Why can't I catch anything?

[Prz]

Why can I catch anything when I go fishing? My friend catches bluegill and some bass but I don't get any bites at all. I've tried a Carolina rig and a Texas rig does it have to do with the knots or what am I doing wrong?? I don't even know how it feels to get a bite, the lake I fish at is stocked with trout and bass as well as it having catfish and bluegill. The water is blue/green very nasty looking water wouldn't want to swim in it.  Someone please tell me what I need to do or if I have the right things I just want to catch one of any kind of  fish 

[Bluebasser86]

What state/lake are you fishing in? It's possible someone on here is from your area that might be able to offer some advice. 

[Prz]

2 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

What state/lake are you fishing in? It's possible someone on here is from your area that might be able to offer some advice. 

I'm in California in a small valley"imperial valley" and the name of the lake is sunbeam lake 

 

[Bluebasser86]

Lots of members from California on here so maybe one of them can help. It's my understanding that lots of California's lakes are extremely difficult to fish because of the very heavy fishing pressure, so you're probably not the only one having a hard time catching fish there. 

[Sam]

Don't quit or get frustrated. Not catching them is a part of fishing and you will soon learn how to overcome the problem.

In fact, by the time you retire you will have purchased over $10,000 of tackle and five bass boats!!!!

As penned above, wait for the responses from the California gang, plus all of us who want to help you catch one on every cast.

So here is my two-cents for you to consider:

1.  Take some white bread with you and throw pieces onto the water. Wait to see if the bluegills and bream come up to hit it. If so, then fish for them by using a small gold hook with a small bobber. You can also use corn kernels out of the can as bait. Always bring your needle nose pliers with you to remove the hooks and cut your line to retie.

2.  Take your finesse worm and using a #1 weedless hook rig it "wacky rigged." Search this Forum for wacky rigs and read all you can about them. And for colors, keep it simple: green pumpkin, watermelon and Junebug. Watermelon for clear water; green pumpkin for stained water; and Junebug for stained and muddy water. No sinker. Just the 4" finesse worm and the hook on no more than 8-pound test fluorocarbon line on a medium or medium heavy 6'6" or 7" spinning rod. Use a 2000 or 2500 size spinning reel. (The number is the size of the spool, with the 2500 holding more line than the 2000, etc.)

3. Search this site for "Pitching" and then "Flipping." Learn these two techniques for your spinning gear presentations.

4.  Use Nightcrawlers. Yes, to the purest bass fishermen (and we have many on this site) using live bait is sacrilegious. But you can find out what types of fish are in the lake as they all will eat a Nightcrawler.  You can find them at Wal-Mart in the fishing department or at your local tackle store. When I take "newbies" bass fishing I always have Nightcrawlers with me so they are guaranteed to catch something. Maybe not a bass but something that swims. I use a #1 hook under a small bobber on 8-pound fluorocarbon line on a spinning reel and sit back and watch the action. Lower test lines will tend to twist and cause one heck of a disaster on a spinning reel until you master that rig.

5.  Read, read and read some more. Check out the different threads on the Forum and read them. Go to YouTube and look up Glenn May's productions or Bass Resource.com presentations. Go to Facebook and "Like" Bassresource.com to receive all of the many posts about all sorts of topics related to bass fishing.

6. As for not feeling the bites - join the club. Sometimes the bass will attack your bait and run like the police are after them. Other times they will take the bait into their mouths and just sit with it. And then there is everything in-between. Last tournament on Lake Anna had the bass just hitting the plastics and sitting there with them. Once my nonboater and I figured it out (after about 3 hours) we finally started setting the hook if the bait felt "different." Setting the hook when the bait feels "different" is an old pro's trick, as mentioned by Hank Parker many years ago. As Hank put it, "it don't cost anything to set the hook." So if you feel a "tap" or if the bait feels "heavy" or "different" you set the hook hard over your head and then duck when the bait comes sailing back at you. Keep your forefinger on the line coming off the reel and an eye on the line going into the water. If you feel or see the line move then wait a second or two and set that hook.

Remember, bass fishing is like baseball: you can't expect to be a Golden Glove or hit .600 by walking onto a baseball field for the first time or for many years thereafter unless you put in a lot of practice and study. Like baseball, bass fishing is a mental game. And I am sorry to say that that little green monster has the upper hand and can humble the biggest of egos in a New York minute.

Keep casting and sooner or later you will be up to speed.

[roadwarrior]

58 minutes ago, Sam said:

.

4.  Use Nightcrawlers. Yes, to the purest bass fishermen (and we have many on this site) using live bait is sacrilegious. But you can find out what types of fish are in the lake as they all will eat a Nightcrawler.  You can find them at Wal-Mart in the fishing department or at your local tackle store. When I take "newbies" bass fishing I always have Nightcrawlers with me so they are guaranteed to catch something. Maybe not a bass but something that swims. I use a #1 hook under a small bobber on 8-pound fluorocarbon line on a spinning reel and sit back and watch the action. Lower test lines will tend to twist and cause one heck of a disaster on a spinning reel until you master that rig.

 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

I also highly recommend using nightcrawlers!!

[geo g]

You can catch fish almost anywhere if you Texas Rig a 4 inch senko, with a 1/32 bullet weight.  Jubebug color for heavy stained water.  Let it free fall to the bottom and sit for a while.  Just shake it and let it sit again.  If that doesn't work just pull it slowly then let it sit.  Then snap it off the bottom and let it sit again.  Something is going to find it and bite.  Experiment with the retrieve until you find what they want.   Fish it slow and be a line watcher for any movement.  Good luck!

[soflabasser]

Fish a senko, its almost 100% failproof

[Prz]

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

26 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Fish a senko, its almost 100% failproof

I did yesterday with a 1/2 ounce weight and nothing while my friend caught a small bass on a weighted bobber and night crawler

 

[Scott F]

Way too much weight for a Senko. The magic part of the bait is the slow fall. It looks like a dying baitfish as it sinks with no extra weight at all. Just fish it slow. Throw it out, and let it sink. Depending on how deep the water is it could take 3 or 4 seconds, or it could take a minute or more. Watch your line. As the bait sinks, you'll see your line being pulled under. When the line stops going down, you are on the bottom. Slowly reel up the slack line and give the bait a little twitch. Let it sink again and repeat. Keep watching the line. If it moves sideways or if it twitches on its own reel up the slack and set the hook. Fish it weightless and be patient. If there are any bass nearby, they'll get it.

[geo g]

I agree, way too much weight for a Senko.  1/32 or weightless is all you need.  

[Prz]

I've tried to catch all those fish on different baits, for trout I tried powerbait and trout nuggets, for bass the senko and bass attractant, for bluegill bread and half of a night crawler,for catfish I tried chicken liver and homemade "chum", and even like that no bites at all well at least I think I didn't have any.

[Hurricane]

I would just find a different body of water to fish... Try some ponds that you know of...

[Sam]

PRZ, how about contacting the California fish and game commission and ask them if they have any knowledge about the lake and if their records reflect the types and number each species.

[herbu]

7 hours ago, Prz said:

for trout I tried powerbait and trout nuggets, for bass the senko and bass attractant, for bluegill bread and half of a night crawler,for catfish I tried chicken liver and homemade "chum", and even like that no bites at all

How do you feel about golf?

[Robeng]

leave that lake

[Ratherbfishing]

How OFTEN does your friend do better than you?  If it's ALL THE TIME, you probably do need to ask yourself what you are doing wrong.  If it's just the few times you've been out, I wouldn't sweat it much.  A friend and I are roughly equal in our abilities and yet we frequently alternate who does better-so much so that it's almost humorous.  If you are really new to the sport, you will find that some things reveal themselves in a "SHAZAM" (light bulb going full on) fashion while other things are a gradual procession-like the turning up a dial.  I don't compare myself with others as there is too much ego involvement with that.  I compare myself with where I was a few weeks, months, or years ago.  LEARN from others but don't compare yourself with others.

Also, if the lake(s) or rivers you are going to are tough, try to find some easier bodies of water and more cooperative fish.  Nothing breeds success like success.

[Prz]

16 hours ago, Ratherbfishing said:

How OFTEN does your friend do better than you?  If it's ALL THE TIME, you probably do need to ask yourself what you are doing wrong.  If it's just the few times you've been out, I wouldn't sweat it much.  A friend and I are roughly equal in our abilities and yet we frequently alternate who does better-so much so that it's almost humorous.  If you are really new to the sport, you will find that some things reveal themselves in a "SHAZAM" (light bulb going full on) fashion while other things are a gradual procession-like the turning up a dial.  I don't compare myself with others as there is too much ego involvement with that.  I compare myself with where I was a few weeks, months, or years ago.  LEARN from others but don't compare yourself with others.

Also, if the lake(s) or rivers you are going to are tough, try to find some easier bodies of water and more cooperative fish.  Nothing breeds success like success.

Every time and I barely started fishing I'd say like 9 or 10 trips and haven't caught anything

 

[You_Only_Live_Once_Fishing]

then id fish somewhere else

 

[scaleface]

If you just want to catch some fish get some live bait like worms , grasshoppers ,minnows , grubs... , put them on a hook and have some patience ,I grew up fishing for bull heads  carp , channel cats , crappie ... I collected my own bait .  The local bait store would let me have dead minnows which I would fish in the Mississippi river on the bottom for channel cats . Learn the basics and learn them well and you will catch lots of fish .

[Ratherbfishing]

Just now, Prz said:

Every time and I barely started fishing I'd say like 9 or 10 trips and haven't caught anything

 

Best advice I can give you:  Fish vegetation and, especially, the edges of vegetation.  There will almost always be some fish there.  Also, fish with live bait suspended under the smallest float that will still stay above water.  Round (red and white) bobbers should go in the recycling bin.