did i do something wrong?

[Red]

hey all, i havent been out too much lately but have planned the trip i took today for a few weeks now, so i was really looking forward to it.  this might get kinda long explaining everything, so if you stick with it, thanks.

i have fished this small 72 acre lake before, from shore, and have caught fish, biggest being 3.5lber.  anyway, i went again today with my boat and new depth finder(first time using depth finder).  i launched at 8am and just kinda cruised along the d**n watching the graph and casting a fluke here and there.  i caught three small fish by 930 am on the fluke, in very shallow water.  i knew it was going to get over 100 degrees today so when the fluke bite died i cruised the lake real quick and found the deepest water i could, 12' dropping sharply into 18' running from the d**n straight out into the lake.  so i set up on it and fished it hard. for hours!  i didnt leave the lake until 5pm and i bet i only spent 2 of those hours aywhere but this dropoff, everything else i saw was 12' or less. i t-rigged, i c-rigged, jigged, cranked, swimbaited.  lizard, worm, big worm, senko, trick worm, all differnt colors.  not a another single fish the whole day.  nothing.  a solid skunk from 930 am till 5pm.  i worked the baits fast and slow, super slow!  i would let it sit and have a coke, or rig up another rod, play with the depth finder.  i even had all three rods down once with three different baits! so i am just wondering if i did something wrong or if it was just one of those days when they dont bite.  like i said it was 100  plus and bright sun with very minimal wind.  i just felt so good going out this morning being more prepared than ever before having a boat and depth finder now.  i mean i wasnt planning to catch a handful of ten pounders, but dang, three dinks in nine hours!!??  what should i have done differently?  any tips for my next go at it?

thanks for reading and any help you can offer.

Cliff

[bassman31783]

Obviously you found a spot that looked good to you but maybe not for the fish.  Did you graph any fish in that spot?  All logical sense says that that's were they would be at, but as we all know bass don't always play by our rules.  

So my best two guesses are

1.) The fish just weren't at that particular spot on the lake.

2.) The fish just flat out weren't in a feeding mood.  Maybe live bait was the only ticket to catching them after 9:30

[paul.]

summer heat does not necessarily dictate to fish deep even though that is conventional wisdom.  this is the time of year when d.o. (dissolved oxygen) and the thermocline play a big part in fish location.  even if the fish are in deep water, they are not necessarily on or around the bottom.  they might be suspended halfway down for instance.  

i have caught plenty of fish staying in less than 5 feet of water when it was blazing hot outside sometimes.  sometimes i've even caught nice ones flipping in 1-3 ft. of water.  

a lot of times finding submerged grassbeds is a key this time of year too.

that said, you might be right.  it could have just been one of those days that it was tough no matter what you did.  better luck next time.

[kms399]

usually persistance is a good thing but I think in this case you should have moved after an hour or two. just my .02