Thinking About Giving Up

[t_bone_713]

7 hours ago, Fishin' Fool said:

I have so many fishing lures. Crankbaits, jerkaits, spinnerbaits, top water, I could go on and on. I have pretty much narrowed down what i fish with a senko and drop shot. It's amazing how many fish I catch. Stick with a few techniques and really master them before you consider adding more. Anyone live out by this guy that could help speed his learning curve? I live in West Michigan, you're welcome to fish with me but unfortunately I fish from a kayak.

That would be amazing!

[PhishLI]

t bone,

 

We have lots of bass fishing spots in my area, with the biggest lake being a mere 240 acres. There are plenty of 20-ish acre ponds we call lakes. I've had the chance to fish at many of these spots throughout the island I live on. There are lakes about 70 miles east of my house where daytime fishing can be very productive. However, where I live the dusk/night bite is the deal. So, some lakes are good night bite lakes exclusively and some can be very good during the day.

 

I'm pretty well networked with the local hardcore grinders. I'm one of them. I know what goes on and who catches what and when for the most part. My local spot is well known as the second most highly pressured water in the entire county. It's broken many spirits. While bass are occasionally caught during daylight hours, it's rare. But hit this spot at dusk and fish for a few hours afterward and your reward can be great. Crazy action and legit big bass. You'd never believe it if you'd fished it only during the morning or throughout the day. At one point I was convinced one particular local spot was devoid of fish, or that aliens had beamed all the bass to pluto, until I fished it at night.

 

So, maybe you can try to mix your fishing times up a bit?

 

 

[Luke Barnes]

I meant moving spots at the pond. Dont stand in one spot. Fish the entire pond from every angle. Dont pound one little section of pond over and over for 4 hours. Move as in around the pond. Cast at any weeds, trees, anything that isnt water!! Haha. If that pond sucks move to the next and walk the entire bank fishing every spot from different angles at that pond. 

[billmac]

You might have bought into the hype that if you use a senko, all you have to do is sit back and fight off all the fish that will be fighting for your lure.  Senko or not, fishing a plastic worm isn't something I would recommend for a beginner.  I would start with a curly tail jig or jig and spinner, something you can just cast and reel.  Don't worry about colors, just get something medium dark-ish and just throw at every piece of structure you can find.  Make the lure small enough to attract all kinds of fish.  Don't get bogged down into deep water presentations until you get some confidence.

 

Don't flog the water.  Move a lot, and cast and reel.  Stick with it.

[WRB]

So you are located in Virgina and mentioned Smith lake, do you mean Smith Mountain lake? Is this the lake you are having a difficult time catching bass in?

Tom

[LCG]

23 hours ago, t_bone_713 said:

Thanks for the kind words! That a size 2? or a 2/0? Choose two. Got it.

Size 2, not 2/0. Fits the TRD about the same as a 1/16 oz jig but allows you to fish without getting hung up as much. 

 

Also, a weightless senko is my second favorite Finesse technique. 

 

Good luck to you and stick around the forums here, lots of good info and tips. 

[OCdockskipper]

This may sound overly simplistic, but if someone spends 200 hours fishing and they only catch 1 bass, the first thing I think of is that there were no bass where you were fishing.  Not no bass in the lake, just the places you chose to fish.

 

I'd focus a little less on the minute details of the gear and lures and a lot more on finding the bass.  Start with season patterns to get you in the general locations and then fine tune it from there.

 

Bass are curious by nature (remember, they are in the sunfish family) and if you put something near enough of them, a percentage of them are going to bite.  Even if you are doing the worst possible technique, at the wrong time of year, if you are near any bass, there are always a few that are interested in committing suicide.

[greentrout]

 

[scaleface]

I have a system down for catching bass on rip rap dams from the bank . Lipless cranks work well but a few will be lost . After losing my most treasured Bayou Boogie I switched to more inexpensive lures like jig&grubs , prerigged swimbaits , beetle Spins...most any lure that sinks . Rip rap holds bait which attract bass . I start out casting next to bank , then start casting deeper and deeper . Let the lure settle to the bottom , thats where  the high percentage strike zone is at . As you retrieve the lure , pause it a coupe of times and allow it to reach the bottom . This way your offering is in the strike zone the "entire" retrieve. also many hits will happen when the bait is killed . So if any of the waters you fish have riprap dams  this is an excellent way to catch a few . Works for other speices to like crappie and big gills . 

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Hey bud I was new to bass fishing this year. I spent the 1st 3 months trying and failing. And trying and failing. And trying and yet again failing. 

 

My issue was simple. I would abandon the presentation way to fast. Id tie on a new lure completely different from what I had and if in a half hour I didnt catch a bass I tie another. 

 

Id also assume its the body of water I was fishing and try another. But I never actually went full through a body of water to catch a bass with one presentation. Slowing down can mean many things. For me it was slow down my frustration ls and stick to one presentation with one lure. Id change the color of that lure but I wouldnt change the type of lure. I slowed down and not only began to catch fish but knew my bodies of water and where the fish "should" be. 

 

My advise is slow down. Slow down your moving of bodies of water, stick to one, slow down your lure changes, and just learn your body of water. If you dont have a friend or a guide to help you I believe this is the fastest way to self learn. 

[t_bone_713]

22 hours ago, plawren53202 said:

I did a little reading on Lake Smith.  Sounds like it is a pretty shallow lake and not much offshore cover.  From Google maps it looks like the lake does have trees around a lot of it, which means that bass may hold tight to cover on the bank.  What this may mean for you, and something a lot of bank fisherman don't think about, is that sometimes you need to take a really stealthy approach on the bank. Especially if the water is clear, or depending on the sun.  That may mean literally sneaking up to the bank, watching your positioning to make sure you're not throwing a shadow on the water, or standing a few feet back from the bank as you catch.  Also step lightly as you approach the bank and don't stomp up and send vibrations out into the water.  I would also recommend trying lots of casts as parallel to the bank as possible...I see lots of bank anglers who just instinctively throw their casts straight out from the bank at a 90 degree angle.

 

You may already be doing all of this, but just wanted to raise the possibility. Also, shallower ponds and lakes are more susceptible to the fluctuations of temperature, meaning that they can be really hard to fish in the heat of summer and cold of winter. 

Noted! Thank you SO very much for taking your precious time to help me. I am grateful!

[JustJames]

Let me be devil advocates here,

First you watch 100 of hours of you tube. You might try to copy it too much, believe me catching bass is not as easy as in show on you tube. Sometime it take 5-10 mins per cast to work whatever lures and about 100 casts to catch just one bass.

 

Secondly let look at your first 11 session June-Aug ( the 2nd session is harder to tell since most place would be in fall transition and bass started moving), most bass in summer would stay close to cover and more active in early morning or late evening until night time. I can tell you if I go out everyday at noon for those 3 month, I might not catch a single soul. Bottom line timing is also important base on season. 

 

Third, as other mentioned slow and work thru out the water is the key. You might fall into those newbie mistake of casting for the distance, 30-50yds btw you work your lure back to most strike zone5-15 feet from shore, you get tired and started looking for next cast. As hot as it is and as shallow, you will be surprised bass hang/roaming close to shore looking for bait fish. Most of the fish I caught were close to shoreline some even less than 5’. If I were you I would work parallel to shoreline more than casting out in front of you. Don’t give up if you don’t get bass in a few cast, you are looking for roaming bass not a group of suspended bass unless you cast into cover (tree/shade)

 

Lastly, I should be the one who call out “ I GIVE UP” and yes I did that from time to time even now ?. I started bass fishing since 2001 up until 4-5 years ago, I only caught maybe a handful of showable size bass. Being in the city with not many park lakes but a tons of ppl is not fun. Sometime I ventured out 50-70 miles drive in heavy SoCal traffic and yield nothing. I’m the only one in family that love fishing so most of the trip I went alone. I still remembered my usual spot on weekend, I’ll pack my lunch headed to jetti (seal beach) and sit there 6-8 hours most every weekend.

 

Good luck to you, let wait until spring time and start you plan again, it is gonna get tougher to catch bass during cold month, save your energy for the big one when spawning time begin.

[dicklarson]

Hey man,

 

In case you check this forum post.

I'm in Norfolk, and I just decided I need to get back into bass fishing, because the saltwater fishing bite from shore is pretty miserable this time of year.

I got into a bass on my first try on Saturday.  I was pretty surprised, I wasn't planning to catch anything.

I've compiled some spots to check out, as I plan on fishing much more between now and mid april (gonna switch gears to saltier stuff, which I actually feel pretty confident about my abilities in).

 

You're absolutely welcome to join me, I'm also 27 y/o, bout your age, not super experienced, but have been fishing a fair bit since I was about 21.

 

Anyway, I really enjoy fishing alone, but I also really enjoy fishing with company.  If you want to fish for some bass any time, let me know.  I'd also be down to fish the saltier water.  Last year from may-november I didn't get skunked on a single outing (in the saltwater).  Excited to learn more about bass fishing this area, although from what I can tell, shore access is hard to find.  Can't get a kayak until I have somewhere to put it though. 

 

But yeah, again, I'll be bank fishing for bass hopefully at least weekly for the duration of spring, let me know if you want to get out, I don't check this forum daily, but if you hit me up I'll probably get back to you within a week.

[GTN-NY]

On 11/13/2019 at 9:39 PM, MN Fisher said:

 

 

I personally use I-Boating's maps and app on my Tablet

http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html#4.05/40.821/-96.957

 

With either one, just scroll around and zoom in to your lake.

Is the I-Boating app free? “It says In-App Purchases” US $19.99 and I wasn’t sure what that meant

On 11/13/2019 at 9:39 PM, MN Fisher said:

 

 

I personally use I-Boating's maps and app on my Tablet

http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html#4.05/40.821/-96.957

 

With either one, just scroll around and zoom in to your lake.

Is the I-Boating app free? “It says In-App Purchases” US $19.99 and I wasn’t sure what that meant

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, GTN said:

Is the I-Boating app free? “It says In-App Purchases” US $19.99 and I wasn’t sure what that meant

Is the I-Boating app free? “It says In-App Purchases” US $19.99 and I wasn’t sure what that meant

The app is free - the maps cost the $20. But that gives you the entire US in the same sector grids as the USGS maps, so you only download the section(s) you need.

 

It does have GPS location, waypoint setting and a recording function. This is my trip of July 31 where I caught my best-of-the-year...the one in my profile pic.

[collinfiske_RFC]

If I were you, I would spend a lot of time this winter researching "high percentage areas". If you throw the rig you described enough times at one of these areas you will get bit. When fishing a lake, river pond ect., there is going to be more water to fish than humanly possible. To find these high percentage areas it becomes very important that you understand fish behavior. I know it sounds super silly but hang with me. Fish are going to be in different parts of the water during different times of the year. They will also change their locations during changes in water temp, color, current ect. This can be due to a fish trying to maintain its body temperature, spawn seasons or chasing bait. Look for structure along the shoreline fish can relate to or rockpiles where they are chasing bait and staying warm. There is so much literature out there that can help you find the 10% of the lake where the fish are so you can focus your time and resources on it. Good luck!

 

CPF