Can’t catch anything with artificial bait!

[Boomstick]

12 minutes ago, SMROA1983 said:

I figured as much but I couldn’t get there any sooner today. Hopefully the rain will stop this weekend for a little while so I can try again

 

It should also help that the heat wave broke and this weekend should be cool. Going out the evening after a cool day after a heatwave or maybe the day after can be very good fishing.

[BrianMDTX]

18 hours ago, SMROA1983 said:

So today I went out at like 9:30 this morning and I used a weedless hook and I wacky rigged a green pumpkin senko and cast in various places around lily pads and weeds and open water for 2 hours. Nothing. Texas rigged the same worm color for another hour. Nothing. I tried a top water frog pad crasher for awhile after that and got 1 bite but didn’t hook it. Just think nothing will work for me. 

I wanted to circle back (no pun intended) to your weed issue. Others may disagree with me, but when fishing wacky rigs, I often cast, sink, no bite, reel it in and cast again. Working a WR back to the boat or bank normally is fruitless. I easily catch 95% of my bass on the initial cast. Working it back also fouls the hook more often than not. 
 

Pick a spot where you think the bass are (around stumps, sunken logs, edge of weed beds, underneath overhanging tree limbs) and cast to that spot and let it sink. If no bite, reel it in steadily and recast. I often cast 4-5 times in the same exact spot before I try another, as a bass just may not be hungry but after seeing that Senko 3 or 4 times it just whacks it anyway. 
 

Trust me, I know it’s frustrating. I went 7 years before I got my first bowkill deer. THAT was frustrating! But after the first one was down, I started a great streak. You will eventually get a bite and reel it in. Followed by another, and another. The bass there are no different from the rest. They will bite your bait at some point. It’s inevitable. 

[scaleface]

Just yesterday I caught a bunch of 1 to 2 lb bass fishing in duckweed and moss . I simply retrieved a Stanley Ribbet by gently tweaking it on top of the stuff  and the bass would blow up on it .

 

 

I posted in the wrong thread , again .

 

[SMROA1983]

So I got myself a small bass boat and went out yesterday with my son on a pond near me. Very dark water and weeds along the edges. Tried around some lily pads and out from shore a little. Tried a wacky rig for awhile and got nothing. I had some bass jump at my frog at the lily pads but no real bites. Tried a couple of top water baits because it was getting dark so I figured they would work better. Still nothing. How do I know where to fish for them because I’ve tried everything I’ve watched and read about where they’re supposed to be in the water and nothing has worked. I refuse to quit until I figure this out. It has become my mission in life to find the bass lol. Any advice would help. Thanks 

[thediscochef]

 IDK where you are but I shore fish in North Texas at a ton of overfished, high-pressure, and super spotty recreational areas and have had extremely similar results - until this week with my discovery of the Ned Rig. I've not used it in a lot of places just yet, but the last week or so have sold me on the concept. It's the only thing I'm even getting bites on right now, and in some places I'm the only guy catching fish. I usually cast it out next to the edge of cattails, lily pads, the tallest grass you can see. If there's trees hanging over the water, the shade under them sometimes works. Had hard strikes in all those settings. Even a few in open water.

Try a 1/16oz ned rig, use a flashy craw or 2.75-3" dinger (I buy the 6" ones and cut em in half) in muddy water, a subtle pumpkin/black etc in clear water.  Watch videos on how guys fish it and read some interviews about it with Ned Kehde - it is a finesse rig so small movements and a slower retreive are better. 

hope this helps

[Mr. Aquarium]

I fish the same area as you from shore. 
Let’s go fishin. I’ve been fishin this area for 28 years. PM me