Need Serious Help

[avdr22]

Hello, 

 

At the beggining of the summer, my goal was to catch one (1) of ANY bass. I have an extensive fishing background and have done mostly saltwater at this point. I researched for hours and came up with the following "idiot proof" beginner rig. 4 size Gamakatsu off set shank hook. 5 inch senko (GRN PMPK or WTRMLN texas rigged weightless. Fast action spinner reel. 8 pound flouro test.

 

I fish primarily Lake Washington and I have been to many places where I have seen people or heard people catch bass. I walk along various points in the shore and cast 45 degrees out but try to keep it parallel. I let the senko sink to the bottom and give it about a foot or two of tug and let it sink again and repeat it like that. I fish it real slow. I know this is the post-spawn season so not that many fish are shallow. I have tried frogs over the lily pads, metal spinners, crankbaits, shads, crawfish, dropshot rig with worm as well. Mostly I just stick with the unweighted senko on texas rig.

 

I have tried American Lake all over as well.

 

At this point im ready to give up. I have fished close to 100 (maybe even 120 hours) hours this season and I have seen people on the left and right of me pull up bass. I have caught countless rock bass, sunfish, perch, you name it but no bass. I had my father come with me one time and he doesn't know ANYTHING about bass fishing (hasn't even tried it before) but he asked to use my pole and setup and on the third cast he got a small 1 pound Largemouth. I just don't know what more as a beginner I can do to just catch one bass. 

 

If anybody knows what the absolute best bass fishing lake in WA state, I might just pay a visit to try one last time. 

If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, I would love to know. I want to get into this, but I have just had nothing but failure so far.

[BrianMDTX]

I cannot address the Washington state location as I’m in Texas. But I have a suggestion. 
 

I gather from the info provided that you are using a 5” Senko on a weightless Texas rig. If so, try a wacky rig. I use a Gamakatsu 1/0 octopus hook (you can use a circle hook but I prefer an octopus) and an O ring. You can opt to simply put the hook through the Senko but your Senkos will  last longer using O rings. Get 1/4” ID ones at HD to try. 
 

Rather than casting as you have been doing (which will catch bass), walk the shoreline  slowly and quietly looking for tree limbs overhanging the water, as well as any submerged branches, logs, stumps, etc. Many of my casts when fishing from the bank are no longer than 10’-15’. Flip the Senko out and let it sink. If no strike, raise it up a bit and let it sink again. If no strike, reel it in and recast. Work those areas with several casts in the same spots before you move on. It’s amazing how some times that bait can cross a bass’ nose 3-4 times and nothing...and cast #5 gets a strike. 
 

If you’ve never fished a WR, don’t set the hook. When the line starts running, lift the rod about 45° and reel in the slack tight and the hook will set itself. 
 

I also fish 5” Senkos on a weightless Texas rig at times. I am a big Texas rig guy. But I have probably caught 75% of my bass this year on a Senko wacky rig. I may catch several or only one or two, but so far (knock on wood), every trip this year using a 5” Senko WR has produced at least one bass. 
 

Good luck! 

[scaleface]

Try not to catch bass . Get some small panfish jigs and so after sunfish and perch . Then you should  catch some .

[DaubsNU1]

Try slowing down. I have found that I tend to get anxious and speed up my retrieves / how I work the presentation.  When I slow down I get in to more fish.  Good luck...hang in there!

[wis bang]

I used to visit the weedy inlet end of a know lake and targeted the clumps of pads N grass from a dirt boat ramp.

 

I started buy standing 10 - 15 feet back and 'just' dropping the wacky rig in font of the nearby shoreline vegetation first and often caught a bass that I would have spooked if I walked up to the edge first.

 

I just ended a streak of no fish on 3 weekend trips starting earlyish.

 

Friday I went after work and caught 3 at a lake where one can be considered good trip.

 

I had a Texas rig worm just dragging behind a I re-positioned the boat and it was a small bass. No wind so I started trying everything I had and the wacky rig produced a tiny bass just before dark.

 

Motored down to a cove and started throwing a black jitterbug at the shoreline and caught another 16" bass...

 

Keep fishing those GY worms. Over the past three years I caught most of my bass on one of three colors and I always have the 'most productive' color on one pole every time I go out. 

[Sphynx]

A big part of it is the time of year, there aren't many feeding windows for a bank beater to take advantage of in the heat of summer, this will change as the season transitions and things start to cool down. Also possible is that you've had bites and just missed the signs, they don't always hammer a presentation, often times the only indication you get is your line/lure doing something it just shouldn't do like stopping too early, moving to one side or the other slightly, and they spit it back out before you start your retrieve. Fishing summer and winter from the bank are a real challenge, because the fish aren't going to cooperate and hang out where we can get to them very often, but you'll get one, just stick with it. Those senko's are a good choice, one thing I find helpful over the summer since I haven't got any electronics is dragging a Carolina rig around and mentally napping the areas I think ought to be good fishing, figure out where the hard bottom bits are, where does the grass line start/stop, is there sunken cover or brush piles I can't see that might be worth remembering? If I catch a fish it's just an added bonus, and often times finding a grass line or something will catch a fish, but when the fall or spring rolls back around and the fish start pushing shallow again, you'll have a lot of dead water already eliminated and can focus on higher percentage areas.

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

7 hours ago, avdr22 said:

I have seen people on the left and right of me pull up bass.

The environment we are fishing tells us a lot of what we need to know to start catching, including the quoted text above.

 

What baits were they fishing?

What structure and or cover were they fishing.

Depth?

What presentations?

So on and so forth.

 

There were definitely bass where these others were fishing, considering the hours you spent likely no bass where you were. Why?

 

If I'm soaking a wacky rigged worm and the guy down the bank is reeling them in on a jerkbait, I'm switching baits.

 

Don't be afraid to ask, the worst that will happen is maybe a dumb look.

 

I also come from saltwater, I never had the feeling that I was hunting Yellowtail, Albacore, dodo's, Bonito, Sand or Calico bass, ect.

 

Bass fishing is more like Bass Hunting, this mind set has me catching a lot more bass.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, wis bang said:

I started buy standing 10 - 15 feet back and 'just' dropping the wacky rig in font of the nearby shoreline vegetation first and often caught a bass that I would have spooked if I walked up to the edge first.

Sometimes you just never know. The weekend before last I had fished all morning out of my Sea Eagle Packfish7 inflatable and caught a few bass. Nothing to write home about. I pulled the boat out of the water and popped the valves to deflate it. While waiting, I figured I had time for a few casts. I picked up my new finesse rig with a 5” Senko WR and walked over to the left side of a small tree growing at the water’s edge and casted it out about 10’. I caught a submerged stick. I went to the right side of the tree and casted the same distance. As soon as it sunk the line started running. I figured bluegill or dink bass, as this spot is on the landscaped side of the pond where all the kids fish and people feed the ducks. The rod bent. Hard. Turned out to be a nice 4.5 lb. bass. 
 

Sometimes they are “right there” where you least expect them. 

[TriStateBassin106]

There's too many things I could explain about why you're not catching bass but since you're a beginner you need to know how bass are, what they eat and where they can be found, also weather and time of year, bassresource is a great site for gaining knowledge about this sport. Also try to gain some confidence in your presentation and learn how and where to throw your baits. For a beginner you're better off with a wacky rig. A youtuber named realistic fishing makes tons of videos for beginner bass fisherman. Check this video out about wacky rigs. 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

We have an extensive video library, too!

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/

[TriStateBassin106]

7 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

We have an extensive video library, too!

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/

Glenn really does a great job making videos for us, learned a lot from him over the past year! 

[avdr22]

1 hour ago, Hewhospeaksmuchbull said:

The environment we are fishing tells us a lot of what we need to know to start catching, including the quoted text above.

 

What baits were they fishing?

What structure and or cover were they fishing.

Depth?

What presentations?

So on and so forth.

 

Where I am fishing, just about everyone I have seen throws a weightless soft plastic. The environment is just the limited shore access with some weeds and lily pads around but not concentrated. Water is probably 3-7 ft deep.

 

A lot of the times the person catching the fish next to me is well.. just about using the same thing as I am. In the case of my dad's catch he was literally using my setup that I handed to him LOL

 

err, didnt mean to throw the whole thing in quotes haha

And thanks to everyone for the advice. 

[scaleface]

Last week I had a good day . 50 bass caught and a limit over the 15 inch limit . I ran into two young guys who were struggling to catch fish . We were fishing the same waters and basically  the same baits . So what was the difference ? First of all they were 10 times noisier than me . I could hear things slamming on their boat clear across the lake .The only slamming you hear from my boat is when a fish gets off and is flopping on the floor . I was by myself and able to position the boat better than them . I dont fish for social entertainment  , that is what bowling night is for . My cast were lower trajectory , quieter and more accurate . What I'm getting at is little things make a big difference .

[avdr22]

5 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Last week I had a good day . 50 bass caught and a limit over the 15 inch limit . I ran into two young guys who were struggling to catch fish . We were fishing the same waters and basically  the same baits . So what was the difference ? First of all they were 10 times noisier than me . I could hear things slamming on their boat clear across the lake .The only slamming you hear from my boat is when a fish gets off and is flopping on the floor . I was by myself and able to position the boat better than them . I dont fish for social entertainment  , that is what bowling night is for . My cast were lower trajectory , quieter and more accurate . What I'm getting at is little things make a big difference .

Ah, one thing i like to do with my casts because I didn't think it mattered is lob it pretty high. Should I make as small of an impact as possible?

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, avdr22 said:

Ah, one thing i like to do with my casts because I didn't think it mattered is lob it pretty high. Should I make as small of an impact as possible?

This...definitely. Make as small a splash as possible.

[Sphynx]

There are times when making a noisy, obnoxious presentation is advantageous, a lot of topwater presentations are predicated on exactly this, wacky rigged/Texas rigged baits generally speaking are not where I'd try this. Also, the structure/cover/stuff you are fishing around have a lot to do with catching fish, a lot of newer anglers avoid tossing lures etc into the thick gnarly stuff because they don't want to snag, but a lot of times the places you snag a lot are where the fish are, and you just have to eventually resign yourself to occasionally losing lures and hooks if you want to catch bass.

[avdr22]

Also probably a dumb question, but do Bass move close to shore in Spring and Fall and move out in Summer and Winter?

 

How about wacky rigging off of a boat? I want to try the boat but i'm worried that the large 170hp motor will scare the fish away. We do not have a electric trolling motor.

[Sphynx]

The bass move with the oxygen in the water, during the heat of summer and the cold of winter the oxygen levels are most stable in deep water, spring and fall bring times that shallow water will hold oxygen better, so these are the times for bank anglers to be most successful, if you have some time you may find researching thermoclines to be instructive, basically explains how and why the o2 content in the water moves to various parts of the water column, the bass will pretty much prefer to spend time in these areas with limited amounts of time spent up shallow feeding during summer (usually in the morning) and even less frequent in my experience in the winter.

 

Also, if you see no evidence of a food source around, there is a very, very good chance the bass aren't going to be there either, find proper water temperature, and baitfish/crawfish, and you'll almost certainly find bass

[Herbert Lorenzo]

This might sound ridiculous but hear me out . Take a moment to wash your hands really well , before you touch your lure . Everyone is different , and each person's habits differ and might effect your hands . Things like smoking , handling chemicals,  and other things might be contaminating or leaving scent on your presentation . Hope this solves your problem .

[BassNJake]

1 hour ago, avdr22 said:

Also probably a dumb question, but do Bass move close to shore in Spring and Fall and move out in Summer and Winter?

 

How about wacky rigging off of a boat? I want to try the boat but i'm worried that the large 170hp motor will scare the fish away. We do not have a electric trolling motor.

Really hard to control boat position without a trolling motor.

You could drop an anchor and fish all available locations, until you move to the next spot.

This limits some of your options but will give you more than on the bank.

 

 

[Bird]

You almost certainly need a trolling motor to have a better chance at success.

Positioning is critical.

[Bluegillslayer]

12 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I gather from the info provided that you are using a 5” Senko on a weightless Texas rig. If so, try a wacky rig. I use a Gamakatsu 1/0 octopus hook

The wacky rig has changed bass fishing for me, I love it because it works, I live in Washington as well and have caught both largemouth and smallmouth on it. I use either a 4 inch yum dinger or a 4 1/2 stick o on a 1/0 gama finesse hook in green pumkin. I cast it near pads, rocks, docks, clumps of scum, weeds. It has worked at every lake/pond/river i have fished that has bass. let it sink wait a few seconds, then either twitch it or lift your rod up and repeat, watch your line because when a bass has it your line will move in the water. Hope this helps.

[BrianMDTX]

22 minutes ago, Bluegillslayer said:

The wacky rig has changed bass fishing for me, I love it because it works, I live in Washington as well and have caught both largemouth and smallmouth on it. I use either a 4 inch yum dinger or a 4 1/2 stick o on a 1/0 gama finesse hook in green pumkin. I cast it near pads, rocks, docks, clumps of scum, weeds. It has worked at every lake/pond/river i have fished that has bass. let it sink wait a few seconds, then either twitch it or lift your rod up and repeat, watch your line because when a bass has it your line will move in the water. Hope this helps.

I don’t want to say it never fails, but it hasn’t failed me yet. Sometimes you can’t keep bass off the hook, and sometimes the bite is real slow, but I’ve caught at least one bass every trip out fishing a WR. It’s got to be one of the easiest baits to fish with in existence. 

 

Whoever dreamed up the wacky rig deserves a new bass boat lol. 

[txchaser]

Baits and presentations:

Might try some Fat Ikas as mentioned in this post. Also notice how the article talks about how little the bait is being moved and at what pace. 

I agree with the wacky rig option. 

Try a 4 inch senko. 

 

Places:
Try casting out a little deeper too. Depending on where you are they might not be close to the shore.

Learning how to fish growing up we deliberately stayed away from grass, trees, stumps, rocks, etc and mostly cast to open water. Learning how to fish on bass resource, it is exactly the opposite. It's ok to get hung up, it means you are casting where the fish are. 

Idling your boat to a spot and dropping an anchor will work fine, but you'll have to figure out where to take the boat to in the first place. 

Look for differences - different bank like where sand meets rock. An isolated tree or stick or weeds. A point where the land sticks out. A spot where the water goes from shallow to deep very quickly. 

 

[spaghetti_bassin]

19 hours ago, scaleface said:

Last week I had a good day . 50 bass caught and a limit over the 15 inch limit . I ran into two young guys who were struggling to catch fish . We were fishing the same waters and basically  the same baits . So what was the difference ? First of all they were 10 times noisier than me . I could hear things slamming on their boat clear across the lake .The only slamming you hear from my boat is when a fish gets off and is flopping on the floor . I was by myself and able to position the boat better than them . I dont fish for social entertainment  , that is what bowling night is for . My cast were lower trajectory , quieter and more accurate . What I'm getting at is little things make a big difference .

This is really good advice.

 

I remember one day I was on the pond in my little kayak. Feeling confident on my “home waters,” I had brought a bluetooth speaker along to listen to some death metal at conversation volume. Ended up boating one fish while the music was playing, on a loooong cast. 

 

Basically, the vibrations from the speaker, resting anywhere on the kayak, were amplified underwater and alerting the fish of my presence. Started catching them after the batteries had died. Now, I clip the speaker to my PFD and have had much better luck. Like Scale said, it’s the little things. 

 

If you’re fishing from the bank, try sneaking up on them. Stay light on your feet and present a light presentation with a quiet cast from 15 feet away from the water’s edge as you approach the bank. Often times, you’ll see a swirl from a bass moving off the bank as you approach with heavy footsteps.