mid april.

 

I also honestly have zero confidence in soft plastics I fish them nearly every time I go out and have never caught anything on them. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but I have watched countless videos and read soooo many articles on them that at this point I don't know what it could be that I'm doing wrong other than possibly the set up I'm using. 7ft MH Fast Abu Garcia Veritas rod with a Quantum Smoke 7:1.0 Baitcaster spooled with 20lb PLine Fluorocarbon (I Love PLine it's casts so smoothly and is thinner diameter than the other fluro's I've used).

 

I only have the one good setup and I also like to ocassionally fish the river and there are some big stripers in there thus the 20lb test. Plus I had some bad luck with throwing lures into the drink when I was casting with 10lb mono and I just feel better having 20lb fluoro knowing I won't throw my bait away and I can normally get anything back when it gets snagged. Hell, I reeled a huge downed tree all the way to shore once to get my favorite spinner back lol.

 

I want to buy a lighter setup but I have yet to convince The Fiance to let me spend the money on spinning gear. She is much more worried about saving money for the wedding than me buying new rods and reels lol.

 

The senko was  5 in.

 

I do plan on getting something on the lower end of my gears line spectrum 12lb and trying that for some drop shotting and carolina rigging but it's probably still a bit on the heavy side for those techniques if I understand correctly. Do you think 12lb fluro will be ok for a drop shot rig or will I have to wait until I get my light gear setup?

[prjavelin]

Let me give a little bit of background info on this water. It's 10 acres, usually stained to muddy, water visibility is usually about 1 ft with my cheapo polarized lenses. You can take a look at an older shot of it by going here: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215149613406625210540.0004e024fb06969f7e1e0

This was back when they were constructing the park around it. It's much nicer now.

 

The visibility is why I have been throwing larger baits here, plus I simply like to thrower larger baits to be honest, always have. Not to mention before this long stretch of funk I was catching quite large bass for  a pond. Nothing under 2lbs. with the biggest being 5lbs. I have even landed some really big crappie on a 1/2oz  spinnerbait in mid april.

 

I also honestly have zero confidence in soft plastics I fish them nearly every time I go out and have never caught anything on them. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but I have watched countless videos and read soooo many articles on them that at this point I don't know what it could be that I'm doing wrong other than possibly the set up I'm using. 7ft MH Fast Abu Garcia Veritas rod with a Quantum Smoke 7:1.0 Baitcaster spooled with 20lb PLine Fluorocarbon (I Love PLine it's casts so smoothly and is thinner diameter than the other fluro's I've used).

 

I only have the one good setup and I also like to ocassionally fish the river and there are some big stripers in there thus the 20lb test. Plus I had some bad luck with throwing lures into the drink when I was casting with 10lb mono and I just feel better having 20lb fluoro knowing I won't throw my bait away and I can normally get anything back when it gets snagged. Hell, I reeled a huge downed tree all the way to shore once to get my favorite spinner back lol.

 

I want to buy a lighter setup but I have yet to convince The Fiance to let me spend the money on spinning gear. She is much more worried about saving money for the wedding than me buying new rods and reels lol.

 

The senko was  5 in.

 

I do plan on getting something on the lower end of my gears line spectrum 12lb and trying that for some drop shotting and carolina rigging but it's probably still a bit on the heavy side for those techniques if I understand correctly. Do you think 12lb fluro will be ok for a drop shot rig or will I have to wait until I get my light gear setup?

I have the exact same rod you have. Paired with that reel you are drag racing. When I first got it I was so happy with it that I used it for shakey heads. Its not optimum but it may work. maybe for drop shot but that line is huge. 12lb is also huge. theres a reason why I suggested a decent reel. A smooth drag is a necessity. Dont worry about the stripers, If you fight them correctly and the reel is set  up right you can pull anything with 6-8 pound line. Ive pulled Huge logs from the bottom with that light setups. Ive also seen people pull double digit bass with 8 pound flouro. If you dont have the money for anything better Ive heard from friends that the microlite from bps are decent. I fished with an Ugly stick for a long time until a couple weeks ago I bought a nice spinning set up.

 

I dont like 5 inch senkos. Bass in the lake I fish dont bite them period. If I switch and cast into the same spot with a 4 inch senko they go nuts and love it. I could be an exception. Losing a plastic worm is not as painful as losing a 20$ crankbait. you get 20 per package for these smaller sizes and they run from 4-5$ a package.

 

I think 12 pound is big for any kind of finesse fishing. Anglers dont even use that thick of a line for cranks.

[Revival]

I want to buy a lighter setup but I have yet to convince The Fiance to let me spend the money on spinning gear. She is much more worried about saving money for the wedding than me buying new rods and reels lol.

 

 

 

I say the Fiance lets you buy new spinning gear or the wedding is off!!!

[esoxangler]

You are getting some good tips on presentation and times to go. Have you ever consider getting yourself some hip or chest waders? Could help you get out a little deeper to where they may be, at odd times during the day.

[Curved]

Try a suspending hard jerkbait like an X-Rap or a KVD Jerkbait in a darker color. Run it REAL slow. Like 1 revolution on the reel every 3 seconds slow. Toss in a couple small jerks here or there and let it sit for a couple seconds after the jerks.

 

Also I'd recommend going to walmart and picking up a really cheap spinner for $15 -- one of the ones with 6lb mono already on it and no continuous anti-reverse. Use that instead of your ship catcher. Just set the drag appropriately and you can land anything in that pond.

[Jay Ell Gee]

If I may suggest a few things...

I do agree that sticking with the pond is a good idea to learn to finesse. If I was going to use that method, I would be throwing a split shot rig. Light line, maybe 8lb yo-Zuri hybrid. You could probably get away with 6.

My other suggestion will mimick a post from the first page... Get some old sneakers, some old shorts and a good long sleeve fishing shirt (help with sunburn) and go plop your butt in a creek, stream, or light flowing river. Do some research in your area for wade fishing.

I don't have the luxury of smallmouth in Louisiana, but you can bet I have done some serious creek wading for spotted bass. They are willing biters and are the most active bass that I can find in the summer. We kayak fished a moving creek yesterday and were catching spots on TOPWATER lures (prop baits mainly) at NOON! Tossing them in shaded areas and one good rip produced many a spotted bass. We also tossed small tubes and did well there too. Small spinnerbaits and squarebills produced... Get the point?

There is no shame in finding some moving water and giving it a shot. Read a few articles about fishing riffles, current seams, undercut banks, inside bends, and go try it. Make sure the bottom is safe to walk on. A wading staff is nice, but I don't wear waders. If they fill up, you are in trouble. A pfd is not a bad idea if there are deep spots.

Go forth and slam some stupid river bass!

[zwhiten12]

I've been having decent luck catching a few by finding lay downs or some other form of cover in the shade. I either cast right beside the cover or right on the edge of the shadow. And, I've been going slower with a weightless senko. Good luck!!

[Fireguyfrank58]

I know I'm late to the party but I am also having a summer funk here in Middle TN.  I fish Percy Priest and have been throwing every jig, soft bait I can to try and get a strike and nothing.  Just 2 weeks ago I was catching great fish in the same spot.  Now not even a bite. I am fishing from the bank with no boat so my spots are very limited.  I am thinking the fish are holding in deep water right now do to the very hot days we have been having.  I have been going at daylight, and dawn and still nothing right now. Here is a bit of what I have been trying.

-White Buzz bait- Nothing

-Black spinner-Nothing

-Black/ Red Zoom Speed Craw Texas w/ 1/4oz weight-Nothing

-June Bug Zoom Baby Brush Texas w/ 1/4 0z weight- Nothing

-Green Pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Texas w/ 1/4 oz weight-Couple hits

-Green/Red Brush Hog Texas 1/4 OZ weight - Nothing

-Red Shad,June Bug, Black, and Black/Silver Culprit Worms Texas 1/4 oz- Nothing

-Rage Tail Summer Craw-Nothing

-Black 1/2 oz Jig Baby brush hog trailer- Couple hits Maybe

-5" June Bug Senko Wacky-Nothing

 

I know this wont help  you much but I think they bass are just holding in deeper water.  I see alot of bait fish very close to the shore but not alot of top water hits at all.  Be stubborn and stay at it! I am going to also. Ill try and post if anything else I try starts to work.

[aqualkinbush]

I finally defeated the skunk! Went out today around 10:30 (intended to leave around sunrise, this is what happens when the fiance attends the trips lol) intending to do some catfishing, and after about an hour of only getting a short hit on the catfish bait I looked to my fiance and said "man it looks bassy today" reeled in the catfish rig and tied on this new crankbait I got from BPS on friday http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-Professional-Series-Hardbaits-Flat-Crank/product/74322/ First cast I made is parallel to a rocky shoreline I reel it close to shore and bang it off some rocks along the way. The wobble on this thing is huge, It swings out so wide it appears to almost flop up on it's side and boy the rattle in this thing is fierce you can hear it coming through the water about a foot away even from the shore. Anyway, About 3 feet from me It's slammed from behind by this 1-1.5 # large mouth.

 

 

The very next cast I have moved off in the opposite direction and cast basically right along the shore where I was sitting while catfishing and this little bugger wacks it once again from behind. (I know because I saw them both strike and the hooks were in the roof of there mouths.

 

 

After that it died off for a while and the fiance was ready to go so I agreed to head out after taking a couple casts to the shore further left of where we were and on the second cast absolute quality 3-3.5lber absolutely engulfs it and gives me a nice aerial view before I land em.

 

 

It had that crank nearly swallowed, got it out without doing too much damage snapped some shots and after a couple tense moments that led to me standing knee deep in the pond for about a minute and a half trying to get the bleeding in his gills to clot and for it to recover. Thankfully we got fully recovered and it swam off just fine. So this 3 hour trip successfully washed off the skunk and I think I figured out a good pattern that will hopefully hold for a repeat trip tomorrow.

[Revival]

Congrats man! It was only a matter of time!

[Fireguyfrank58]

Nice! I'm glad to see things turned around for you.  I think I may head up to the lake and fish at around 7 till a little past dark.  Thats usually the best time I have had good results.

[WRB]

This is a long thread and did read most of it!

Your problem isn't lure or lure presentation technique....it's location for the seasonal period.

The easy spawner's , both pre spawn and post spawn have left the area you are fishing at the time you are fishing there

You are a bank angler, the only way you can fish deeper water is relocate to deeper water where the majority bass are now located. The deepest water in any made made reservoir is at the dam. Take a look at the lake map and determine where the major points, the points where creek arms are located that you can get to from the bank. Fish those points and areas inbetween the points.

Since you can only carry a limited amount of tackle start with soft plastics that you have. Rig these soft plastic worms, creatures, crawls etc. with a slip shot rig. All you need to do this is add a Carolina Keeper or pegged glass bead on the same outfit you fish Texas rigged worms with a sliding sinker. Add the keeper between the hook and weight and adjust the stop anywhere from 12" to 24". Make fan casting patterns to cover the area before changing presentations.

Your other option is to fish at night if that is feasible and safe. I would use the same rig and add a buzz bait .

Tom

[Fireguyfrank58]

  Well I busted out of my funk tonight too.  Caught 10 with 2 being 2 pounds.  The others were small but still fun to catch fish again.  Caught 3-4 on Black with red glitter Zoom speed craw, and a couple on June bug baby brush hog.  I even caught my with first fish ever on a 1/2 oz Jig with baby brush hog trailer! 

[aqualkinbush]

  Well I busted out of my funk tonight too.  Caught 10 with 2 being 2 pounds.  The others were small but still fun to catch fish again.  Caught 3-4 on Black with red glitter Zoom speed craw, and a couple on June bug baby brush hog.  I even caught my with first fish ever on a 1/2 oz Jig with baby brush hog trailer! 

Nice congrats. I don't know what conditions are like in Murfreesboro right now but if they are like they are here, in and out cloudy threatening like it's going to rain but hardly doing so, I think it has a big part on why they really started biting yesterday and it looks like it's going to hold this way for another day or so. I think I'm gonna get out and fish some more before it changes.

[MCS]

Nice fish man. Glad you finally got a few.

[aqualkinbush]

Thanks went out Monday and hammered them on the same pattern. Went alone so I didn't get any pictures but it was a really good day. Rained heavily on and off though so It looked like I had been swimming after the first hour lol.

[Dean G.]

aqualkinbush,

If your in clarksville, try the clarksville marina or behind hooters on red river. Yellow creak is good too. Any questions, let me know.

[Glenn]

Hank Parker shows you how to catch 'em after they disappear from the shallows!

http://www.bassresource.com/hank-parker-fishing/deep-water-summer.html

 

Follow the links at the bottom of the article for even more summer fishing tips.

 

Enjoy!

[aqualkinbush]

aqualkinbush,

If your in clarksville, try the clarksville marina or behind hooters on red river. Yellow creak is good too. Any questions, let me know.

Yea I like the marina after it floods. When the water is up over those rocks you can really catch some big bass over there. In fact my profile pic is at the marina after the last bit of flooding.

[pdmc1]

I have had some luck at the marina there in Clarksville and might go tomorrow depending on the weather..have you tried going to the Ky dam area and fishing in the Tn river? The big bass in holding was caught there and me and my buddy do pretty good there.