Been getting skunked...

[Captain America]

I recently moved to Kansas, and I have not been getting into the fish. This fall has been tough. Mostly skunks. I caught a few fish on a chatterbait a few weeks ago, but that is it. I have read that this time of year is great for moving baits, so I have been doing a lot of searching (Chatterbait, jerkbait, spinnerbait), but all the fish seem to be telling me is that whatever I am doing is not working. I am a bank angler, so I have been focusing on ponds (mostly small gravel pits). Havent fount too many that have a lot of cover (1 or 2 lay downs per pond), and the cover I do find and pick apart with slower baits do not produce any fish. The DNR website says that the ponds I have been hitting are decent for bass, so that makes me think they are in there... Water temps today were around 56. It snowed on monday, but It has been warm for about four days now, and next week is going to be in the 70s. Seems fishy to me... I would like to start catching some fish! Any advice that would help me catch em between now and prespawn?

[jimmyjoe]

   Some days (not just in fall) I go through the whole dang tackle bag of lures and get nothing. So then, I usually go to a lower power setup and do the same thing all over again. This is, more often than not, moving down to a ML from a MH. Usually, somewhere in there, is something that the fish will hit. Maybe I'll only get one or two, but that's better than a skunk.

   Notice I said, "usually", not "always". Sometimes the skunk gotcha, and there's nothing you can do about it.   ?

   Good luck!    JJ

[DomQ]

I do pretty much the same as above, if I throw everything I can think of in the current situation, ill go back and start all over changing it up then when I was previously using the lure.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

The way I look at it is if you can catch fish through ice, you can catch them anytime.  The Fall can be a trickey time of year.  It almost always starts out well with the fish beginning to eat a whole lot more often.  I could be whackn em for 3 or 4 days and then a big rain or cold front comes through and all of a sudden its a grind.  Smaller water warms up faster, but also cools down faster compared to bigger lakes.  If you get a few cold nights it can really drop the temp and the fish need to adjust.  When things get hard go back to basics.  A 3 or 3.5 Easy shiner with a ball head will catch fish any time of year.  I can take 3" ktech thread it on a 1/16 #1 jighead and fish it as slow as I can without hitting the bottom and catch fish all winter.  Neds, DS and jigs are great but they take time.  The other bait that is always tied on is a Jerkbait.  Have to be careful where you throw them so you don't lose them, but they can be amazing even when the water is in the 30s.  Hope this helps, good luck. 

[WRB]

If the water temps are the mid 50's it's winter cold water period to the cold blooded bass. Activity level is down along with metabolism, the eat less but still eat.

S l o w down and watch for feeding activity. It doesn't mater if you are in Nebraska or wherever, cold water bass fishing is the same, not going to chase down a meal.

Try finesse soft plastics, boring but effective.

Tom

 

[Captain America]

17 minutes ago, WRB said:

If the water temps are the mid 50's it's winter cold water period to the cold blooded bass. Activity level is down along with metabolism, the eat less but still eat.

S l o w down and watch for feeding activity. It doesn't mater if you are in Nebraska or wherever, cold water bass fishing is the same, not going to chase down a meal.

Try finesse soft plastics, boring but effective.

Tom

 

Thats what I was thinking, but I saw 1000s of shad busting the surface! I thought there would be a hungry bass near by...

[WRB]

When you see feeding activity like Shad schools being trashed it's time for Shad imitatotrs like Little George tail spins or spoons, same size as the Shad. Small crankbait baits aslow work well. A slip shot rigged Shad color reaper is hard to beat however.

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

There's no bass in Kansas, that's your problem ?

 

Most of my fish lately have been on squarebills, traps, spinnerbaits, and Ned rigs.