I can't catch more than one fish in a day!?

[geo g]

This time of year in the southern states is often tough for a lot of us.  When it's really tough I will go to plastics that you have confidence in, and slow down.  I will go to thick cover and fish the pads and weed lines changing cadence until I find what they want.  If that doesn't work, I will go to drop-offs, and ledges and do the same thing trying to find what turns them on.  Most often recently it's been small movements with long pauses.  Most bites have come while the bait was a rest.  Drop-offs as much as 15 feet have produced bites when shallow flats with thick weeds have not.  Most fisherman fish too fast during these hot sunny conditions.  I hope this helps you catch a few more bites.  Good luck.

 

 

 

 

[Great White Fisherman]

5 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Pitch it to places you know the bass are.

I've dropped a lure in every square inch of the pond, it's small enough to reach every place from the bank. My confusion here is how do I "know where the bass are"? I've tried all the obvious places like close to the bank, right up next to the cattails, around the only sharp drop-off in the pond, and very few times have I gotten anything. As I said, I've also fished every other area of the pond too trying to see if there's a holding spot they like. Seems to me that they move around and don't hold to any one area. So I only ever catch them by chance when the lure goes right by them...

12 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

 

Have you caught fish using this type of bait before?  I ask because it can be difficult to discern when a bass has the bait in it's mouth.  You said you got a "nibble" but no "bites".  What do you feel the difference is between those two terms?  A bunch of small pecks at your lure is probably a bluegill or other panfish.  

 

A "bite" can feel like a hard tap or it can feel like your bait has floated up from the bottom.  Did your bait fall to the bottom?  Or did a bass suck it into his mouth as it was falling?

 

Again, communication is difficult without a baseline so I'm going to assume that when you say "jerked" it's the same thing that I think "jerked" is.  The baits your are using are generally most useful when fished with patience.  I don't "jerk" plastic worms and creatures.  It takes very little movement of the rod to impart action and sometimes you DON'T WANT ANY ACTION AT ALL.  Sometimes you want to just let it sit.  

 

Keep working!  You will eventually get every bass in that pond!

By nibble I mean I felt a hit but the line didn't move so he didn't take it. And by jerk I mean I snapped the rod back just enough to move the rod tip but several times in quick succession.

[FishingGeekTX]

I think that's summer fishing in many lakes/ponds.

 

Get out just before light.  Some % of bass move shallow to feed early morning.

 

You want to be fishing topwater (frog if it's cover, popper if edge of cover but open, buzzbait if it's like large flat shallows where you need to cover water).

If a fish is there, it will be 0-10 seconds..then cast a new spot.  You have very limited time in the morning, you want to catch all the fish you can.

 

That means your first cast would be before you reach the bank, to the shallows where you are walking towards.  Be quiet, shallow bass can spook easy.  Then cast shallows left/right.  Then either work your way one direction casting shallow, or most to a new spot and repeat. 

 

Have a weightless fluke or worm rigged as a follow-up cast if you miss one, but only give it one try then back to topwater.

 

Once the morning bite is over, either put a weight on the soft plastic (clamp, split shot, 1 foot from hook or more), or re-rig texas rig.  Now cast anywhere, let sink, work back letting it pause (as per normal).

 

Still cast the frog and quickly work through cover.

Cast the worm and let sink, worm back slow.

If not working, go slower.

 

Punching a jig/creature through cover or dropshot cover edges I might try the next visit if I strike out with frog/trig after morning.  I've never done either from the bank, no tips from me there.

 

If that doesn't work, downsize lures.

If that doesn't work, fish early morning then go enjoy your summer

[scaleface]

8 hours ago, Hunter_g said:

By nibble I mean I felt a hit but the line didn't move so he didn't take it. And by jerk I mean I snapped the rod back just enough to move the rod tip but several times in quick succession.

Okay . Someone needs to post a link to a video about wormin , feeling the fish and setting the hook  Or go the video  section on this site and search for it .

[jr231]

When fishing small ponds

 

1) find the bluegill.  The bass are never too far away. 

 

2) ANY change in the edges (humps, tree limbs, bushes) usually hold fish.  

 

When the ponds get choked with weeds it's hard in the summer to fish those ponds. Go with as little weight as possible as this helps reduce snags and obviously something weedless

 

And slow down. Seriously. Painfully slow. This is often the key on days where bites are far and few between. 

 

 

[Great White Fisherman]

Well I managed to catch 2 fish today but the catfish was completely by accident...I want 2 or more bass in one day...still had fun. I was fishing a small local lake with very little vegetation so I could throw every lure in my tackle without worry. Caught the bass on a chatterbait and kept working the chatterbait with no luck, changed to rattle trap, then a different color chatterbait, then plastics and finally back to basics with the senko, tried both weighted and weightless and doing the fan technique to cover water. Nothin...just....the one...

[jr231]

When you're fishing lakes from shore... Most places really get fished hard because of all the people without boats go there and really wear the spot out. If you're gonna fish LAKES from shore. You need to do some hiking my friend. 

[Great White Fisherman]

I've done it! Although bass #2 was an itty bitty thing, I'll take it! Plus bass #1 was my current PB at 3lbs! However, this took place on Lake Conroe, not my pond...still trying to make it happen there too.

[Great White Fisherman]

I found this in-depth examination on the web and I felt I just had to share it here. 

 

Largemouth Bass Behavior & Habits

 

It's pretty thorough and totally changed my view of these fish, how to catch them, and why I've had such little luck.

[BassNJake]

I would make sure you take a look at this too, lots of information here

 

 

[Great White Fisherman]

I tried out some bottom fishing today. 1.5oz egg weight with a t-rig senko on about an 8 inch leader. Longer leader was just getting snagged and tangling. I tossed it up so as to create speed on the fall to cut through the hydrilla and get to the bottom or as close as possible. Some places were just too thick. I snapped the rod a few times and waited for a strike. I did this for about 2hrs with no luck. Any suggestions?

[BassNJake]

If your using heavy line put on a large treble hook bait

make casts and drag in the weeds. 

this will create "lanes" that you can use to cast in and around

 

Have you tried fishing something over the top of the hydrilla?

Frog, toad, weightless swimbait rigged weedless ....

 

Since this is your pond, I'd try to clear an area and add something for the bass to relate to

you could add rocks, tree limbs, small dock or casting platform ....

[Great White Fisherman]

On 8/2/2019 at 8:21 AM, BassNJake said:

If your using heavy line put on a large treble hook bait

make casts and drag in the weeds. 

this will create "lanes" that you can use to cast in and around

 

Have you tried fishing something over the top of the hydrilla?

Frog, toad, weightless swimbait rigged weedless

Firstly, yes I've done alot of topwater and only ever caught one fish, lost another when the hook didn't set properly. Other than that, no bites. 

 

As far as making lanes, I actually have a 6ft piece of unistrut on a heavy rope i put together just for this, to clear the hydrilla. Have to use my truck though because it gets super heavy pulling it out. I actually did this every day little by little for about a week until I had about half the pond cleared out. The problem? In a month it was all back, although not as bad as it was when it had all summer to grow, but that rate of regrowth makes the idea of clearing impractical because I'd have to do it constantly. I gave up on this prospect. Plus, the side of the pond they seem to hang out on most is not accessible to a truck. If I were to put effort into clearing, I'd want to do it on that side

[Great White Fisherman]

Caught 2 in the pond this morning! I'm happy now. I left the pond alone for about 3 days and went out this morning around 4am. Caught a good one on a black scum frog pretty quick, I think on the 3rd cast. Then nothing for awhile till 7:30 when I threw a new bait in my tackle that I picked up yesterday: the zoom ultravibe speed craw. Rigged carolina and reeled at a moderate pace to keep it in the middle of the water column. He slammed it, I literally ripped his lip! 

 

Good day, good day

[Great White Fisherman]

On 7/28/2019 at 7:43 AM, Sam said:

9.  Add wood. Yes, go out and get some fallen trees and put them in the pond along the bank. The bass will come to them for safety and to rest plus ambush any forage for an easy meal. Give the area you put the wood at least seven full days for the bass to accumulate to it.

On my way home today, I came across a mess in the middle of the road. Turns out that mess was an obliterated telephone pole with 2 pieces still intact, one of which was about 15ft long. I remembered the above reply on this topic and decided to bring them home. They're now in the pond and hopefully by next week they will be producing. Can't wait!

[papajoe222]

Three things I'd recommend without reading all the previous posts. Top, Middle, Bottom.  Hit all three levels of the water column before moving on. Change speed/direction on every cast. That's one thing that will get you more bites over a steady, mono-speed retrieve. Last, persistence. Stay out there until you have to be somewhere else. I couldn't count the number of times, this season alone, where I hit 'em hard the first hour out only to go the next three, or four fishless. The fish would get active again (usually when the wind changed direction, or picked up) and I'd be back to catching.

[Sam]

5 hours ago, Great White Fisherman said:

On my way home today, I came across a mess in the middle of the road. Turns out that mess was an obliterated telephone pole with 2 pieces still intact, one of which was about 15ft long. I remembered the above reply on this topic and decided to bring them home. They're now in the pond and hopefully by next week they will be producing. Can't wait!

Great, make sure they don't have any creosote on them or other chemicals that would repel bass.