New To Fishing, Need Help

[LakeOconeeScrub]

Started fishing 3 weeks ago, i live on lake oconee near the old granite shoals marina at harbor club golf course.  I cought a 6 pound 8 oz bass near a point close to my house on a red shad plastic 10 inch worm but i think it was just luck bc of the lack of knowledge. would welcome any advice. i have watched all of the youtube videos linked from this site. please help

[boostr]

DAAYUM! Keep on doing what you were doing. Definitely doing better than me.

[blongfishing]

If you need help with finding what baits to use go to Gon.com and the fishing section they have fishing reports.

[LakeOconeeScrub]

i also keep hearing about leaving the bait in the strike zone longer, any tips?

[boostr]

That would be called dead sticking, or if your use a drop shot it just sits there, giving it minor twitches.

[LakeOconeeScrub]

k thanks. keep the tips coming guys thanks for everything

[boostr]

Being in the strike zone longer is also trying to keep your deep diving crank bait down to a certain depth longer after it dives and before it comes up, but a drop shot works in various depths and kind of just hangs or sits where you put it. There's guys on here that are way more experienced with this technique than I am, bus that's just the jest of it

[roadwarrior]

My advice is to spend your time in the BassResource Library at the top of the page.

The articles are FAR more important for a new fisherman than the chat on the forum.

As you gain knowledge of the sport you will be better prepared to ask specific questions.

Start here http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_articles.html and read all the articles and links.

 

Sprinkle in the videos which are VERY informative and fun to watch.

TAKE NOTES and build yourself a notebook for reference. In the top

portion of this section (General) is a pinned feature "Best Of" Bass Resource.

All of these threads will be of interest, but here is a place to start:

 

"Just Getting Started"
Guaranteed To Catch Bass
I just cant catch bass
Learning to fish on your own

 

[LakeOconeeScrub]

Wow thanks Global Moderator.

[geo g]

There is nothing wrong with what you have been doing. If things get slow, I would go with a weightless 4" senko type bait in waternmelon red. Zoom trick worms work great also. Good luck!

[KYBassin']

In my experience you can read until you're cross eyed and ask for all the advice you can get but it comes down to time on the water. If you enjoy it, just spend as much time as you can fishing and have fun. You'll figure it out along the way. And heck, you already have a good fish on the board...luck or not.

[FrogFreak]

My 2 cents is to make sure you don't get overwhelmed with all the information out there. Just pick a couple techniques per major "category" and get proficient with them. Here are my short list of categories:

 

Reaction baits: Cranks, spinners, swimbaits, lipless cranks... basically anything moving that will cover water

Slow down biats: Jigs, T-rigged plastics, drop shots, C-rig. Anything that stays in the strikezone for awhile. These are best used once you find the fish or throwing to known structure.

Topwater: My favorite, we're talking wakling baits, popper, frogs. Anything that stays on top.

 

I know people can argue that there are more categories but I'm trying to keep it simple here.

 

One last thing, don't buy a scale, it's harder to lie that way!

[bethulog]

I didnt bass fish until a few years ago when I moved to NW Mo for college, before that it was all catfish and crappie. And the only advice I really have to give is live on the water and give everything you think will work atleast a few casts. Ive gone from accidently catching bass while targeting other species to consistently landing 3-5# fish and a heavily pressured fishery. All from trial and error. Best of luck!