Just when you think you have it figured out...

[Brew City Bass]

So I've been night fishing a lot lately and have been doing pretty d**n good. Using the usual baits (spinners, ploppers, chatterbaits). Month of August I don't think I had a night out where I caught less than 15 fish, up until this week. Past 3 nights I only caught 4 fish each night. 8 hours a night and only 4 fish. Bleh. 

It did rain a lot this past week and dropped the water temp 3-4* But the weather has been fairly stable. I've fished the same baits in the same spots I always nailed em in and just didn't produce. I probably should have been less stubborn and started trying different things. I did try slow rolling deeper up to 20fow but still no real luck. Seems like every fish I've caught this week was a fluke. 

Do you guys think it was the change in water / air temp has em lock jaw? Or should I be doing something different? I feel pretty one dimensional sometimes when this happens. 

[diehardbassfishing]

Oh man. Yup. 20 yrs + of bass fishing. You're singing my song. Welcome to the party.

 

Karl

 

 

[LionHeart]

Saturday I got skunked after 5 hours in Texas heat.  Try not to feel too bad ?

[soflabasser]

Try fishing a different location or change the lure you are using, retrieve,etc until you find what the bass want.

[TOXIC]

You had a good run.  Fish feeding habits change all season.  What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow or next week or next month.  

[TnRiver46]

Unfortunately I can't answer your questions, I've been skunked most of my recent fishing trips 

[Krux5506]

Kinda like how a Ned Rig was pulling most of my fish in this summer up until August. Then for whatever reason, spinnerbaits were picking up quality fish (not quantity). Things just change up as we near the end of summer. There's no choice but to just go with it. 

[DINK WHISPERER]

Don't feel too bad. Been super tough here in S FL as well. Hit and miss at best. 

[DSTN]

Real hit and miss August for me too. Can't tell you for sure where they went but keep plugging away and you'll find them.

[scaleface]

Night fishing is more unpredictable in my experience .      

[lo n slo]

6 hours ago, TOXIC said:

You had a good run.  Fish feeding habits change all season.  What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow or next week or next month.  

that’s good preachin’ right there

[IgotWood]

Regardless of temps and weather, I think fish are getting into that transitional period based on sunrise and sunset. I would think this is happening just about everywhere now. As said previously, maybe try a different area. Maybe they are beginning to stage somewhere else. Or maybe try a different time of night, like early morning before daybreak maybe. 

[Sam]

Jason, you asked three questions. Here is my input, right or wrong. Hope it gives you some insight into your situation.

 

It did rain a lot this past week and dropped the water temp 3-4* But the weather has been fairly stable.

After a cold front passes through an area the bass do not feed until a few days later when the barometric pressure increases.  Then you have "blue bird skies" or in your case, "star-lit skies" and the bass will not eat.

 

Do you guys think it was the change in water / air temp has em lock jaw?

Yes.  100%. After a cold front moves through an area, as stated above, you may not get a bite for one or two days depending on the severity of the rain and/or storm.

 

Or should I be doing something different?

Sure. Always do something different. What have you got to lose? First, you put on a cheese head like they wear at the Packers and Badgers games. This will bring you good luck. Then, based on water clarity, select your arsenal of baits including those for your drop shot and shaky head techniques. Then hit them with a lot of vibration and noise baits to get them aggravated enough to hit them. And don't forget the color yellow. You know they can see the color yellow at night. Try some JJ's Magic or other dye for a yellow tail.

 

Now go out there and do what the Packers do... slay them!!!!

 

 

[Brew City Bass]

53 minutes ago, Sam said:

Jason, you asked three questions. Here is my input, right or wrong. Hope it gives you some insight into your situation.

 

It did rain a lot this past week and dropped the water temp 3-4* But the weather has been fairly stable.

After a cold front passes through an area the bass do not feed until a few days later when the barometric pressure increases.  Then you have "blue bird skies" or in your case, "star-lit skies" and the bass will not eat.

 

Do you guys think it was the change in water / air temp has em lock jaw?

Yes.  100%. After a cold front moves through an area, as stated above, you may not get a bite for one or two days depending on the severity of the rain and/or storm.

 

Or should I be doing something different?

Sure. Always do something different. What have you got to lose? First, you put on a cheese head like they wear at the Packers and Badgers games. This will bring you good luck. Then, based on water clarity, select your arsenal of baits including those for your drop shot and shaky head techniques. Then hit them with a lot of vibration and noise baits to get them aggravated enough to hit them. And don't forget the color yellow. You know they can see the color yellow at night. Try some JJ's Magic or other dye for a yellow tail.

 

Now go out there and do what the Packers do... slay them!!!!

 

 

I really appreciate this advice! I guess I never made the connection with night fishing and weather. I just kind of always assumed they ate at night no-matter the weather. Didn't even take barometric pressure into account! 

Cheese hat! How could I have forgotten to wear my cheese hat when fishing! I'll be sure to bring that next time. It has to have the anti-effect of a banana in the boat, right? haha. 

I can honestly say I've never tried finesse baits at night. This lake the water has closer to 20ft clarity. I just assumed bass go mostly off sound and vibration at night and wouldn't be able to really see a drop shot or the something similar. I've also yet to try an all yellow bait, but like you said, I have dipped my trailers in some chart JJ's magic. 

GO PACK GO! 

[Mobasser]

15 hours ago, TOXIC said:

You had a good run.  Fish feeding habits change all season.  What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow or next week or next month.  

Very true. We've had a good run on numbers so far this summer, fishing buzzbaits very early, then moving off the bank with plastic worms. Now, we've had some rain and a few cooler days.Soon it will be time for a change up.Add some crankbaits to the mix, along with traps and bigger jigs. It does pay to be versatile

[rejesterd]

Try different spots.  This is common for late summer, especially for night fishing spots.  They start to move toward other fairly shallow, but slightly deeper spots (like 4-8 feet instead of 1-4).  

 

This is the time of year when jerkbaits start to outperform spinnerbaits and noisy baits at night.  Also quieter (but more erratic) topwaters like Zara Spooks.

[Troy85]

On 8/26/2018 at 10:29 PM, LionHeart said:

Saturday I got skunked after 5 hours in Texas heat.  Try not to feel too bad ?

Feel ur pain over here in Louisiana.  Caught 1 bass Saturday.  Pretty sure it was the 90 degree daytime water temps, and the bright moon lit cloudless Friday night.  I'm sure they gorged themselves long before sunrise.

[Brew City Bass]

42 minutes ago, rejesterd said:

Try different spots.  This is common for late summer, especially for night fishing spots.  They start to move toward other fairly shallow, but slightly deeper spots (like 4-8 feet instead of 1-4).  

 

This is the time of year when jerkbaits start to outperform spinnerbaits and noisy baits at night.  Also quieter (but more erratic) topwaters like Zara Spooks.

It's a rather small lake. 80 acres I believe. I can fish pretty much the whole thing twice in one night. I first hit the banks and docks 1-4ft and got 1 or 2 out of that water. Then I hit the 4-10ft range, but with the same baits. For the last hour or two I worked 10-20ft and didn't even get a hit. 

I am going out this Thursday night and I think I'm gonna hit the shallows again just to make sure they aren't there, then start working the 4-10ft with a jerkbait like you suggested. I'll be sure to give a spook a try in the shallows like you mentioned. Like I said, I've been pretty one dimensional so it can't hurt to star trying new baits. Thank you for the suggestions!

[soflabasser]

On 8/27/2018 at 1:05 PM, DINK WHISPERER said:

Been super tough here in S FL as well. Hit and miss at best. 

What part of South Florida are you in,SouthWest Florida? I am SouthEast Florida and the bass fishing has been awesome this whole summer, in fact probably one of the best Summers I have had. Can't wait for Fall and Winter since that's when the bass are the thickest and heaviest!

[DINK WHISPERER]

3 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

What part of South Florida are you in,SouthWest Florida? I am SouthEast Florida and the bass fishing has been awesome this whole summer, in fact probably one of the best Summers I have had. Can't wait for Fall and Winter since that's when the bass are the thickest and heaviest!

Lucky you my man, haha. I live in Lake Placid (Highlands county). 

[soflabasser]

1 minute ago, DINK WHISPERER said:

Lucky you my man, haha. I live in Lake Placid (Highlands county). 

 You are in one of the best places in the state for trophy bass so you are very forunate! Our bass in SouthEast Florida bass don't get as big as your area of the state, but we do have a bunch of 6-9 pounders (with the rare +10 pounder). I honestly don't bass fish that much compared to other types of fishing I do but decided to challenge myself for a month and did well. Got rained on hard on every trip I went but it paid off. Probably going to focus on other species now until near the end of the year when I start getting serious again about chasing the big bass.

[Brew City Bass]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

 You are in one of the best places in the state for trophy bass so you are very forunate! Our bass in SouthEast Florida bass don't get as big as your area of the state, but we do have a bunch of 6-9 pounders (with the rare +10 pounder). I honestly don't bass fish that much compared to other types of fishing I do but decided to challenge myself for a month and did well. Got rained on hard on every trip I went but it paid off. Probably going to focus on other species now until near the end of the year when I start getting serious again about chasing the big bass.

C'mon now, you guys are making me jealous! A 4lber is considered a big bass in Wisconsin, 5-6lbs is a giant and 6-8lbs is a trophy. 

Our state record is 11lbs, but that was way back in the 40's and there is really no proof of it. I am skeptical it was even 11lbs. I've never heard or seen one in this state that broke 9lbs with proof. Just a buncha "my buddy caught a 10lber last year!" with no pics. 

[soflabasser]

34 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

C'mon now, you guys are making me jealous! A 4lber is considered a big bass in Wisconsin, 5-6lbs is a giant and 6-8lbs is a trophy. 

Our state record is 11lbs, but that was way back in the 40's and there is really no proof of it. I am skeptical it was even 11lbs. I've never heard or seen one in this state that broke 9lbs with proof. Just a buncha "my buddy caught a 10lber last year!" with no pics. 

Yes we are blessed to live in the Fishing Capital of the World but we still have to work hard to catch decent fish. I have had plenty of trips where I catch nothing and it was not from a lack of trying.This Summer was much better than average for me and I most likely had my most memorable Summer for bass fishing that I can recall at the moment. You have muskies and smallies in your state and they are fish worth traveling for. I plan on going up north soon for more muskie and smallmouth bass fishing and hopefully catch some.Illinois is right next to Wisconsin and has a +13 pound state record largemouth bass so I don't see why its hard to believe Wisconsin with a 11 pound largemouth bass. There's people who doubt the Illinois record as well, which is no surprise since its a extremely impressive catch for that far north. A man did catch a 11.71 pound largemouth bass in Crab Orchard lake,Illinois recently which is not too far from where you are.

[Brew City Bass]

10 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Yes we are blessed to live in the Fishing Capital of the World but we still have to work hard to catch decent fish. I have had plenty of trips where I catch nothing and it was not from a lack of trying.This Summer was much better than average for me and I most likely had my most memorable Summer for bass fishing that I can recall at moment. You have muskie and smallies in your state and they are fish worth traveling for. I plan on going up north soon for more muskie and smallmouth bass fishing and hopefully catch some. Illinois is right next to Wisconsin and has a +13 pound state record largemouth bass so I don't see why its hard to believe Wisconsin with a 11 pound largemouth bass. There's people who doubt the Illinois record as well, which is no surprise since its a extremely impressive catch for that far north. A man did catch a 11.71 pound largemouth bass in Crab Ochid lake,Illinois recently which is not too far from where you are.

The reason I don't believe our record will be broken anytime soon, or believe the current record is because our lakes are not managed for bass. They seem to only care about muskie or walleye up here. If taking out a good bass lake means more muskie, DNR is happy to do it and all the locals support. 

I have no idea how Il. manages their lakes. Wisconsin has big beautiful lakes capable of harboring records, but we seems to not give a flying crap about bass. Most lake associations have no problem killing every weed in the lake and killing any type of bait fish in the process. Then they stock walleye, pike and muskie to the max and that takes care of any remaining bait fish. Only lakes I've ever caught trophy bass in were lakes that were never stocked with muskie and walleye. Those lakes are becoming rare now.

Every lake they've stocked those predators in the cisco population has been killed and any other medium to large baitfish as well. Bass are left to feed off of bluegill or crappie, and I've been seeing less and less of those recently in some lakes too. Everyone who fishes for panfish here will bring their son, brother, uncle, and sisters dog and all keep their limit of undersized to trophy fish. We are not a sport fishing state unless it's for muskie. Even then I've seen some aholes kill and keep those. I've seen amazing lakes get fished out in a few years once word gets around there are good fish there. We have many lakes, but not a whole lot that are big. It's extremely easy for a 100-500 acre lake to get fished out or too pressured. I've seen it happen before my eyes. 

And yes, we do have good smallies, but they suffer the same fate of the largies unless you're in greenbay on The Big Pond, or on the Mississippi.  

[crypt]

5 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Yes we are blessed to live in the Fishing Capital of the World but we still have to work hard to catch decent fish. I have had plenty of trips where I catch nothing and it was not from a lack of trying.This Summer was much better than average for me and I most likely had my most memorable Summer for bass fishing that I can recall at the moment. You have muskies and smallies in your state and they are fish worth traveling for. I plan on going up north soon for more muskie and smallmouth bass fishing and hopefully catch some.Illinois is right next to Wisconsin and has a +13 pound state record largemouth bass so I don't see why its hard to believe Wisconsin with a 11 pound largemouth bass. There's people who doubt the Illinois record as well, which is no surprise since its a extremely impressive catch for that far north. A man did catch a 11.71 pound largemouth bass in Crab Orchard lake,Illinois recently which is not too far from where you are.

it has been a good summer in central Fl.   I live in Brevard county,30 minutes from the Stick Marsh.