This lake will not beat me (again)!!!!!

[38 Super Fan]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Let me know next time you come! I have only fished it 4-5 times and a nice smallmouth always seems to show up. Most action is before lunch though. Disclaimer: I have only fished Cherokee when it’s super cold outside 

Might have to try that! It will probably be April before I go back there though. You probably fish the lower end?

[Bluebasser86]

Mine was Olathe Lake. It was 10 minutes from my house but I didn't fish it often because it usually beat me. First trip there I got skunked. Every time I went for the next few years, all I hoped for was 10 fish to be successful trip. Eventually, I figured it out and now catching 20-30 isn't uncommon. I tried to make the fish in the lake do what I thought they should be doing instead of listening to the few fish I was catching and making adjustments. 

[TOXIC]

When I temporarily moved to Florida from Virginia to a house on the St Johns River with a dock and lift, I thought I was going to wear the big bass out as soon as I dropped my boat in the water!!  After all, I was a guide with a lot of experience under my belt, I knew how to find fish, read the water and had fair electronics.  WRONG!!  30 days later of fishing almost every day after work and on the weekends, I still had not caught a single bass!!  NOT 1!!  To say I was frustrated was a total understatement.  Then I hooked up with a true Floridian who grew up on the river and was a tournament fisherman and he showed me what I was doing wrong (almost everything).  I learned that I was where the fish were but I was fishing for them all wrong.......and it showed.  

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Mine was Olathe Lake. It was 10 minutes from my house but I didn't fish it often because it usually beat me. First trip there I got skunked. Every time I went for the next few years, all I hoped for was 10 fish to be successful trip. Eventually, I figured it out and now catching 20-30 isn't uncommon. I tried to make the fish in the lake do what I thought they should be doing instead of listening to the few fish I was catching and making adjustments. 

 Not to get off track on this one but I find myself struggling with this a few times a season; especially during the transitional periods of post spawn to summer and then again from a summer pattern to fall . . . . . .

Really going try to work on this one this season. 

A-Jay

 

[Florida Cracker2]

I've been skunked many times fishing Lake O. Some days you can catch them on anything you toss out there, and other days you can't. Same with the Caloosahatchee River. Going smaller and slower helps.

[mattkenzer]

This lake will not beat me (again)!!!!!

 

@Ratherbfishing  Like most lakes, it will probably get you again, hopefully not so often.

I wish I just had one lake that kicks my butt ... 

Good luck sir .... some good advice already given.

[Troy85]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

When I temporarily moved to Florida from Virginia to a house on the St Johns River with a dock and lift, I thought I was going to wear the big bass out as soon as I dropped my boat in the water!!  After all, I was a guide with a lot of experience under my belt, I knew how to find fish, read the water and had fair electronics.  WRONG!!  30 days later of fishing almost every day after work and on the weekends, I still had not caught a single bass!!  NOT 1!!  To say I was frustrated was a total understatement.  Then I hooked up with a true Floridian who grew up on the river and was a tournament fisherman and he showed me what I was doing wrong (almost everything).  I learned that I was where the fish were but I was fishing for them all wrong.......and it showed.  

What were you doing wrong?  

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, 38 Super Fan said:

Might have to try that! It will probably be April before I go back there though. You probably fish the lower end?

Yes

[Ratherbfishing]

12 hours ago, slonezp said:

If you're trying to get him excited about fishing, maybe this isn't the place to go.

 

Maybe the way to approach this is to not waste your time here and just go somewhere else...

Oh, I've taken this boy around pretty often but rarely to reservoirs-because most are too distant.  I doubt it'll dampen his spirit (the first time) because he'll get to go out on a "motorboat."  After whole SERIES of poor days on it and I wouldn't blame him for getting disappointed.  But it will be fresh and new for him.

 

I have, mostly, taken your advice and just gone elsewhere.  But it KILLS me that it can be so close (comparatively speaking) and stink so bad.  I would LIKE a place I don't have to drive two hours to get to AND where I can go early and then leave once it gets too dad blamed hot (without feeling I've wasted a half a tank of gas (or more) and an entire vacation day).  If lakes were easier to come by, I'd dust the mud of this lake off my hands and never look back.

2 hours ago, TOXIC said:

When I temporarily moved to Florida from Virginia to a house on the St Johns River with a dock and lift, I thought I was going to wear the big bass out as soon as I dropped my boat in the water!!  After all, I was a guide with a lot of experience under my belt, I knew how to find fish, read the water and had fair electronics.  WRONG!!  30 days later of fishing almost every day after work and on the weekends, I still had not caught a single bass!!  NOT 1!!  To say I was frustrated was a total understatement.  Then I hooked up with a true Floridian who grew up on the river and was a tournament fisherman and he showed me what I was doing wrong (almost everything).  I learned that I was where the fish were but I was fishing for them all wrong.......and it showed.  

That took some determination to stay with it for 30 day.  I'd have likely quit after a few weeks-and maybe gone back during a different season.

 

Rivers are a different animal, that's for sure.  I've only fished small rivers (creeks by many peoples standards).

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Mine was Olathe Lake. It was 10 minutes from my house but I didn't fish it often because it usually beat me. First trip there I got skunked. Every time I went for the next few years, all I hoped for was 10 fish to be successful trip. Eventually, I figured it out and now catching 20-30 isn't uncommon. I tried to make the fish in the lake do what I thought they should be doing instead of listening to the few fish I was catching and making adjustments. 

10 fish would be like a parting of the Red Sea (at this lake).  Jesus had an easier time feeding the crowds with the few fish and loaves of bread they had.  Clearly HE did not fish this lake.

[TOXIC]

2 hours ago, Troy1985s said:

What were you doing wrong?  

Main thing was presentation and although I was used to fishing a tidal river (Potomac) the tide swings on the St Johns are brutal.  Also the cover and structure are different.  He made me weight a Senko which I said I would never do and now it is part of my regular presentation back in Virginia.  

[Bankbeater]

I have a spring fed lake that is about a 30 minute drive away that is a coin toss.  If the fish are biting you can catch them all day.  When the fish shut down you can't even catch a sunfish. 

[ClackerBuzz]

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Catt, let me guess, a lot of bass have fallen victim to a purple plastic worm in that swamp 

LMAO

 

I've had the same problem on my home lake for 2 seasons.  I live on the 40+ acre lake which is a blessing and a curse.  at some point i had to admit defeat for one simple reason: lakes are living organisms that go through good and bad periods (most site 20 year periods).  I just so happen to be caught in the middle of a bad spell from an identifiable reason.  after moving i found out the lake had been drained half pool 2 years prior so the dam could be repaired.  this is what completely changed the ecosystem. the longer i lived there the more information i gathered.  a local woman told me the canadian geese vacated and have not returned since the draining.  that tells me the shallow weeds have been killed off along with the insects and food system that goes with them.  one day i saw a fish and game boat electrofishing so of course I ran over to talk.  guess what they asked me:  are there bass in this lake?  I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. they told me they were only catching bait fish and 6-8" bass around the extreme shallow shoreline.  i asked how deep their shockers went and they said 4-5ft.  i explained the water visibility is 5+ft so the bass i catch are holding tight to cover/structure minimum 5ft and deeper; and if they can't shock 10ft+ they aren't going to encounter bass over 2 lbs. i asked what their plan of action was and they said stocking shallow water bait fish like bluegill/bream and shiners.  

 

so how's the fishing? are there still bass/bait in there? you bet.  more crappie than you can eat all day every day for the rest of ur life.  there are bass in there too: extremely fickle bass that bring new meaning to 'holding tight to cover'.  if you miss them by 2ft you might as well be 300 ft away; and if you can't stand to soak a lure for a minimum of 60 seconds you're gonna smell like skunk often. as bass anglers we get accustomed to them hitting senkos/jigs on the initial fall. but that thought process will get you skunked all day, every day.  these bass like lures marinated so long you can put ur rod down, fish a second rod, then get bit once you pick up the first rod again.  search baits?  only with the very best of combined conditions (dusk and rain; prespawn and clouds etc).  otherwise they rarely chase baits. Topwater? not a chance and I'm a frog and clacker buzzbait assassin (night time is the one except i've found but you have to be willing to cast ur arm off looking for that magical bite).  no small/medium bass are going to risk their life swimming through 5ft of clear water to eat a topwater lure. i have the knowledge and privilege of fishing prime conditions at a moments notice and these bass rarely get aggressive i.e. chase baits: dusk, dawn, night, prespawn, prefrontal, 30+mph winds, post cool rain on a hot summer day, warming trend in winter etc. these bass just don't take risks.  they are so keyed in on live bait that everything else is a nuisance.  my lake record is 4.5lbs and that took 10,000+ casts in every condition while analyzing details and making adjustments. the last frontier is live bait. i tried 5-6 times and was skunked.  i don't have a lot of patience for it.  but i do like drinking beer on the dock so why not combine the two?  then my favorite moment in 2 years happened.  my neighbor was fishing in March (New Jersey) with a 2" minnow, 3ft under a 3" bobber, off his dock in 10-12 ft of water.  the minnow had long died so he was using the whole rig as a 'topwater jerkbait' (i kid you not), smoking cigarettes, recasting it over and over and over in the exact same place (he already killed 10+ minnows).  he pauses to watch an osprey and the bobber disappears. after a crazy battle on a $25 combo he landed a 7.15 lb bass.  i couldn't be more dumbfounded or happier for the guy.  yes there are giants still in the lake but after endless days, casts, seasons, money, lures, techniques I've finally swallowed the realization it's not worth the effort to chase the unicorns when i can catch quantity and quality elsewhere.

 

 

[LxVE Bassin]

Raccoon Lake in Rockville, IN never fails to show me how terrible of a fisherman I am.

[CroakHunter]

58 minutes ago, LxVE Bassin said:

Raccoon Lake in Rockville, IN never fails to show me how terrible of a fisherman I am.

I'm gonna fish some of these bad indiana lakes one of these days and be completely humbled. Lol

[LxVE Bassin]

4 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

I'm gonna fish some of these bad indiana lakes one of these days and be completely humbled. Lol

Never fished Monroe, but I heard it’s tough. They call it the Dead Sea.

[IndianaFinesse]

3 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

I'm gonna fish some of these bad indiana lakes one of these days and be completely humbled. Lol

Go check out Monroe a time or two, it'll humble ya in a hurry. Worse than coon IMO.  The food chain is screwed up at that lake, look up an electro fishing study and its messed up. Weird fishing to, "patterns" don't hardly exist and change way faster than any other lake I've ever fished.  And if I make our state championship, I'll have the pleasure of going back to it this summer...lol. Make sure to check wind predictions beforehand, it gets really ugly really fast with much wind at all.

[LxVE Bassin]

15 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Go check out Monroe a time or two, it'll humble ya in a hurry. Worse than coon IMO.  The food chain is screwed up at that lake, look up an electro fishing study and its messed up. Weird fishing to, "patterns" don't hardly exist and change way faster than any other lake I've ever fished.  And if I make our state championship, I'll have the pleasure of going back to it this summer...lol. Make sure to check wind predictions beforehand, it gets really ugly really fast with much wind at all.

 

Link to the electro fishing survey?

[Paul Roberts]

Been there. Will be there again.

 

I've always been able to figure out something. It may not always be exactly what I want. And that doesn't mean I don't ever get skunked. Sometimes it means, the populations have taken a nose-dive, and I'm better off spending my time elsewhere. I'm a small water guy now and they tend to be fickle over just about every time scale. They can over-heat, over-weed, over-mud, over drought, over-fish, and winter-kill. I guess that's why Im such a nerd when it comes to figuring out environmental cues and what they mean to the fish. I am beginning to have enough mental fodder to be able to explain a lot of those ups and downs. Which means I can take solace in the idea that a good explanation is better than a bad skunking.

 

Three pieces of advice:

-Make sure the dock talk is sound.

-Pay attention to weather and water conditions.

-Versatility matters.

 

[IndianaFinesse]

7 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

 

Link to the electro fishing survey?

I can't seem to find it right now, think it might have been on the bigindianabass website. @Team9nine (he owns, writes, and operates that site) might be able to direct you to it.

[Team9nine]

@IndianaFinesse was it this one you were referring to?

 

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2017/12/lake-monroe-fish-composition.html

[LxVE Bassin]

8 hours ago, Team9nine said:

@IndianaFinesse was it this one you were referring to?

 

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2017/12/lake-monroe-fish-composition.html

That’s just terrible!

[IndianaFinesse]

21 hours ago, Team9nine said:

@IndianaFinesse was it this one you were referring to?

 

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2017/12/lake-monroe-fish-composition.html

Yeah, that's the one.  I don't know a lot about how the percentages should look, but from what I can see it looks a little lopsided, and not in the bass fisherman's favor.

[kingmotorboat]

On 2/21/2018 at 8:34 PM, Catt said:

@WRB 

 

OK Tom what do you do with Lacassine?

 

Depth: 18-24"

 

Cover: various types of vegetation 

 

Structure: bottom contour is pretty much nonexistent 

 

 

Place still gives me nightmares. There's a reason I only go once or twice a year. Lacassine " It sure ain't big burns" wildlife refuge

[Paul Roberts]

On 2/21/2018 at 7:34 PM, Catt said:

@WRB 

 

OK Tom what do you do with Lacassine?

 

Depth: 18-24"

 

Cover: various types of vegetation 

 

Structure: bottom contour is pretty much nonexistent 

 

 

Advice from a small shallow water fisher (1000mi away), from my post above, with edits for your situation:

 

Three pieces of advice:

1. -Make sure the dock talk is sound.

2. -Pay attention to weather and water conditions.

3. -Versatility matters.

4. -Find the food. The bass will know when and where. Yeah, I know it's everywhere, but some is of greater interest than others. I will venture a guess that there are LOTS of smaller bass there -shallow water is a tough go- but some really big ones too. The big ones have figured out how to hunt in dense cover (I've been able to video some juvies learning the heavy cover ropes). 

 

Prey is more vulnerable at certain times (see #2.) And in certain places (think "ambush points" -these are how bass get fed). The latter can end up being a one fish at a time deal, but if there is a chance at big ones, it may be worth the pain. 

 

I know this is not news to you. But, it's so much like a lot of my waters that... I feel your pain.

 

[Catt]

@Paul Roberts

 

2 -Pay attention to weather and water conditions

 

The water is gin clear making cloudy overcast days the best fishing.

 

certain places (think "ambush points" -these are how bass get fed)

 

If ya notice the open water in the bottom picture, that's boat trails, definitely ambush points especially intersections.

 

If it wasn't for bass like the 11 lb 3 oz below I probably wouldn't fish this marsh!