Rookie Fishing Family!

[Sarah.Chevalier]

Hello all! I'm new here, but have been fishing all of my life. I know the basics of fishing, but never really got into Bass fishing until recently. My husband and I watch YouTube videos, read articles, and talk to friends trying to gain every bit of knowledge we can. We have three young boys who we take fishing and we fish religiously. The problem is that we don't catch much. We catch 2-3 lb. Bass regularly, but nothing much bigger than that. I'm in the military and we have access to the base which has 11 ponds and 6 lakes... we've tried almost all of them. We watch 4-5 lb. Bass swim right at the docks and they will not hit anything we throw in. We only bank fish just because we do not have a boat (it will happen in due time). We use green pumpkin senkos, chatter baits, and jigs mostly. I know this is a LONG read, but we are looking for any advice we can get. My Dad took me fishing growing up and those were the best memories... I want to pass these skills along to our boys. Thank you in advance for any help you may have. God Bless. 

[jtharris3]

Welcome to Bass Resource! You have a good start with the three baits that you're using. One suggestion would be to add a spinner bait to the lineup. A spinner bait is a great bait to throw and catches a lot of fish. Start with 1/4 or 3/8oz. These are generally fished on a medium action rod with monofilament line. If you get into larger baits than 3/8oz. you would want to step up to a medium heavy action rod. There are a wide variety of colors naturally, but, a good start would be white w/ silver blades, white and chartreuse w/ one gold and one silver blade, and white, chartreuse, and blue with gold blades. For me, these will be all double willow leaf blades.  I always have these basic colors in my spinnerbait box. 

 

If you fish at night a black spinnerbait with a large Colorado blade is hard to beat. The Colorado blade gives off more vibration thus allowing the fish to hone in on it easier. The black skirt creates a good profile for them to see.

 

Personally I use a 6'-6" medium action baitcasting rod with 12 or 14lb. Trilene XT mono. 

 

As as far as brands go, there are a lot of good spinnerbait manufacturers out there but, my favorites are the Terminator T-1, Booyah, War Eagle, and the Mann's Classic.

 

Good luck and I hope this helps.

[jr231]

If you're seeing fish in the shallows , odds are they can see you too. Target areas where you think fish are holding but you cannot see the fish. 

 

I also suggest throwing a topwater of some sort. Frog, walking style and popper. 

 

Rage structure bug is killer rigged many ways, including t-rig , swimbait hook, jika rigged, and on a swim jig.. pitching and swimmin this bait has become a go to for me these past few seasons. 

[Fishin' Fool]

Hello Sarah.  They get bigger for a reason because they are smarter than the average 2 pounder.  Be stealthy.  Throw senkos.  Learn to drop shot.  Keep watching your Youtube videos.  I do almost daily.  I really like Tactical Bassin'.  Those guys are good.

[Attila]

Welcome to Bass Resource, and don't forget to mention your service in the general forums as well!

 

Two suggestions; use a topwater and stand about 15ft back from shore as I'm pretty certain the bass are hanging shallow and can see you if you're right on the bank.

 

Have an awesome day!

[Sarah.Chevalier]

These are all great suggestions! I am heading to Bass Pro once I clock out, thank you again!

[Outdoor Zack]

Slow your fishing down.  Don't be afraid to just "sit on" the bait and just watch your line for a while, especially with the senkos.

 

Other than that, try a Zoom trick worm.

[XpressJeff]

Welcome young lady. Lots to learn here!

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Outdoor Zack said:

 

 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

 

Whatever you do, do NOT try the Ned rig.

It is awful, horrible, and never, ever works.

[dan94]

1/2 oz spinnerbait Chartreuse/white skirt with Colorado blades (gold if water is murky, silver if clear) are a must. 

 

chuck that out and slow roll it up into the shallows and every now and then give it a short pop and watch the fish hit it 

[Lil fat guy]

As others have said the fish you see will probably be tough to catch.  If your already catching a bunch of 2-3 lbers, you might just need to keep fishing.  The pros catch lots of those too they just weigh in the 5 biggest ones. 

 

I will recommend another lure to try though if your new and have young kids.  A double bladed h&h spinnerbait.  They are cheap and work very good in ponds.  It's usually the first lure I buy when I take a kid fishing.  They are small enough to catch high numbers of fish but I have seen several 5+ lb fish caught on those too so they'll catch big ones as well.  

 

While you're honing your skills, keep watching videos and asking questions.  This is a great site and people here are very helpful.  I've learned a lot here myself.  And enjoy every day you get to go with your family...your kids will look back and enjoy the memories just like you have with your dad. Welcome aboard and good luck fishing!

[tcbass]

I would try a Zoom Super Fluke in white or white with chartreuse tail either weightless Texas Rig with an Owner CPS Twistlock hook or use a CPS Spring in the nose and a hook through the CPS like a Banjo Minnow as the guy in this video shows. I just saw this video for the 1st time and it makes a lot of sense. If you can't find the CPS springs, just nose hook it. He uses Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap in 1/0 size.

 

This is a very productive lure that takes anyone can fish with and in white it's easy for you to see. It's also a cheap lure.

 

 

Watch how to set up on this video. You can skip to the 3:29 mark. 

 

 

 

Also, if you want to try topwater which is always fun, a Whopper Plopper 110 would be a great lure because it is simple to use and effective. All you need to do is cast it out and reel it in. A lot like the Zoom Super Fluke which can be just cast and reeled in (although jerking it and letting it sit for a sec help a lot - I know my friend's gf just reels it in and she catches lots of bass). 

 

The Whopper Plopper is very versatile, you can cast it and let it sit for awhile, reel it straight in, reel it in and stop mid-retrieve, or whatever works for you. As long as there isn't a lot of surface weeds. 

[scaleface]

You are catching two and three pound bass regularly , then just keep at it  . 

[roadwarrior]

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

You are catching two and three pound bass regularly , then just keep at it  . 

 

Sometimes the smaller fish are shallow, often referred to as "buck bass". Try fishing a little deeper

with your jigs and weighted soft plastics. Here are two specific recommendations:  Rage Tail Structure

Bug on a Jika rig and Rage Blade with a Structure Bug trailer ( white on white has been my best producer).

 

Good luck!