Newbie needs some help

[bgaviator]

Hello all,

this is my first post on this forum site. I am new to fishing. My son and I decided to get into it last year as a good activity to do during Covid. Well, I’ve gotten super interested in it, but the problem is, I suck. Despite watching tons of videos and reading tons of articles, I still feel like I never know what I’m doing. I’ve bought tons of lures and fake baits based off of the videos I’ve seen and what gets good reviews on the Bass Pro website. I have all this stuff but never know when and where I should be using it. 

We live in north Mississippi and last week we went out to Arktabutla Lake spillway for the first time. The water level was pretty low, and I was throwing a marabou jig under a bobber and I was catching white bass left and right as long as I could get my line in the middle of the water. It was my best record of fishing ever. 6 bass in a couple hours of being out there. 

 

Today we went back to Arktabutla, but this time I wanted to try a new spot so we went to an area called Kelly’s Landing along the main part of the lake. First we tried the marabou jigs and bobbers we still had rigged from last time. Nothing. Then my son wanted to switch to live worms and a bobber. He had no luck on that. I decided I wanted to try some of these new lures I bought. The water in Arktabutla is pretty stained FYI. I decided to first try one of the lipless strike long red eye Shad crank baits. I’ve never fished one of these before but I casted it out just to see what would happen. Well, I got it snagged on something on the first cast and I lost the lure. Then I decided to tie on a Storm 360GT swimbait I bought. I got several casts on it, but alas it got snagged on something as well and I lost it. Now I was getting mad. It was obvious to me at this point there’s a lot of trees or brush under the water I can’t see. So then I thought to myself, “oh, maybe these are the kinds of situations I should throw a weedless Texas rig worm?”  So I tied on a senko Texas rigged using a Gamakatsu offset hook and 1/4 tungsten weight. I did not peg the weight though. I threw it out towards some cover. Some trees that were partly sticking up from the water. Well, I got snagged doing this too and lost that hook. 
 

at this point we decided to go back to the spillway. The water level was higher today and we couldn’t get our lines out to the middle of the water like last time. We were back to using the marabou jigs and bobbers, but still nothing. And we were getting snagged a lot on the rip rap. Not a good day fishing at all. 
 

Ive bought just about every kind of tackle so I’d have all the scenarios covered, but I’m obviously not good at knowing when and where to use this stuff. I’m looking for any general pointers, especially if anyone knows specifics about Arktabutla. We aren’t necessarily fishing for just bass either. We just want to catch fish. Any kind of fish for the fun of it. Thanks. 

[Catt]

First ya gonna have to accept the fact you will lose lures, you goal is to limit how many.

 

Videos can show you what lure, what rod, what reel, what line, even where & when.

 

What you need to learn is not found on any video!

 

You're gonna have to learn the fine art of "feeling" what your lure is doing at all times.

 

You should be able to feel your line contacting a limb before your crankbait hangs.

 

How do you learn that, time in the water.

 

[TOXIC]

Don’t put any weight on your senko.  Texas rig with a 3.0 gamakatsu ewg hook and fish away.  It will reduce your snags by 90%.  Be very patient and fish it slow.  This advice coming from a guide who has put hundreds of new comers on fish.  ?

[soflabasser]

One of my favorite lures to fish in running water is a jig with a soft plastic. Fish it slow enough that you are bumping the bottom. You will lose a couple jigs but it is worth it since you will have a very good chance at catching nice fish.

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard! ??

[Uncle_MC]

One of the best "just want to catch a fish" lures for a spillway is a 2" curly-grub on a ball jighead, cast upstream and retrieved steadily back with the current.

 

As far as learning what to throw when, I don't think there is any one comprehensive guide. It's like a puzzle and you just need to start somewhere, learning as much as possible. The more knowledge you start to pick up (connect the pieces) the more other things will start to make sense. Some topics for you to explore/copy and paste into Google:

* "Fishing lure color selection"

* "How to choose lures for  _____" (rainy days, sunny days, cloudy days, high-water, etc.)

* "How to choose lures based on seasons" (pre-spawn, spawn, post-spawn, summer, etc.)

* "Lures for night-fishing"

* "Lures for rip-rap"
* "Lures for weeds"

 

Etc, etc, etc...

 

The more you learn about lures themselves and the more you fish and actually apply that knowledge , you will begin to understand how they work and why the authors of the posts and articles you will read selected them for those conditions.  

 

Of course once you learn all that, you will next have to learn that location is even more important!!!

[Koz]

Learn the bow technique for getting yourself un-snagged.

[bgaviator]

2 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Don’t put any weight on your senko.  Texas rig with a 3.0 gamakatsu ewg hook and fish away.  It will reduce your snags by 90%.  Be very patient and fish it slow.  This advice coming from a guide who has put hundreds of new comers on fish.  ?

So would you still pitch something like this into an area where you can clearly see trees and other branches sticking up, or is Texas rigging more for grass type cover?

28 minutes ago, Uncle_MC said:

One of the best "just want to catch a fish" lures for a spillway is a 2" curly-grub on a ball jighead, cast upstream and retrieved steadily back with the current.

 

As far as learning what to throw when, I don't think there is any one comprehensive guide. It's like a puzzle and you just need to start somewhere, learning as much as possible. The more knowledge you start to pick up (connect the pieces) the more other things will start to make sense. Some topics for you to explore/copy and paste into Google:

* "Fishing lure color selection"

* "How to choose lures for  _____" (rainy days, sunny days, cloudy days, high-water, etc.)

* "How to choose lures based on seasons" (pre-spawn, spawn, post-spawn, summer, etc.)

* "Lures for night-fishing"

* "Lures for rip-rap"
* "Lures for weeds"

 

Etc, etc, etc...

 

The more you learn about lures themselves and the more you fish and actually apply that knowledge , you will begin to understand how they work and why the authors of the posts and articles you will read selected them for those conditions.  

 

Of course once you learn all that, you will next have to learn that location is even more important!!!

I have lots of 3” and 2” curly tails!  That’s actually some of the first baits I bought after reading an article calling the curly tail grub the best lure of all time. 

[jimmyjoe]

   First rule of fishing:  "Fish where the fish are."  After all, fish move.

   Second rule of fishing: "Sometimes they aren't hungry."  Just like people, y'know?

   Third rule of fishing: If you don't know what's there, cast and retrieve an egg sinker a few times to find out.

   Fourth rule of fishing (Jimmy's Rule): Buy hamburgers on the way home. ??

 

   jj

[CrankFate]

When I joke about things like, I don’t need to listen to someone else because I already know everything there is to know about fishing, the joke is that whenever I thought I knew something and then learn there’s still more to learn, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing all over again. Happens all the time.

[huZZah]

5 hours ago, bgaviator said:

And we were getting snagged a lot on the rip rap.

My sons “secret place” is an older boat ramp that hasn’t been kept up. Lots of rocks and sunken tree branches to get caught on. Personal experience I can get a spinner/swim bait/lipless crank of any size over the top water if I keep my rod tip up and keep reeling. 
 

Best results have been a Texas rigged worm/craw/anything weightless or with a 1/8 oz bullet weight. My son and I still lose a few, but he also caught a 5lb+ fish right out of the rocks. 
 

So he thinks it’s worth the risk. ?

[BrianMDTX]

3 hours ago, bgaviator said:

So would you still pitch something like this into an area where you can clearly see trees and other branches sticking up, or is Texas rigging more for grass type cover?

Absolutely. In fact, “Texpose” a Senko on a 3/0 EWG hook. That means when the hook point comes back out the bait after rigging the worm on the hook, you stick the hook point back in the worm just enough to keep it from being exposed. I’ve <ahem> cast a Senko TR into enough branches of trees hanging just above the water to know if I take my time, they will normally slither up and through until the Senko falls in the water and I keep the bait. Believe it or not, sometimes that gets a fish lol. 

 

Cast it out. Let it sink. Slowly crawl it on the bottom. You can also raise the rod tip to lift it back up to fall again. It’s a proven fish getter. So is a Senko WR, but they will snag more than a Texas rig. 

 

Good luck and don’t get discouraged. The bass will come. 

[roadwarrior]

"Just Getting Started"
Guaranteed To Catch Bass
I just cant catch bass
Learning to fish on your own

[Fishnski48]

The great thing about fishing is you are constantly learning and experimenting,   Something that worked terrific on Monday may not be so hot on Tuesday.  Time spent doing something with your son and learning with him is going to be a great experience.

Time on the water is important, and asking questions of the folks on here will be a great start.

Welcome to the art of relaxation and frustration all rolled into one  LOL 

 

 

[TOXIC]

As for the Senko, yes, Texas rig it which means you use an extra wide gap (ewg) hook with an offset shank.  The hook point gets reinserted into the bait.  There are tons of videos on this.  Keep in mind ANY bait or lure you throw into wood and other cover like rip rap and heavy grass, will get snagged and will get snagged much easier if it has exposed hooks.  Your other option is to hire a guide for a day and tell him upfront you want to learn as many techniques as possible.  He will have the gear/lures and expertise to show you how/where to fish them.  I can tell and show folks pictures and videos all day but once you are on my boat it will all make sense.  Well worth your $.  

[Big Hands]

Throwing baits with exposed hooks from the shoreline is riskier than throwing them from a boat. At least with a boat, you can get close enough and better angles to get them unsnagged compared to what a shore angler can do. 

 

Any lure you toss into the water, you have got to accept that you may not get it back. Even on your first cast with it. I regularly re-learn this lesson. Learned it again last week with a $20 slow sinking glide bait. 

[galyonj]

16 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

Learned it again last week with a $20 slow sinking glide bait.