Struggling to find the bite

[LunkHunt2.0]

Just moved out here about a month ago from California. Really having a hard time locating and catching the largemouth @ the local lake, which is in contrast to the people around me who are slaying em. Don't want to keep harassing them so maybe you guys can shoot out some advice.

 

Water Temp: 65-69 Degrees

Depth: Deepest 6 feet, Majority Shallowest @ 2-4 feet in most spots

Clarity: 1 foot, murky green water

Vegetation: lots of lily pad coves, no much underwater but muddy and sandy bottom everywhere

 

Only caught two so far, Drop Shot Robo worm and a T-Rig Pit Boss jigging up and down on a slow retrieve.

 

[Darren.]

First, welcome to the forums, and welcome to 

beautiful, YELLOW (pollen) Virginia!

 

Are you shore-bound, or fishing from a boat/kayak?

 

I'll be honest, I love the robo worms, and bought 

a bunch on A-Mart's recommendation, but they just

don't produce for me here.

 

On drop shot I have TONS of success with the Yamamoto

Shad Shape Worm in Watermelon Red, and Watermelon

GP laminate. Killer up on the Peninsula, but not always.

Sometimes they just don't bite.

 

The other things I recommend here are wacky rigged 

4-4 1/4" Senkos or knockoffs in watermelon magic, 

green pumpkin/orange laminate, junebug, etc.

 

Next would be the Ned rig, which I started fishing the past

year and had some great success with numbers.

 

Good luck, and keep us posted on what you try. There are

several here that are in the VA Beach area that could give

some great advice for ya, too.

 

EDIT: I'd add that you should try some frogs and other top

water lures over the lily pads, if you haven't already.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Darren.

[Koz]

Speed it up! You mentioned that you caught a few on a drop shot and a slow retrieve. But have you tried speeding it up with a buzz bait or spinnerbait? And as mentioned above, lily pads = mandatory frog fishing

 

FWIW, we have plenty of murky water here and with that my firsts casts of the day are always something that is going to send vibrations in the water and spinnerbaits have been killer here this spring. What's odd though is that it's my white/silver KVD spinnerbait that's crushing it in the murky water and not my darker colored spinnerbaits.

 

Anyway, I'd go with the frog first and if that didn't work I'd speed it up with spinnerbaits and buzz baits. Just my 2 cents.

[bagofdonuts]

Swim jig works great in weeds. Especially where there’s a soft bottom and fish are not relating to the bottom, but are hanging just under the weeds.  

[Fairtax4me]

Spring time, you need something moving and making noise. 

Rattle traps, spinner baits, underspins, squarebills on the edges of vegetation. Swim baits rigged seedless to run through patchy areas. Lighter colors (white, chartreuse, yellow) that will reflect light well in the murky water. If the bite is tough, then slow down your approach and try dark or natural colored ribbon tail worms and creature baits flipped into or near cover. Bass stay in grass and pads in those shallow lakes. They're not always easy to catch, but that's where they are. If there are deeper areas with stumps/brush piles work around those cover areas. Should be pretty close to or in spawn right now, soft plastics worked on beds will get you some solid fish. The bigger girls will be wary, but be patient. 

 

Later in the summer when it's hot and those pads and grass are super thick, you'll be doing nothing but pitching and punching. Buy some braid and heavy punching gear and start working on techniques for that. 

[MassYak85]

What lake are you fishing if you don't mind me asking. I was down here last summer and am down here again until the end of June and have had a hell of a time myself locating fish in the suffolk reservoirs (where I usually take my kayak).