Fishing conditions have worsened...HELP

[airborne_angler]

I havent posted in a while and just started fishing again Aug 1. Had my kids for the month of July so I put off fishing for a little.

    Back in June,I was having great luck throwing Senko style baits. I would at least ALWAYS get a strike upon the bait falling and caught at least 7-8 fish in a short time span.  Now Its rained,the water has risen a bunch and it seems the fish have lockjaw. I get to the pond at about 9 am and leave at sunset,usually about 7pm. Needless to say I am sore and fatigued by the days end and frustrated at not catching any decent fish. A 12 incher would be decent in my book. I have thrown spinnerbaits,plastic worms,Senkos,Jitterbugs,and even a Mepps spinner. I tried to do some finnesse fishing by going to a 4" Junebug colored plastic worm and fishing weightless and weedless on a 1/0 hook. All I catch is Bluegill and green Sunfish. Occasionally I catch a Bass,only dinks 4-5 inchers. I wanna know where the bigger ones are. In June I caught and released 3 Bass that were at least 2 lbs. The vegetation is thick in this pond ,thats why I dont use any weights when I fish plastics cause all I get is Algae,weeds and snot  and I dont even think my bait makes it to the bottom where the fish are because this stuff is so thick,and that really discourages me . This pond doesnt get much action,Ive only seen 3 other people fish it on rare occasion; but me,Im there every single day. All day long you can see fish,Im sure its a combo of Bass and Sunfish leaping clear out of the water to go after Dragonflies. They land with a "KER-PLUNK" at times and its unnerving cause I know those fish might be a bit larger than the dinks Im catching,But to no avail can I get them to bite. Any suggestions?

[Grey Wolf]

ONE SUGGESTION: HIT THE POND ABOUT 5 OR 6 AM AND SEE IF THAT DOESN'T CHANGE YOUR LUCK.

[Muddpuppy]

I only some what fish 1 pond anymore but it is covered in crap in the summer.  Lizards work pretty good weightless for me, you could try a C-rig and see if that would get you through the crud on top and yet not pick up too much trash on the bait.  I have caught a few just throwing a wacky worm into open water and just let it sink.  Try to hit any pockets and the weedline if there is one.  If it has just rained and the level has risen recently they maybe lockjawed until it starts dropping again.  I have the best luck just about dark and if the mosquito's aren't biting neither are the fish. :-/

[gamblerOH]

Try a grass jig, they are heavy enough to get down there. I would also try carolina riggin a sweet beaver, use the smallie beaver if its a slow bite. I caught a few the other day (in a bigger lake) c-riggin deep points with a fat Ika. My guess is the bankrunners(small fish) are all thats going be be very shallow this time of year. I would find the deepest part of the pond and look for anything unusual that could hold fish like points, humps small cuts, or brushpiles.

[senko_77]

bites going to be tough because of the masive rain fall.  it screws up the oxygen blance.  ive sometimes found it impossible to catch them.  try moving a soft plastic or a jig REALLY slow.  another thing you can do, which we do for spotted bass, is throw out a lizard.  let it sit.  then shake the rod tip so the legs on the lizard twich.  then let it sit again.  it may just be the ticket

[Chris]

When the water comes up the fish move shallow and at times real shallow. Fish closer to the bank and flip the shore cover or use a topwater frog. Beef up your weight to punch the weeds.

[airborne_angler]

I went out today with a Zoom Motor oil colored plastic worm "T" rigged and I used the biggest worm weight I could find. Im not sure how deep I got but I just kept getting hung up. Took some force to move through the stuff and at the end of two casts and landing at least 4 pounds of weeds, I said screw it!! Its just too much work. And as far as Carolina rig,I just cant cast it without looking like a monkey f***ing a football. I cant get any distance. I was using a medium action rod on a baitcaster. Could this have been one of my troubles With getting through the thick stuff? I hope so cause I just went out tonight and purchased a 6'6" Medium Heavy Rod to try to help me with dragging through this stuff. While im here I might as well ask about Jig /Pig combos.

There are only 2 places in town that have any inventory of Uncle Josh Pork baits and they have been on the shelf for at least 3 years according to the dust.

1.)Do pork baits break down or have an expiration? Meaning I dont wanna try using it and have it just fall apart on me.

2.) How do I put the Pork on my jig? If the jig is sitting as it would in the water ,is it meaty side up or down when rigging the pork or does it matter?

3.) Jigs are supposed to be weedless? I was using a Bitsy Flip from Strike King and I pulled in a bunch o weeds, Any doctoring I can do to prevent this?.

4.) Are trailers such as pork/craw imitation always necessary? Do bass strike a jig without a trailer?

Sorry for being long winded,thanks for the tips.

[Chris]

In heavy grass/weeds I like to flip a tube because it hangs less but for your questions,

1) Yes pork frogs have a shelf life and old pork that looks yellowed or looks like the chunk is almost furry means that the pork is starting to break down. The pork chunk side will look like it has lost color and will not be smooth and appear bumpy.

2) I fish them with the fatty side down I also take a knife trim off some of the fat off of the end that has the hole punched. The front look like a wedge and increases your hook up ratio and puts more action in the pork. Sometimes I will slice the fatty side some to make it bend easier also. When the hole of the pork wears out take a butter lid and punch a hole in it with a hole punch and use the small plastic circle as a keeper for your pork or you can peg it with a toothpick.

3)move in closer to the cover so that you are fishing more vertical. There are grass jigs out there that are cone head shaped that punch weeds better than a bitsy jig. Use braid and don't trim the weedguard any just fan it out some.

4) always use a trailer of some kind

[bassackwards]

I saw a quote on the website a while back by Henry David Thoreau sayin (along the lines of..)

"after fishing for some time, you begin to realize it's not the fish you're looking for."

had to jab that in there,  ;D

btw glen, I tried refreshing the page so many times to get it up there.  if you have it or anyone knows it, send that quote to me please.  

[shiloh]

I saw a quote on the website a while back by Henry David Thoreau sayin (along the lines of..)

"after fishing for some time, you begin to realize it's not the fish you're looking for."

had to jab that in there,  ;D

btw glen, I tried refreshing the page so many times to get it up there.  if you have it or anyone knows it, send that quote to me please.  

Found this (thanks to Google):

"Men will go fishing their entire lives without knowing it is not fish they are after."

--- Henry David Thoreau

[senko_77]

you can also use a plastic jig trailer.  i like the zoom super chunk jr.  in black.  throw a topwater frog and get rid of your frustration.  my suggestion is a sumo frog in the black or green.  heres the link.

http://www.***.com/descpageHDTNATFRIEN-BZSUMFG.html

[Ben]

Pond fishing the same pond on daily basis is going to teach you bass are a lot smarter than you give them credit for.  First, you have to learn to use a number of different presentations for the same bait.  When they (and they will) quit hitting that bait, change to another.    If you drive to the pond, start parking farther away, it doens't take long for them to relate that ground vibration to the fact you are there to fish for them.   If you use a boat in a small pond, same thing, that noise will shut them down in a heart beat.

Leave the pond alone for a few weeks and then fish it, you will see a big difference in the bites but that will be short lived if you go back a couple of times in a row.   Add the fact that the summer time heat has them slowed a lot and it can make bites almost impossible.

I have three small ponds on my land, all three have plenty of bass.  I know for a fact me and my dad are the only ones that fish them unless someone is willing to walk about a mile through the woods to slip in.   I can leave them alone for a month or so, go fish them and catch a large number of bass.  Fish them a couple of times in a row and you are lucky to get a bite.