Is it the fish or me?

[Capriceragtop]

Hey folks,

 

Maybe you saw my other thread about what to limit myself to while fishing. I got a lot of solid responses, so I went out this weekend with one small case and two rods. I enjoyed the beautiful day, but no dice on fish.

 

So, it got me thinking I'm just a terrible fisherman. I have what I think is all the right gear: St. Croix Premiere rods, Curado 201 and Pflueger President or Supreme reels, all kinds of soft plastics in every color made, jerks, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, Rapala floaters, wake baits, etc. In short, I think I've got more than enough gear, especially since the most successful fishermen I know all seem to only use one rod and a very small selection of lures! I slayed em in early May, catching about 20 largemouth in about 3 hrs on a Saturday, and another 20 the next day. They loved weightless T-Rig trick worms.

 

So, I'm thinking I'm either out at the wrong times, or the seasonality has slowed the bite. It's in the mi-60's here during the day, dropping into the 40s at night. It will cool later this week into the 50's, into the 30s at night. All lakes have dropped water level.

 

As I'm a bank fisherman, given the weather, where am I likely to find these rascals? Have they gone deep? Or, am I just presenting my lures improperly? Also, this is a dumb question, but how do I know my retrieval speed is correct? My gut says I'm bringing it back too quickly, but how do I know? I thought you wanna keep the bait moving. If they're deep, how can a bank fisherman get to em?

 

Still very much enjoying the sport, but would like to snag one every once in a while!

[Deleted account]

It's the fish AND you. 

"Slayed them in May" is like "had no trouble talking to women at the strip bar", now you have to walk up to some at the mall, or church, and be charming, leave the singles at home.

[Bird]

You may be dealing with tackle overload, to much to quick. Learn a few baits and build confidence with them and expand from there.

 

This is a great time of year to catch big fish but it can also produce slow days.

I really like spinnerbaits and shad imitations in the fall.

[Bluebasser86]

I assume you're fairly new to the sport. Fishing is a sport that requires a lot of trial and error, and it can get very frustrating. Going with a knowledgeable angler and observing what they do and asking questions can help speed the learning curve a lot. I joined a bass club when I was 16 and fished club tournaments. I learned a lot fishing from the back of the boat with other anglers. Got to see a lot of different styles and approaches and hear the reasoning as to why they went about it. It's basically hiring a guide for less than half price, except most of them don't care if you catch fish or not. 

[Capriceragtop]

@Deleted account Ha! Yea, I went from never catching a bass to suddenly catching nothing but that weekend. Hell of a confidence boost, but yea, pretty sure that was the spawn. 

 

@Bird Solid advice. Had a contact tell me that chartreuse/white double willow spinnerbaits are the cat's meow right now, so I've got one tied on, but no takers. Also picked up some blade baits. Loved the action, plus it's the first lure I've got where I can toss it a long distance. Routinely manage to get past the braid into the backing while throwing a blade.

[Skunkmaster-k]

It’s a seasonal thing . Fishing from the bank in the spring is an advantage a lot of times. Right now it’s a disadvantage. In my opinion 

[Capriceragtop]

@Bluebasser86 I've fished off an on over the years, but usually only once or twice a summer. Rented pontoons, went in the middle of the day, only caught bream, crappie, and such. Always considered it a summer-only sport, but learning that's not the case. Hoping to improve my catch rate this fall.

 

I've gotten really into it over the past year or so. Would love a boat, but need to handle other stuff first. I've seen hogs caught from the bank, but I can't seem to find them. My PB is about 3lbs

[T-Billy]

Falling water levels can make it tougher from the bank. I'd recommend steeper banks and the spillway if you have access to it. T-Rig on one rod. Moving bait on the other. I'd probably start with a squarebill or swimbait on the moving bait rod. 

[Bankc]

Right now can be a hard time to fish from the bank.  The recent pattern at my local lake has been chasing the baitfish with a crankbait.  It's been doing really well for me.  I've been slaying them from my kayak every time I go out.  But I also do a lot of bank fishing, and I can't get bit from the bank (even though the baitfish are up shallow right now).  Bank access for me is limited, so I can't really move around a whole lot, which is what I do on my kayak.  

 

My advice would be to keep moving, and not stay in one area too long right now.  Try something that mimics baitfish, just stick with it, and keep walking the bank until you find some.  Experiment more with retrieve speed than lure presentations for the moment.  Though, that's assuming that your lake is in the same cycle as my lake.  If it's further along in the season, they may be out deeper, and you may want to try something like a T-rig or a Jig to slow it down.  

[Koz]

When the water cools it slows the metabolism of bass and that changes their feeding patterns. Of course, that magic water temperature is regional. What a bass may consider to be cold water in Florida might just be fine and dandy in New York.

 

Bass still feed in colder water and the will still chase baits. But that feeding window is much shorter. Look for channels or old stream beds where they can easily navigate from deeper waters to shallower feeding grounds. Most of all, try and figure out the patterns of the bait fish as the water temperature continues to drop.

[Chris Catignani]

I wish I had a dollar for every time the fishing was tough.

I've been on the lake and had tough days when the fishing was "good".

I've also had good days when the fishing was "tough".

Every day is different. Seasons and conditions can led you in one direction or another...but nothing is ever written in stone when it comes to fishing.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Don't let the falling temps trick you into thinking that the fish are becoming lethargic.  The fish that are actively feeding are pretty aggressive and will chase down a bait.  Finding the active fish is the difficult part. 

I would recommend using a bait that covers water, like a square bill, spinner bait, swim jig, swimbait, chatterbait, soft jerkbait etc, anything that you can just chuck and wind.     

[Catt]

#1 Location 

#2 Timing 

 

Bank fishing can limit location, some locations are seasonal.

 

Timing; are the bass feeding early, mid-day, or evening. Do you have the ability to fish all three?

[WRB]

“Slayed them in May” is a seasonal spawn cycle location.

I am a believer in seasonal periods affecting location and activity levels of the bass that affects timing.

Tom 

[QED]

It's you. [kidding!]  My local lake/pond (which designation depends upon the max depth at the time of inquiry and is a function of whether or not there is an aphotic layer) is really tough right now - toxic algae bloom and suffering from "natural" fish die-off per the park rangers.  Best strategy is to throw known productive baits, e.g., wacky rigged green pumpkin 4" senkos at the interesting structures.  Then carpet bomb everywhere else with fast movers (spinnerbaits, crankbaits, chatterbaits, whatever) to cover as much water as possible.  When selective fishing doesn't work then max area coverage is a good fallback strategy.

[PressuredFishing]

7 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

Hey folks,

 

Maybe you saw my other thread about what to limit myself to while fishing. I got a lot of solid responses, so I went out this weekend with one small case and two rods. I enjoyed the beautiful day, but no dice on fish.

 

So, it got me thinking I'm just a terrible fisherman. I have what I think is all the right gear: St. Croix Premiere rods, Curado 201 and Pflueger President or Supreme reels, all kinds of soft plastics in every color made, jerks, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, Rapala floaters, wake baits, etc. In short, I think I've got more than enough gear, especially since the most successful fishermen I know all seem to only use one rod and a very small selection of lures! I slayed em in early May, catching about 20 largemouth in about 3 hrs on a Saturday, and another 20 the next day. They loved weightless T-Rig trick worms.

 

So, I'm thinking I'm either out at the wrong times, or the seasonality has slowed the bite. It's in the mi-60's here during the day, dropping into the 40s at night. It will cool later this week into the 50's, into the 30s at night. All lakes have dropped water level.

 

As I'm a bank fisherman, given the weather, where am I likely to find these rascals? Have they gone deep? Or, am I just presenting my lures improperly? Also, this is a dumb question, but how do I know my retrieval speed is correct? My gut says I'm bringing it back too quickly, but how do I know? I thought you wanna keep the bait moving. If they're deep, how can a bank fisherman get to em?

 

Still very much enjoying the sport, but would like to snag one every once in a while!

Fall has been anything but this so called "fall feed" have yet to pattern bites reliabky; don't feel bad 

[Capriceragtop]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

#1 Location 

#2 Timing 

 

Bank fishing can limit location, some locations are seasonal.

 

Timing; are the bass feeding early, mid-day, or evening. Do you have the ability to fish all three?

I suppose I could block of a whole day, or visit a few times throughout the day. I tend to get out late morning and still till later afternoon. I get up early during the week, so weekends are typically lazy coffee mornings.

 

Been thinking a weekend trip to a lake would be nice. That way, I can wake up and stumble down to the lake, coffee in hand.

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

 

 

So, it got me thinking I'm just a terrible fisherman. 

Hahahah!!! If only I had a nickel for every time I’ve said that……..

[cyclops2]

The only rule that is  ALWAYS true  ?  I can not catch any  fish.  If they are somewhere else right now !!

[slonezp]

Without reading anything but the title of the thread, It's you. 

 

You're dealing with a fish that has the brain the size of a pea and an instinct to survive and procreate the species. Nothing more, nothing less. Prey on it's weaknesses. Food, shelter, and defense. Yes, there are additional factors but, those are the top 3. 

[PhishLI]

On 11/1/2021 at 10:14 AM, Capriceragtop said:

So, it got me thinking I'm just a terrible fisherman. I have what I think is all the right gear: St. Croix Premiere rods, Curado 201 and Pflueger President or Supreme reels, all kinds of soft plastics in every color made, jerks, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, Rapala floaters, wake baits, etc.

The gear you use doesn't mean much at all. The bait you're using at the moment can make all the difference, but at times a ton of different baits might have caught a particular aggressive fish had you pulled it right past its nose. There's no way to gauge the mood of the fish until you start catching them, and that can change in a flash. Maybe they just ate before you got there? Maybe the baitfish are moving away from you. So many factors. There's a random nature to fishing. What worked yesterday might not work today, or it might.

 

Bank fishing can be a grind. Bite windows are often short, and they're not always happening where you're fishing or when you've chosen to be there. You might be way ahead of one, or way behind. Sometimes the fish are simply shut down due to external factors.

 

Time on the water, grinding it out, and the ability to process your failures successfully will advance your chances. But, not everyone is cut out for it. Anyone can chuck out a worm and bobber and catch panfish. Not everyone is built to constantly resolve the Rubik's Cube that's bass fishing, especially on a tough fishery. Watch a few pro tournaments. Even the best of the best get befuddled plenty.

 

There's a local spot that I was aware of but had never fished. I got a whipping there for months when I started going there during daylight sessions beginning in September of that year. Baffled. In talking to the regulars I found out that they also couldn't buy a bite except for very random catches. Besides my own regular skunkings, I didn't witness a single person catch a bass during the day there until late March of the following year. Most of the regulars lamented that the place had been fished out, and it sure seemed like a dead lake. Once I took the leap of going at night, or super early during darkness, everything changed. Since then I've bagged a ton of fish in the dark at this lake, including some legit lunkers for the NE.

 

So, this place isn't fished out and it, like other super shallow lakes around here, is better fished under the cover of darkness where the bass are willing to move around freely. Brutal defeat over the course of a few months, and a little gathered info, taught me this. Doesn't mean I'm always there at the right time, because there are active bite windows and lulls at night too, but I often find a bite. BTW, it's not uncommon that a skunking is turned around by throwing a hail Mary pass using a bait that was my last resort, or the last thing I thought that might work based on what was working previously.

 

Some people like to say that a bass is a bass where ever you go in the country, and that "X" bait is "deadly" where ever they throw it. I call BS on that. Lakes that are right across the street from each other can fish differently. Presentations that work in one simply don't work in the other.

 

Like I said earlier; Time on the water. You need to gain experience by cracking codes like timing, location, bait selection and presentation, and by further eliminating previous errors you've made. You either have the will power to put in the thought and work, or you don't. If you do, the floodgates will probably open. If you don't, you'll probably be stuck with random catches or just dumb luck good days.

[islandbass]

17 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

Hey folks,

 

Maybe you saw my other thread about what to limit myself to while fishing. I got a lot of solid responses, so I went out this weekend with one small case and two rods. I enjoyed the beautiful day, but no dice on fish.

 

So, it got me thinking I'm just a terrible fisherman. I have what I think is all the right gear: St. Croix Premiere rods, Curado 201 and Pflueger President or Supreme reels, all kinds of soft plastics in every color made, jerks, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, Rapala floaters, wake baits, etc. In short, I think I've got more than enough gear, especially since the most successful fishermen I know all seem to only use one rod and a very small selection of lures! I slayed em in early May, catching about 20 largemouth in about 3 hrs on a Saturday, and another 20 the next day. They loved weightless T-Rig trick worms.

 

So, I'm thinking I'm either out at the wrong times, or the seasonality has slowed the bite. It's in the mi-60's here during the day, dropping into the 40s at night. It will cool later this week into the 50's, into the 30s at night. All lakes have dropped water level.

 

As I'm a bank fisherman, given the weather, where am I likely to find these rascals? Have they gone deep? Or, am I just presenting my lures improperly? Also, this is a dumb question, but how do I know my retrieval speed is correct? My gut says I'm bringing it back too quickly, but how do I know? I thought you wanna keep the bait moving. If they're deep, how can a bank fisherman get to em?

 

Still very much enjoying the sport, but would like to snag one every once in a while!

It’s one of the realities as a fellow shore angler, especially if you live in a part by of the country where winter occurs. As shore anglers there will be times we cannot get to where the bass are. Period. You can’t catch what is not there. 
 

That said, don’t give up. Put in your time and pay your dues. Try to learn something new on each trip skunked or not.
 

You can target other species or have your bait monkey introduce you to his cousin, the floating device monkey. Boat? Kayak? Pontoon? He knows all about those. ?

[Jaderose]

If I'm not catching anything, no matter what time of year or temps, I will deadstick a weightless TR Green pumpkin Senko.  If you still come up empty, go home.

[CrashVector]

You're focusing too much on having high end gear.

 

A $500 rod will not catch more fish than a $100 rod.

 

You have to have the skills to back it up, it it's worthless.

[Capriceragtop]

2 hours ago, CrashVector said:

You're focusing too much on having high end gear.

Story of ALL my hobbies. I start out with basic gear, then once I find I like it, QUICKLY ramp up into better stuff. I can definitely tell the sensitivity difference in my new rods over my starters, but you're right: my technique needs some focus. Can't tell if my retrieve is to blame, or the problem lies elsewhere.