Absolutely Stumped

[Mccallister25]

I mainly fish local neiborhood ponds. I go out almost everyday, and havent caught a single bass in over two weeks. Iv tried everything. Lighter weight jigs to larger jigs of a variety of colors. Squarebills, lipless cranks, deep cranks. Texas rigs, senkos, spinnerbaits.. You name it, iv tried it. Iv tried fishing slow, to fast. Nothing.

The temperatures here have been in the high seventies to low eighties for about the last two weeks. Not sure of the water temps. I'm not exactly a beginner but also have a lot i could learn. Iv just never had this much trouble catching a bass.

I know theyre probably spawning right now, but i cant seem to find the beds. Can anyone give me some insight on what I might need to do so put somethin on my line?

[gulfcaptain]

I do a lot of pond fishing and one of the best tools you can have with you, a pond thermometer.  I got one from a fish store that's made to float in a goldfish pond.  Temps give you an idea of where to look.  What did you catch your fish on 2 weeks ago?  What kind of cover is there?  When you catch fish do you look at where they were relating to?  Lastly, what is the forage base in the pond?

[CDMeyer]

I would just go back to what you are best at, and do not change the bait, color, or presentation until you catch something.  It can be painful but sometimes in a drought that is one of the only ways to get you out

[WRB]

If the water clarity is decent you should be seeing bass cruising the bank, both smaller males and a few females, keep mind in your pond has a limited number of adult size bass.

My advise is make a change to your presentations. If you are not using finesse presentations, start!

Split shot or drop shotting with 5" and "6 worms; curl tails with split shot and straight tails with drop shot.

Tom

[Scott F]

If the bass are spawning, they aren't feeding and won't be for a little while. The males will be protecting the nests and the females will be recuperating from spawning.  Things should be picking up soon as the post spawn period ends and they start feeding again.

[michang5]

I fish a lot of small ponds in warm central Texas. I haven't done as well as everyone else on the main city lake, but I've been killing it at ponds.

What has really worked for me the last two weeks:

1) Go around lunchtime when the sun is the highest.

2) With a pair of polarized sunglasses, you should see any bedding bass. Walk slowly and carefully from as far back as you can.

3) If you can see them, they likely can see you. This doesn't mean you can't catch them, but it might be harder. Either way, take note of where any beds are. If you don't catch them that day, you can come back later/tomorrow and stand farther back and throw to the same spot.

4) Other times of day will work, but it may be harder to see without direct sun and calm water.

5) Whether you can find beds or not, switch to a Zoom finesse worm (watermelon red flake is my favorite) on a small drop shot hook (I like Mustad size 2 or Gamakatsu size 1).

6) If your pond is shallow and if there is no wind, go weightless wacky. Insert hook through worm right below "egg sack." Cast it out with light spinning gear and line. Count to 10, twitch 2-3 times, count to 5, repeat twitch and pause.

7) If the pond is deeper and/or if there is wind, switch to an actual drop-shot rig with a 1/8oz drop-shot weight about 6-12" below the hook. I use a Palomar knot and run the tag end back through hook eye. I cast out, wait for weight to reach bottom, reel up slack, count to 3, lift rod tip 1', reel slack and repeat. I used to nose-hook the worm, but I've found that hook-up ratio is much better with wacky. The trade off is that you will likely get a big tangle to unravel after each hooked fish.

8) Throw either of the rigs past beds or toward grass patches, weed lines, near any submerged branches, and parallel to the bank.

9) You won't need to set the hook hard on either presentation. Just drop rod tip, reel up slack, and snap the rod tip up firmly.

Hope it works for you. Here's what I was able to get in 90 minutes walking around my neighborhood pond. Got 7 at a different pond a few days later.

[Catt]

Wacky Rig!

[Mccallister25]

Thanks guys. If i go out today, imma just try maybe a t-rig with a finesse worm. I'll see what I can do.

[Fishes in trees]

If you are bank bound, one of the most  helpful pieces of equipment you can get is a pair of hip waders.  One, this makes your more fearless as you are crashing through brush and tall weeds on the shore line.  Two, getting off the bank even a couple of feet will allow you much better casting angles, especially in the spring time when paralleling the bank.

[ClackerBuzz]

Wacky Rig!

this. 5" senko wacky rigged has a nice fall rate and action for finicky bass

[Mccallister25]

Well, I only caught one bass today on my outing; but hey.. It broke my dry spell.

 

I only went out with two rods today, one with a black spinnerbait tied on, and one with a t-rigged Zoom finesse worm. I pitched the Zoom under a shade tree, only a few feet off the bank and it seemed like the worm didnt even have time to hit the water good before the bass absolutely annhialated it. I dont even think the bass was in no more than maybe 2.5 feet of water.

I attached a pic of the bass I caught today, which Ill set any pride aside and say the catch was mostly luck.. Honestly, with the lack of visable cover I have to work with around these ponds, I have no clue how to find bedding bass unless I see them swimming around. How far off from the bank should I work?

 

Anyway, heres my catch for today.

 

[michang5]

Zoom finesse worm! It ain't luck. You asked for help. We gave suggestions. You took it, made your own modifications and caught a fish. Good work!

In my limited experience with bedding fish, they don't seem too far out if the bank you're fishing is pretty shallow. I've seen them 1-5' from the bank.

[Mccallister25]

Thanks michang! I really liked the finesse worm. Iv had em forever, and never really use em. I jig way more than i fish a t-rig, but using it today I almost had two more nice fish. I missed the hooksets. Not until after getting home and lurking the forum did I happen to stumble upon a thread that mentioned verticle hooksets were better for Texas rigging than a diagonal hookset.

[boostr]

At least you caught one, I went out yesterday and didn't catch poop.

[Preytorien]

Nice fish!

 

I'm going through a bit of a drought right now too. I'm in Indiana, where the air is only hitting the mid-50's so my bass aren't quite to spawning yet, so it's more like fishing late winter, so it's pretty slow. I'm excited about landing something more along the size you hauled in.

[Yancydoo]

I've been hitting numerous ponds and even my local lake here in North Texas.  I have tried every hard lure I have along with variety of soft like craws, worms, swim baits and creature baits.  I had 2 bites the other day on a red/black worm bait but it threw the hook both times.  I haven't got another bite since.  The lakes here are about 10ft below normal so bedding areas are hard to find and water clarity is very bad.  I'm trying to stick to local ponds but still not having any success.  I hit a local marina this morning and was there for 2 hours and didn't have any luck either.  I am thinking with the weather and temperature fluctuating a lot with the storms we are getting may have a factor but I have worn myself out trying to figure out how to get anything.  It has been colder than normal here for this time of year so I am guessing that may play a part but I am getting frustrated.

 

Any tips?

[Choporoz]

I spent last week in Havelock, NC for work.  I hit the ponds on the base every day.  Far and away the best presentation, no matter the time of day or the depth or anything else, was a green finesse/shaky worm with no weight at all.  Tough to cast very far, but that slow fall killed 'em.  I also did OK with 4 in. Senkos (no weight), but mostly went to those when I felt I needed the casting distance more than the perfect drop.  (For no apparent reason, purple was hot one afternoon, but watermelon the rest of the time.)

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

Bass will go out of their minds with sudden or drastic weather changes. Cold fronts will cause them to slow their bite and usually head deep. But not always. Keep an open and variety mindset with our lures. Here in nc when that happens I use a drop shot. With the water being stained I will also tie on a creature that is darker.

[Ratherbfishing]

What time of the day are you going?  I find that especially in early spring, the later in the day you go, the more the sun has warmed the water and the more active the bass will be.

 

Have you tried lipless crankbaits (with rattles)?  On one early spring day a friend and I fished everything including the kitchen sink without a sniff from the bass but when we tied on lipless crankbaits, the pond came alive with bass.  I've seen it numerous times since then.

[Mccallister25]

Yea,iv tried the rat-l-traps and red eye shads, to no avail..yet. Itll just be a matter of time. Since I started this thread Iv broken my dry spell though. Sunday I caught a 3 pound fish on a t-rig, and last night I jigged four bass out of a little cove including two 4 pounders. At least Im getting something.

[Yancydoo]

I am going out to this pond at mid day and again in the evenings till dark. I got a couple bites on a red/black power worm last Friday but nothing else since then. We had a cold front with rain pass through on Sunday and my friend I brought with me caught a 4lb bass with a wake bait. We fished that same pond for 3 1/2 hours the next day and neither one of us got a bite. We even found the nesting area for the bait fish. I am going to let the warmer temps this week take hold and give it a try later in the week.