No Luck

[Mudrider34]

Hey I'm new to bass resource and have already learned a ton! I've been bass fishing for a bit but now getting serious! I went out on the small lake close by the house today and not a single fish! Great conditions water temp was 59 degrees and I seen bait fish activity and fish activity, I threw everything from rattle traps, crank baits to a trick worm and everything in between but nothing! I don't have the best depth finder so I couldn't locate structure, or really know how to read one ( new one in the works) but any advice for a rookie looking to get better! Thanks for all the help in advance!

[gardnerjigman]

59 degrees id be throwing jigs and jerkbaits. Try to locate structure with your eyes ( watch the land around your lake to follow channels or points). Not every day is gonna be a home run, but I beats the heck out of being at work and you can't catch them on your couch.

Good luck buddy and welcome to the site! I would suggest going into the introduction thread and tell everyone a little about yourself. Background, location, etc... That will allow everyone to give you the best advice possible!

[Matthew2000]

Was it cloudy? Where do you live etc more detail ? That would help for suggestions

[Angry John]

Welcome to the site, and to a great hobbie.  One of the cold water tactics that works for me is dropshot.  Use the same color baits that work in the pond worms and other soft baits.  You may want to downsize if your standard fare is not working.  A zoom trick worm is a great place to start and you can cut it down, starting at the head.  I have a lot of people swear to me that a buzz bait works until ice in so that may be worth a try as well.

[Mudrider34]

Wow thanks for the quick and helpful replies. Yeah it was kind of cloudy and I live in very south GA basically right at the Florida line. Where I was fishing ain't really a lake it's a big pond can't even operate boat over idle. It has couple docks I hit pretty good and few Lilly pad areas but other than that no areas besides few points from the banks.

[fayegarnett]

one thing i recently learn is a deep diving crank bait. just reel it slowly and you will feel the bottom structure! rocks, weed, anything. 59 degree aint too bad. i was fishing at 34 35 degree water today. could not catch a bass either, only a few trouts. but you don't really have to slow down that much in 59 degree water. winter is challenging but last week when i caught one, it was really satisfying! 

[Catch and Grease]

59 degrees id be throwing jigs and jerkbaits.

I've caught tons of bass on swim jigs and have had some good jerkbait fish this week, great presentation for upper 50°'s!

[Sam]

Welcome to the Forums. Wonderful having you with us.

 

One must find the bass.  You do this by throwing baits for the three water columns: top, middle and bottom.

 

You do not have your physical location on your information so it is difficult for us to give you any specific information.

 

59* in Richmond, Virginia this time of the year is great.  59* in Florida is not so great.

 

There are baits and presentations to use to get the most out of your adventure. Give us some more information on where you are fishing; the pond itself; and the details on how you fished your baits.

 

Today, do the following and hit the pond once again:

1.  Rig up a Carolina rig for the bottom column. Fish it slow by throwing it to the bank and back to you plus out into the pond's middle.

2.  Rig up a jig and pig. If you don't have a jig and pig rig up a shaky head or a Texas finesse worm and throw it towards to bank and back to you.

3.  Are there any drop offs or holes in the pond? If so, the bass will be holding to them.

4.  Hit the northern and western sides of the pond first as those are the places the water will receive the most sun and be warmer, attracting the bait fish.

5.  Do you have a Cavitron or buzzbait? You need to fish topwater all over the pond, even with a frog or a popper.

6.  Any "stick ups" in the pond? If so, throw your baits at that stick up from different angles and at least 10 times from each angle with each bait.

 

There are other suggestions the guys will give you and all I can add is to give them a try.

 

The bass are relating deep this time of the year and are just sitting there waiting for warmer waters. But they do eat and you can catch them. You may have to aggravate them to hit your bait or put it right in their faces to get them to hit it.

 

Go to the "search button" at the top of the Forum's page and put in "pond fishing" and see what pops up.

 

Good luck and let us know how you do with a follow up to this thread.

 

Happy New Year.

[HoosierHawgs]

I like the idea of covering all of the water from top to bottom. There is a great article about how to do that here: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/2014/08/bait-guide-how-to-catch-bass-in-any-pond

[Mudrider34]

Thanks Sam! That's one thing I am not good at is finding the bass.... Where I was fishing is a place in lake park ga just minutes from the Florida line. I would guess it's about 130 acre pond. It was about 67 degrees with cloud cover and water temp was 59 deg. I tried finding some structure or drop off on the bottom but my fish finder just showed a straight solid line over almost the whole thing. It's deepest part is around 10' with average about 4-6' there is lily pads in the back cove and few docks. I couldn't locate anything in the deep areas so started on the pads with a top water frog. Then moved to a rage rigged bug and trick worm. Then tried 3-5' crank bait and rattle trap (on a micro magic and bass pro qualifier with 6.4:1 reel. If it helps) along the docks and bank. I finished by throwing a Texas rig and a shaky head with a trick worm. I didn't throw a jig or jerk bait I do t have them or never fished with them. I appreciate all the help if anymore information is needed please let me know

[Tony L.]

Just keep at it, sounds like you are doing a lot of things right. One of the most important things, which you are already mastering, is being adaptable and switching things up when what you are doing isn't working. Too many people, myself included, have a bad habit of continuing to use the same baits in the sane spots, regardless of condition- simply because it worked once before. The only thing that I would add is to make sure you change up your retrieve style on each of those baits before breaking off and tying on a new one. Change speed. Try working them faster, and more importantly, try working them slower. Try both straight retrieves and, again -- more importantly, try jerks, twitches, and above all for this time of year, pauses. Oftentimes, its less about what you are fishing so much as how you are fishing it. I am partial to using spinnerbaits and swim jigs to find fish because they are kind of nondescript and you can use them at any depth and with any retrieve style.

One thought though, if the bottom of your pond is completely void of structure- you have a good idea in sticking with those pads and docks. The topwaters aren't hitting for you, so you need to go deeper. The name of the game for cooling water is S-L-O-W falling lures. I'd look into weightless soft plastic worms or senkos and definitely jigs/trailers that are nice and bulky but not so heavy that they fall like rocks. Drop them as close to the structure as you can get them, but not dircetly on top because those presentations aren't always heavy enough to punch through weeds. If that fails to produce, continue moving deeper and deeper away from the weeds and docks because they might be moving to winter spots.

The other thing to look at is baitfish activity. There is also the possibility that the fish aren't holding next to cover at all. If you see lots of surface activity, they may be chasing shad in open water. That's where your deep diving crankbaits would come in. Cast well BEYOND the baitfish school because it takes time for your bait to dive from the surface down to the maximum depth. Casting beyond the place you are hoping to fish it ensures that it is running deep and right where it needs to be when it gets to the sweet spot.

Of course, I am also located a good solid 10+ hours north of you... we are going to be at a high of 3 degrees on wednesday- so my fishing conditions are quite diffferent and I have no experience fishing in the south.

[fisherrw]

Use jerkbait...

[Mudrider34]

This maybe a dumb question but I'm still learning so work with me haha... What is a jerkbait? I googled it and got on bass pro but they look like crankbaits to me. How do I tell the differance?

[Chris S]

Thanks Sam! That's one thing I am not good at is finding the bass.... Where I was fishing is a place in lake park ga just minutes from the Florida line. I would guess it's about 130 acre pond. It was about 67 degrees with cloud cover and water temp was 59 deg. I tried finding some structure or drop off on the bottom but my fish finder just showed a straight solid line over almost the whole thing. It's deepest part is around 10' with average about 4-6' there is lily pads in the back cove and few docks. I couldn't locate anything in the deep areas so started on the pads with a top water frog. Then moved to a rage rigged bug and trick worm. Then tried 3-5' crank bait and rattle trap (on a micro magic and bass pro qualifier with 6.4:1 reel. If it helps) along the docks and bank. I finished by throwing a Texas rig and a shaky head with a trick worm. I didn't throw a jig or jerk bait I do t have them or never fished with them. I appreciate all the help if anymore information is needed please let me know

Maybe a stupid question but have you fished this lake previously??