First time fishing for LMB

[IgotWood]

Hi folks. My first post here. I moved a few days ago from Connecticut to Virginia. I have spent my entire life striped bass fishing, and I know ZERO about LMB. I went out in my kayak the other day for a couple hours at daybreak on a local reservoir near my house. This was literally my first time targeting LMB, and first time fishing a lake....I have absolutely no clue what to do. Went out with the 3 lures I own, a chatterbait, a ShadowRap, and a spook. I worked my way close to the bank for a bit, but no activity. I moved to some structure/timber that I could see in the middle of the lake. I was in 10-12' of water with sunken tress nearby and was marking lots of fish suspended in the middle of the water column. I threw my entire arsenal at them for a while, but no players. I did meet a regular who said that the fish aren't quite on the beds yet, but that they should be within the next week or so. I suppose they could have just had lock-jaw.

If the wind ever lies down, I plan on going again tomorrow or the next day. I bought a bag of Senko's, and rigged a couple wacky(??) and texas(??). Again, I have no freaking clue what I'm doing. I'm not used to being the googan on the water, but we all have to start somewhere! Just thought I'd drop a line, and say hello. Any tips/advice would go a very long way. Thanks!!

[N Florida Mike]

Senkos work well.If you just want to catch numbers, use the 4 inch ones.I Texas rig mine with no weight.Make sure its straight on the hook.Zoom super flukes are good numbers baits too.I fish mostly slightly stained lakes and my best color is watermelon seed.I am a soft plastics fanatic  so I also use baby brush hogs, and speed craws by Zoom.Also, red shad culprit worms have always worked well.Also trick worms.My rule of thumb is, if you're not catching fish,slow down!Fish docks and isolated weed patches .This is an easy pattern that usually produce some fish.

[roadwarrior]

[the reel ess]

My favorite numbers bait from pre- to post-spawn is the Zoom Trick Worm, T-rigged, weightless. If there's any stain to the water use a neon color. If it's clear, use a watermelon or other more natural color. Toss it out and work like a jerkbait, keeping close enough to the surface to see a strike. That will help set the hook without fish feeling you. If that won't work, just deadstick it. Toss it out and slowly drag it with no action. If still no takers, downsize to the Finesse Worm. Same thing, but smaller. I haven't tried the small Senko as FL Mike recommends, but I've had some surprise success with the wacky worm when they wouldn't bite anything else. 

My latest cure for lockjaw is the Yamamoto Hula Grub, T-rigged on a small extra wide gap hook with an 1/8 oz bullet weight. If using BC combo, make that 3/16 oz. I've been trying to use it on a jighead, but having more luck T-rigged. Black/blue flake is my favorite color in craws. Where I fish it outcatches the others 3-1. So I always seem to have an extra bag of watermelon that never gets used. A side note on craws: bigger bass love them, even the smaller ones. And I consider the Hula Grub a craw imitation.

When you start seeing activity, that's the time to start with the reaction baits, like the Shadow Rap.

The Spook will work best around sunrise and sunset. Bass are unlikely to bite it or must topwaters at high noon. For more numbers, try the smaller size Rebel Pop R. Color really doesn't matter as much as time of day. Early and late. As the water warms and humidity grows, topwaters produce better.

Keep at it and good luck. This is a great place for advice. And look at the videos on this site here for beginner advice. Subscribe to this site's YouTube channel. Glen has some killer videos that will get you on the right path. This is a great time to get the basics down and catch some numbers in spring.

[rvafishing]

Welcome! What part of Virginia did you move to? I'm in Richmond, VA (Midlothian to be exact). Was it the Swift Creek Reservoir you were on?

[IgotWood]

9 hours ago, rvafishing said:

Welcome! What part of Virginia did you move to? I'm in Richmond, VA (Midlothian to be exact). Was it the Swift Creek Reservoir you were on?

Thank you! I am in Yorktown. I was on Hardwood's Mill...

[JRammit]

Just like any fishing, you need a few confidence baits, that youre farmiliar with and know how to use well... Then branch out from there

Take some of your favorite striper baits and scale them down for a start... I dont fish stripes, so im stabbing in the dark here... But lures like buck tails and jerk baits work well for LMB too, just smaller

[rvafishing]

17 hours ago, JRammit said:

Just like any fishing, you need a few confidence baits, that youre farmiliar with and know how to use well... Then branch out from there

Take some of your favorite striper baits and scale them down for a start... I dont fish stripes, so im stabbing in the dark here... But lures like buck tails and jerk baits work well for LMB too, just smaller

I agree with this. For me, it's always the soft plastic worm with tail texas rigged on 2/0 hook and bullet weight. From there, if I'm not getting a bite I'll switch to a spinner bait, jig, or senko worm depending on the water I'm fishing. This seems to work well for me and I'm just a enthusiast angler fishing mostly from banks.

[DogBone_384]

Welcome to the forum.  I just got back from a vacation in Williamsburg where I got a day to kayak fish Waller Mill Reservoir.  Under nearly perfect conditions I couldn't buy a bite.  Talking with a couple locals as we packed up our gear I learned that they caught only two small LMB and a bunch of crappie.  They believed the fish were on their beds.

I too threw Senkos, which usually catch fish....  not that day. 

Anyhow, you picked the best place to gain information on your new target.

Best of luck!