Looking For A Little Help!

[duckhunter185]

Just started bass fishing this year. Wanted to try something new besides crappie and catfish. I have a boat and a good selection of worms, jigs, crank baits, spinner baits and drop shot. Ive been fishing quite a bit since early spring without much luck. Ive caught a few fish but that's about it. If anyone has any helpful tip that would be great!

Thanks Alex

[BassinLou]

Alex, welcome aboard. You are going to meet some great people and learn a ton of new things. First off, add more to your profile. It will help us identify were you are located more or less, and what bodies of water you are close to. I would offer some advice, however I like to know what part of the country you are located before I can give you suggestions. I am sure a BR member living closer to you will be able to be more helpful. Enjoy the site.

[AK-Jax86]

Lou said everything

One thing I can tell you is add frogs to your arsenal!! FROGS FROGS FROGS

[BrianinMD]

There are a lot of great articles and video's on the site. Well worth the time to go thru them.

 

There is a area of the forum for different sections of the country, a lot of times more specific answers to your general areas.

 

Otherwise there are a lot of knowledgeable guys here who are happy to help answer any question you have.

 

Welcome to the BR!!!

[CDobber]

Just started bass fishing this year. Wanted to try something new besides crappie and catfish. I have a boat and a good selection of worms, jigs, crank baits, spinner baits and drop shot. Ive been fishing quite a bit since early spring without much luck. Ive caught a few fish but that's about it. If anyone has any helpful tip that would be great!

Thanks Alex

I'm with you, which is why I find myself on this site for more than an hour or two a day.  There's gotta be more payoff down the road, but it does get frustrating when the time, effort, money and gear are all present but the fish aren't.  To tag onto what Lou said, it would also be helpful for the forum community to know a little more about the specs on your rod/reel/line as I've found many of those things come into play as well, for presentation/strength/depth and such.

 

I know with me its largely 2 factors...not enough experience yet with 'the feel' of bites as many are subtle and I certainly haven't been on those yet and locations, I'm not up to reading the conditions of the shore fishing or understanding my FF when using the pontoon to relate to structure, drop-offs, travel patterns and that sort of thing.  I'm improving but have a long ways to go, and experience will help a lot of that, simple man hours.  

[duckhunter185]

Thanks guys. I live in Decatur, IL and I fish Lake Decatur, Shelbyville and Clinton. I have 5 rods I use, 2 7' MH w/ baitcasters both with 14lb Fluorocarbon for my texas rig and jigs, 1 6'6 MH baitcaster w/ 14lb fluorocarbon for spinnerbaits, 1 7' Medium baitcaster with 10lb fluorocarbon for crankbaits and 1 7' medium spinning reel w/ 6lb fluorocarbon for dropshot and shakey head. I also have a 581 DI hummingbird and a minnkota fortrex 101 trolling motor and I will look into some frogs!

[duckhunter185]

The last rod for Dropshot is a spinning reel.

[Brian6428]

I'm with you, which is why I find myself on this site for more than an hour or two a day.  There's gotta be more payoff down the road, but it does get frustrating when the time, effort, money and gear are all present but the fish aren't.  To tag onto what Lou said, it would also be helpful for the forum community to know a little more about the specs on your rod/reel/line as I've found many of those things come into play as well, for presentation/strength/depth and such.

 

I know with me its largely 2 factors...not enough experience yet with 'the feel' of bites as many are subtle and I certainly haven't been on those yet and locations, I'm not up to reading the conditions of the shore fishing or understanding my FF when using the pontoon to relate to structure, drop-offs, travel patterns and that sort of thing.  I'm improving but have a long ways to go, and experience will help a lot of that, simple man hours.  

 

 

Just started bass fishing this year. Wanted to try something new besides crappie and catfish. I have a boat and a good selection of worms, jigs, crank baits, spinner baits and drop shot. Ive been fishing quite a bit since early spring without much luck. Ive caught a few fish but that's about it. If anyone has any helpful tip that would be great!

Thanks Alex

I am still in a situation similar to both you guys- beginner bass fisherman and struggling (though it sounds like I may be a little further along). All I can say is stick with it. If it were easy to catch bass everybody would do it. 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the fish. I have been fishing for a year now, and at times I struggled, but just stick with it, read all you can, keep a fishing log, watch flukemstrs videos on youtube and with some time you'll be catching bass left and right! I can now say that I can consistently catch one or two fish a fishing trip (about 4 hours), which is something I couldn't get close to doing when I started fishing a year ago. 

 

Good luck!

 

 

Brian

[roadwarrior]

Start your journey with "Fishing Areticles" at the top of the page.

 

At the top of this section there you'll fine "Best of BassResource",

read through that, too.

[duckhunter185]

Thanks Brian and Roadwarrior I will be sure to check those out! 

[CDobber]

Couldn't get any bass bites tonight but did have 2 reaction strikes while pulling frogs over lily pads from shore....close but not quite.

[bonzai22]

I live in central illinois but i have never fished lake decatur. For this time of year though i would look for some points that have good dropoffs into deep water. I like to fish jigs in a lake I'm unfamiliar with so i can find spots with good structure. Try the same thing at Clinton and also I have seen lake decatur and it looks like it has a lot of boat docks so if u could find some deeper docks I'm sure those would hold some fish as well. As everybody else said research and time on the water will help tremendously. 

[Fishes in trees]

Before you sink a lot of money into different rigs, do your research.  There is an abundance of articles on different tactics on this site.  That is a place to start.  Read Buck Perry, Charlie Brewer, and the various In-Fisherman books on fishing strategies.  Then you will have more information to decide on what type of rigs to get for your particular situation, and what you might want as you branch out to different fishing situations.

[duckhunter185]

The only fish ive caught have been on Clinton lake on football jigs.  Ive been fishing Decatur lately just because its close and I try to go about 4-5 times a week. I went this morning and had one bite but it was just real quick. Decatur does have a lot of boat docks and the best drop offs ive found are the ones around the bridges.  Also Decatur has a lot of rocks but not much stumps or lay downs. Whats the best way to fish these drop offs? shallow to deep, deep to shallow? Also the water is between 80 and 76 degrees should I been fishing the bank more on the rocks? Thanks for all the advice. I don't give up easy and im very willing to learn. 

[duckhunter185]

Before you sink a lot of money into different rigs, do your research.  There is an abundance of articles on different tactics on this site.  That is a place to start.  Read Buck Perry, Charlie Brewer, and the various In-Fisherman books on fishing strategies.  Then you will have more information to decide on what type of rigs to get for your particular situation, and what you might want as you branch out to different fishing situations.

Where would I find these guys articles on here?

Thanks

[FrogFreak]

I'm pretty new to the forum and have been fishing for a long time and I'll give you my 2 cents:

 

Try to get a good understanding of what presentations work with the on-the-water conditions you observe.

 

Get proficient with one or two presentations per condition but don't try to be good at every technique, that's just impossible. Here's what I mean:

 

If bait fish are popping on the surface you can throw a bunch of different baits. Try to become proficient in one, say a popper or a smaller swimbait that mimics the size and shape of the forage.

 

If bass are suspending you can throw a jerkbait. Try working on that technique.

 

If bass are relating tight to cover (docks, brushpiles, timber), you can throw a jig or a T-rigged plastic etc. etc.

 

When you run into conditions that are new to you. Look around bassresource.com for some answers. If you can't find any existing videos, articles or posts. Start one yourself. There are tons of helpful folks on this site.

 

But don't forget this is supposed to be fun. If you really enjoy a technique, use it! I love throwing frogs and will do so until the bass have assured me they won't bite on them. Then I change to another technique depending on the water temp, conditions, cover, time of year etc. etc. etc.

[bonzai22]

I would fish the points from shallow to deep and start with a football jig. I would try to find rocky points because i have been finding a lot of fish around rocks this year. If the jig doesn't work one bait i would try is a shakeyhead. A few times this year i have gone through a spot and fished it thoroughly with a jig with no bites then picked up a shakeyhead and whacked em.

[duckhunter185]

Thanks guys I would say rocks are what I see the most here in Decatur. I will work points this way. I will work on just a couple of techniques from now on, a jig and crankbait are what im most  comfortable with. I don't have any poppers or jerkbaits but I will get some.  I saw a bunch of shad today jumping behind the boat in some spots.  Are these good spots to use a crankbait?

thanks again

[Nice_Bass]

I fish most lakes around here although typically not Decatur, Mostly Clinton.  Let me know if you ever want/need some specifics for around here. 

[duckhunter185]

I love to fish Clinton but being 40 mins away its hard for me to make it there often. Although I may go there in the morning. So I have been trying to concentrate on Decatur and its mostly rocks and boat docks.

[Nice_Bass]

I love to fish Clinton but being 40 mins away its hard for me to make it there often. Although I may go there in the morning. So I have been trying to concentrate on Decatur and its mostly rocks and boat docks.

 

Same distance for me- but unless I want to go a couple hours in any direction it is by far the best fishery we have. 

Decatur lake has its fair share of issues- siltation, no good depth range, poor spawning, and fish kills. 

Always give yourself the best chance for success if you can help it. 

 

As far as dock fishing goes, and if you have not been, get to lake of the Ozarks in the spring sometime...

[duckhunter185]

I don't know many people who enjoy fishing Decatur for bass. I think im going to switch up lakes for tomorrow and hope for some better luck. Ive never bass fished boat docks but I have for crappie and its usually a sure thing! Is the fishing good on the lake of the Ozarks?

[Nice_Bass]

I don't know many people who enjoy fishing Decatur for bass. I think im going to switch up lakes for tomorrow and hope for some better luck. Ive never bass fished boat docks but I have for crappie and its usually a sure thing! Is the fishing good on the lake of the Ozarks?

It really is that good.  I try and go a couple times a year, but always make sure I go in april/may every year. 

Almost ruins the fishing for the rest of the year though being that spoiled with numbers and size for a couple days in a row!

Hope your luck runs better, the bite has been short around here lately but at the right time and place it has been pretty good for the most part.

[duckhunter185]

I go to Lake Norfork in Arkansas about every year. May have to make a stop at lake of the Ozarks for a couple days. Are april and may the best time to fish there?