are the rest of yall having a hard time catching fish lately?

[fmoi@D.b._fishing]

im a bank fisherman as i dont own a boat and i know that limits my ability to get to where the fish are, but even in ponds, rivers, and channels that run by the bank, i cant seem to catch fish lately. i want to blame it on the warmer than normal weather affecting their normal patterns, but i need to learn how to catch fish when it gets hard none the less. ive used jigs, rattletraps, spinners, cranks, soft plastics, nothing is working. im also not seeing many fish by the bank, which leads me to believe that theyre in deeper water, but with as warm of a winter as weve had i feel like they would be shallow. most of the water i fish isnt more than 7 feet deep or so. im fishing in north texas around fort worth and granbury. any suggestions?

[soflabasser]

I agree with you that the unusual weather we have been having has seem to affected the fishing . Here in South Florida many bodies of water have high water levels.The temperature is also in the 80's with high humidity which makes it feel like early Summer.Still I have been catching lots of quality sized bass from the shore.What helps me is that  I study every body of water I fish and  do my best to figure out what lure /lure retrieval works  in the areas I fish.

[FloridaFishinFool]

Fish in general or bass only?

Bass have slowed down, but speck fishing is hot right now as is redfish'ing!

I was on the St. Johns river 2 days ago and the specks were boiling up the waters hitting on baitfish, mostly minnows, and literally jumping out of the water trying to eat them. So if the bass are not biting... big specks will do fine for now especially if they are in a crazed feeding frenzy like now. All too easy to catch them. They literally jump on the hook.

Redfish'ing in the Indian River lagoon has been pretty good too!

HABITAT: Most popular fishing areas are along shell bars and rocky or grassy shorelines and on shallow flats, where they are usually fished by sight. Reds also forage in the surf of outside beaches nearly everywhere on the Gulf Coast and along the upper half of the East Coast, especially in the fall. Adults move offshore to spawn and are sometimes encountered in open water in large schools.They roam into coastal rivers and creeks at any time of year, and in winter swarm into them, seeking warmer water.

Another hot item right now is shrimp! My buddies have been taking their quota lately. Nothing like fresh wild caught Florida shrimp smoked or grilled to perfection!

[the reel ess]

Yeah, it's been slow. But I have managed to catch a couple every time lately. In fact, the only time I've been shut out this whole year was when a storm forced me to pack it in. I can stand catching only two when the name of the game is getting out.

 

edit: I just actually read the original post. I fish mostly smaller bodies of water. I have a couple ponds I can bank fish and I use my kayak in another. I find it a LOT easier to get a bite in a pond almost any time of year.

[gulfcaptain]

Have a few spots that I can normally catch a fish or two.  Only been 3 times so far on my days off and managed fish 2 out of the 3 times....tried fishing the bigger swimbait the other day and couldn't even get a follower.  And to top it off, well here in S. Cal the air temps have dropped a lot in the last week.  The one place I fish water temp was 57 on Friday, 52 yesterday.  But did manage a nice 3+lb fish on the Ned Rig  yesterday and one other smaller fish in the few hrs of fishing.

[soflabasser]

Have you tried night fishing your spots?It's a good tactic to use when there's warm weather.I went fishing for a couple hours after sunset today and caught lots of bass.Give nightfishing a try if you want to try something different. 

[hawgenvy]

Been catching a few in S Flo. But not as big or aggressive as I remember from Decembers past. It's like we are stuck in October.  Maybe the bite will get better after a cold front or two. And nature will bless us with the big aggressive, angry, horny, hungry critters we're waiting for.

[Bass newb]

I've had a much better catch to trip ratio here in December than I'd been having in August and September.  That's probably due in large part to me actually learning how to fish better though as I'm still a beginner. 

[SFL BassHunter]

December was brutal for me as a bank fisherman. I am not off to a great start this month either. Nothing but a few dinks.

[soflabasser]

December was a great month for bass fishing for me and has gotten better the past 2 weeks.Should get even better with bass bulking up for the spawning period. 

[JRammit]

Im in North Texas too... But im north of Fort Worth

Yea, fishing has gotten tough!... I blame all the rain... Everything around here is mud now!

Usually when the fish slow down, i downsize... But that doesnt do much good in muddy water

My solution:

I tied some bucktail to a few old 1/8 oz roadrunner heads i had laying around.... Small profile and slow fall with enough flash and vibration to to pierce through the dark murky water.......... Havnt had a chance to get back out yet, ill let ya know results when i do

[JRammit]

On 1/5/2016 at 5:46 PM, JRammit said:

Im in North Texas too... But im north of Fort Worth

Yea, fishing has gotten tough!... I blame all the rain... Everything around here is mud now!

Usually when the fish slow down, i downsize... But that doesnt do much good in muddy water

My solution:

I tied some bucktail to a few old 1/8 oz roadrunner heads i had laying around.... Small profile and slow fall with enough flash and vibration to to pierce through the dark murky water.......... Havnt had a chance to get back out yet, ill let ya know results when i do

No dice!

Got off work early today, had a couple hours to hit the water before dark

I fished the roadrunner HARD!... Deep, shallow, shoreline, structure, points, drop offs... Every spot ive ever caught a fish on this little lake..... And nothing!

But that was all in only a couple hours... I need a whole day to find where theyre holding now... They moved around a lot this fall, but i always found em... No such luck lately

[fmoi@D.b._fishing]

14 hours ago, JRammit said:

No dice!

Got off work early today, had a couple hours to hit the water before dark

I fished the roadrunner HARD!... Deep, shallow, shoreline, structure, points, drop offs... Every spot ive ever caught a fish on this little lake..... And nothing!

But that was all in only a couple hours... I need a whole day to find where theyre holding now... They moved around a lot this fall, but i always found em... No such luck lately

i feel you man i did good on striper the other day swiming like a 3 inch paddle tail shad fairly fast but the next day didnt get even a hit. i blame el nino. fast weather changes. ive been able to pull out some dinks on a craw colored football jig but usually only one in 12 hours of fishing.

[JRammit]

At least you got somthin working... I like throwing a drop shot when it gets slow... But doesnt do much good if they cant see it

The water has cleared up a little, ive got 1 ft visibility now... Compared to about 3 inches last time i went

Idk about everyone else... But i get even more motivated when i DONT catch fish... I think about it all week, come up with a new game plan and cant wait to get back out!