Expectations too high or a common trend?

[33oldtimer]

I share your frustrations. I stopped fishing for about ten years because of health problems. I restarted after Covid. I was shocked that my old fishing spots, where I could nearly always catch a fish, were overloaded with people and the bass were in hiding from constantly getting hammered with lures. I couldn't get a bite on the same lures I always caught fish on in the past. 

 

I don't have an easy answer for you. What I have done and am doing is using live bait during the worst of times and seasons. By mid-summer fishing is almost entirely with finesse lures. 

 

People aren't wanting to tell you much because they are having the same issues. Most youtube videos where they seem to catch fish left and right are after 8 hours on the water and much editing. Or even a couple days of fishing spliced together. I love Jimmy Houston, he doesn't try to fool anyone. Watched his video the other day and he said he had been sitting there for three hours without a bite before he finally caught a fish.

 

Another thing with professional fishermen is that they are often masters with just a few lures from many years of practice. My son in law is a professional fisherman and like him, one of my favorite lures is a spinnerbait. He can skip a spinnerbait around like other professionals skip wacky worms. He drops that thing in cover with the blades barely spinning and pulls out monsters. He works a spinnerbait in ways I likely never will. 

 

Find what you are good at and build on that. And give yourself a break, these are tough times to fish in. I try to enjoy just being outdoors in God's great creation. I don't always catch fish, but I have seen eagles, otters, had deer practically walk up to me, and much more just by being outside.

[Swamp Girl]

Darren, here's another video of a guy catching bass by just wading a shallow river. This would be great practice at detecting a strike:

 

 

[Darren71]

Thank you everyone for the replies. you have all provided me useful information. 

As far as poles go I have 6 poles in my stable. 3 spinning rod/reel and 3 casting rod/reel. I have been using my spinning gear for wacky worms, ned rig and drop shot. Casting gear for Squarebill crank bait (my favorite), chatter bait and heavier Texas rigged plastics. 

I have a lake nearby that I usually do not go to (Lake Bowen in Inman SC) its a smaller lake but I think it may be best to focus on something small instead of Murray and Hartwell as I have done previous. I will try and focus on the shoreline that is mostly littered with boat docks and some laydowns. 

If I have to pick 2 lures I feel most comfortable with rigging and casting its going to be a plastic worm, unweighted wacky style and a square bill crank bait.

Thanks again everyone!!

[Swamp Girl]

I wish you well, Darren. Please keep posting at Bass Resource and share your successes (We'll cheer!) and failures (We'll commiserate.). I also urge you to consider the option of fishing less fished water. Here's a trip I took last fall to water that was difficult to reach. If you're willing to work, you can catch lots of bass (I caught 2,044 bass in 2024 and the Maine fishing season is relatively short.) and big bass like these:

 

 

[greentrout]

Consider fishing the marina area where the boats are docked.

Good Fishing

[IntroC]

IMO the most important thing is the lake you’re fishing. If the lake doesn’t have a good population of bass even the best can only do so good. Big lakes can be intimidating. Find a small lake with a good population of bass. And work fishy looking spots shallow.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, greentrout said:

Consider fishing the marina area where the boats are docked.

 

One time in Vicksburg, I fished the under an old marina's dock. There were holes in the boards big enough to fish through and I caught so many fish! It was a blast.

[1984isNOW]

My previous comment got flagged and then deleted and I have no idea why, but I'm not gonna type it all again.

 

Bottom line is throw a Ned rig first at every spot

[Bazoo]

1 hour ago, 1984isNOW said:

My previous comment got flagged and then deleted and I have no idea why, but I'm not gonna type it all again.

 

Bottom line is throw a Ned rig first at every spot

There is some wisdom in that.

 

For me, throwing a subtle soft plastic bait is a technique I use when fishing pressured waters. After that, I then switch to a crankbait or other more noisy/intrusive lures. My thinking is that pressured fish will be more likely to commit to a subtle lure first, and if I use a crankbait, they are more likely to shut down feeding until all fishing activity ceases.

[bottom_dollar]

If you’re close to Murray and Hartwell, then check out Lake Russell if you haven’t already. In addition to the stuff your already throwing consider adding a shakeyhead to the line up.