Can't catch the fish

[Lanier Sealy]

The fish aren't bitting 
 at the pond now. Everything I throw is not being hit haven't had received a decent rain in awhile and seem to be more active in the late afternoon. What do you suggest I do?

[BassB8Caster]

keep trying. keep changing things up. think outside the box. 

[Lanier Sealy]

I've thrown literally everything in my tackle box. Oh and just for a little info about my pond tons of structure and very shallow in most parts 4ft deep in my most parts, deepest is by the dam that's around 12ft. 

[BassB8Caster]

Have you caught fish in there before? Do you know it holds the fish you are trying to catch?

[Lanier Sealy]

It has more fish than you can shake a stick at. I've fished it my whole life and never have had something like this happen before. Last decent day I had fishing wise was 2 weeks ago. 

[blckshirt98]

Dropshot a small 3.5" kut tail and let it sit there like bait!

["hamma"]

get a bigger tacklebox,...lol,,j/k,...I actually shine in these times

 exhaust every finesse technique you can, usually its one and not another when the bite just stops,..Im speculating that they are keying in on one type of forage,  After the spawn this can happen where they wont eat anything else, could be crayfish, shiners, shad, herring, (bluegills are a good bet),..mayflies. caddis, mosquito larvae, etc. 

I have a couple clear planos and tacklewraps that are full of probably 50 different finesse plastics and hardware just for them. Considering my location I start with a 1/4 oz jighead and a 4 inch grub, then a 1/8 and 3 inch grub, then the pleathera of 4 inch straight tail worms, tiny craws, slugo's, and so on and so on.

once you get 1 hit you stumbled onto something, if you missed that hit, try right back at it, if nothing again shorten the bait a little and try again but slower, you have to feel them out from here on in,..its a game,..ok,..its "THE" game and can continue as long as they decide so. 

 I just looked and noticed your in GA,... they could be hiding in the weeds, or suspended in deepest water, one or the other this time of year,..in a small pond thats probably quite warm by now, in your locale.. does your pond have a stream running into it? or is it spring fed? have you sprayed bug spray on yourself while near your fishing rod? that will ruin a summer right there, a lil bit on your line and your done,... There are a myriad of things that will hinder success, and its more often than not a easy solution, just unthought of. Due diligence and persistence will eventually surface whats going on. dont give up.,...IF everything is as it should be, continue with the finesse, or you could go the opposite and try one of those new adult sized swimbaits in a bluegill or other present baitfsh pattern. Like I said, A myriad of things can hinder success,..it becomes a process of elimination, keep trying different things til you've exhausted all options

good luck

[Chance_Taker4]

slowwwwwwwwwwwwww down, stick to a worm wacky, t-rigged or drop shot. best way to find them. Also keep your head up it can also be a mental block that is keeping you from catching them.

[Kbral87]

I fish a pond that is similar to this, I fished it like 4 or 5 times without catching anything, I finally decided to try some live bait and that got them biting.

[the reel ess]

This time of year until September, I'll usually try to go late and finish up the evening with topwaters. That pattern seems to work best for me when it's hot and muggy.

My only other suggestion is look for whatever passes for structure in deeper areas and throw a big worm or t-rigged craw and drag it back slowly. If there's a creek bed, fish it and try to find bends, stumps, brush, etc.

[Lanier Sealy]

44 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

This time of year until September, I'll usually try to go late and finish up the evening with topwaters. That pattern seems to work best for me when it's hot and muggy.

My only other suggestion is look for whatever passes for structure in deeper areas and throw a big worm or t-rigged craw and drag it back slowly. If there's a creek bed, fish it and try to find bends, stumps, brush, etc.

It's funny you should say topwater because nearly all the activity I've been seeing is near the top in the first place. From jumping to swirls. 

2 hours ago, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

get a bigger tacklebox,...lol,,j/k,...I actually shine in these times

 exhaust every finesse technique you can, usually its one and not another when the bite just stops,..Im speculating that they are keying in on one type of forage,  After the spawn this can happen where they wont eat anything else, could be crayfish, shiners, shad, herring, (bluegills are a good bet),..mayflies. caddis, mosquito larvae, etc. 

I have a couple clear planos and tacklewraps that are full of probably 50 different finesse plastics and hardware just for them. Considering my location I start with a 1/4 oz jighead and a 4 inch grub, then a 1/8 and 3 inch grub, then the pleathera of 4 inch straight tail worms, tiny craws, slugo's, and so on and so on.

once you get 1 hit you stumbled onto something, if you missed that hit, try right back at it, if nothing again shorten the bait a little and try again but slower, you have to feel them out from here on in,..its a game,..ok,..its "THE" game and can continue as long as they decide so. 

 I just looked and noticed your in GA,... they could be hiding in the weeds, or suspended in deepest water, one or the other this time of year,..in a small pond thats probably quite warm by now, in your locale.. does your pond have a stream running into it? or is it spring fed? have you sprayed bug spray on yourself while near your fishing rod? that will ruin a summer right there, a lil bit on your line and your done,... There are a myriad of things that will hinder success, and its more often than not a easy solution, just unthought of. Due diligence and persistence will eventually surface whats going on. dont give up.,...IF everything is as it should be, continue with the finesse, or you could go the opposite and try one of those new adult sized swimbaits in a bluegill or other present baitfsh pattern. Like I said, A myriad of things can hinder success,..it becomes a process of elimination, keep trying different things til you've exhausted all options

good luck

That could be the case. I've always used soft plastics in my pond just cause if you do tie on something with treble hooks 9/10 you will get it stuck guranteed. There's more structure than you can ever imagine. I've tried deeper water too no success but will admit I didn't  fish it all that hard. I'll go to the store and go outside and try something you suggested such as crawdads, shiners and such. 

Unless, do you guys think the bite is only at nighttime? Has that ever been a case for any of you?

[Luna2406]

3 hours ago, Ohio Bassin said:

slowwwwwwwwwwwwww down, stick to a worm wacky, t-rigged or drop shot. best way to find them. Also keep your head up it can also be a mental block that is keeping you from catching them.

I'm with him, some of my worst days have been saved thanks to a weightless wacky rigged worm, usually junebug color. 

[Lanier Sealy]

4 minutes ago, Luna2406 said:

I'm with him, some of my worst days have been saved thanks to a weightless wacky rigged worm, usually junebug color. 

Thats normally what I throw but I'm Texas rig kinda guy, but will look into the other for sure as they may turn more heads than the rig I'm using. Junebug is one of their favorites too, crawdad, moccasin, and black are what they normally go after but haven't been able to catch them on those colors lately. 

[trick worms]

Try a very finesse presentation, Texas rigged worms have been working good for me recently along with senkos 

[nosdog2]

Black n blue lizard is my pond killer.  T rigged if the wind is an issue.

[soflabasser]

Lots of good advice here ,definitely try as many different finesse techniques until you find the ones that work in your spot . Slowing down is a great technique for highly pressured fish,try fishing senkos this way,this lure is almost failproof. Another great tactic is using  big swimbaits. You might not catch as many fish,but you will catch more quality sized ones.