One certain lake...never good results, why?

[Tiki Stik]

Guys, I live in MS. There's a lake about 30 miles from my house that is full of bass. The lake is about 100yrds. wide and 15 miles long with lots of laydowns and standing cypress. A friend who is a member of the local bass club told me they were having a tourney there yesterday, so I took the wife (loves bass fishing too) and we went to fish and view the weigh-in. Well, we fished 4 hours with brush hogs, worms and soft craws.... NOTHING. I fish very patiently, slow jigging, allow to fall, whole 9 yards. And I very rarely catch a fish on this lake. THe last 2 trips, I've caught nothing on that lake (a total of about 10 hours of fishing). I use the SAME baits as the tourney guys (brush hogs). WIth my head hung low....the wife and I come to the club's weigh-in at 2pm..... and everyone has a sack of fish. Some guys weighed in 20+ lbs!!!!! Dang it! It reallllllly ticks me off. I love bass fishing....and I think I'm doing IT RIGHT. Trying to fight a little depression here. Please help.

[stroz]

For me if there not taking one I run the gambit. typically I run three rods one spinnerbait, a crankbait usually tiger fire to start and either a plastic or a jig n pig. But I also have limited room on my boat or I'd have more set ups.This is probabley the most obvious answer but it's what I would do hope it helps.

good luck

Stroz

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Chances are the tournament guys discovered your choices didn't work. It just wasn't what the bass wanted then. When your favorites fail you it's time to wet baits you don't swim often. Get em out, tie em on, change em frequently. Leave the failed one in a pile so you can see what didn't work, try something way different. During tournaments, especially on day 2, bass get spooked anyway and it often takes reaction bites deeper and in places not hit too hard by anglers. I go stright to some "nothing" looking shorelines, skimpy flats, and deeper structure where I believe bass hide to escape the pressure. Later on when water heats up I stay out in deeper water anyway where few tournament anglers try to fish. I won't be angler number 65 wetting a highly used spot on day 2.

Jim

[Peter E.]

F.L.P. that bad boy and go to town!!!!

Peter

[Muddpuppy]

Are you sure that they were useing things like Brush Hogs that day? If the fish are feeding heavily on something like shad, they may not hit a brush hog or anything else resembling a crawfish, although you might get lucky and pick up one or two, if you get the coloring right and you vary the style you normally fishing them, for the most part they may show no interest. I throw creatures quite a bit, but have sat in the boat throwing brush hogs, Kreatures, Ikas, Senkos and on down the line, in every imaginable color and way I can come up with, still not getting much more then a nibble. Mean while, my friend on the other end of the boat is steadily pulling them in on say a fluke. I knew the fish were there, and that they would bite, but I was determined to see if I could make them take something they didn't want in the first place on that day, and they didn't go for it, and have proven it to me more then once. (I can get a little stuborn at times) Try other types of baits when they won't respond.

[tbird]

I too had a lake like yours that was giving me trouble. The problem was not what I was throwing but where I was throwing it. Try the thickest natiest cover you can find and use a bait that will not get hung easily(jig and pig or TR worm/craw)

[Jeff P.]

I knew the fish were there, and that they would bite, but I was determined to see if I could make them take something they didn't want in the first place on that day, and they didn't go for it, and have proven it to me more then once.  (I can get a little stuborn at times)

I am beginning to think that this is one of my own downfalls.  I think the OP (original poster) stuck with the baits he chose for so long because he thought they were the same baits the bass club guys were catching them on, and he deduced that he should catch fish too because he was throwing the same bait.  This is not always the case.  Sometimes you gotta give the fish what they want, not what you want.  I know there have been days when I said to myself "I'm gonna catch a fish on this spinnerbait if I have to throw it all day", and I often end up frustrated.  I guess that probably means a significant part of fishing success is found in the space between the fishermen's ears.

[Tiki Stik]

Thank you all for the input.... but I feel I need to clarify something. Every tourney guy I spoke to said "We caught'em on brush hogs". It's like a broken record.... brush hogs, brush hogs....and I see 20+ lbs. sacks of 5 fish being weighed in..... talk about ticking you off! Oh, and the water was soooooooooo muddy, you couldn't see your bait 2" under the surface! So I doubt that a fluke would have produced. I hope my luck changes on that lake.... the big bass ARE there and like I said.... everyone keep repeating "brush hogs" to me and I see them dangling on their rods..... sooooo..... all I can do is keep on pitchin' i reckon.  :-/

[RoLo]

T-rig your favorite plastic worm, a black one about 8" long with a 1/16 oz bullet sinker.

Work the worm very slowly over the bottom and TIGHT to cover.

Then right before you and your wife head back to the dock,

both tie on a chartreuse brush hog

Roger

[Gatorbassman]

You know, it's great to know what guys are catching there fish on, but I feel the first and most important question to ask these guys is at what depth they are catching them at. Then follow by asking what type of structure or cover the fish are holding on. Then just look at the rods on their decks and see what is tied to their rods. Then hopefully these guy are somewhat honest and you might be able to go out and catch something.

[Muddpuppy]

Were you fishing from a boat or off the bank?  And if you were hitting the same places that others had previously covered then the fish had already been exposed how many times to the same baits you were useing also 10 hrs. isn't a lot of time to get to know a lake in.  At 100yrds. x 15 miles it sounds like not only do you have a lot of visable cover, but probably even more structure underneath that you aren't finding or getting too as said.  Twist your friends arm and get him to take you a couple of trips to show you the ropes.

[cart7t]

You haven't even come close to describing what you were doing for anyone to accurately disect your day and give you a hand.  

"Well, we fished 4 hours with brush hogs, worms and soft craws.... NOTHING. I fish very patiently, slow jigging, allow to fall, whole 9 yards"

So you tied on some lures that the other guys were fishing and started casting (where?), you worked the lure patiently with a slow jigging action allowing it to fall and you got nothing.

Where did you fish?

Of the 2 types of cover available, laydowns and standing cypress which did you fish and how did you fish the cover?

Did you use the same presentation all day long even though it wasn't buying you a strike?

Is this an old oxbow lake? If so, have you attempted to look for any depth variances in the bottom, even a foot and then key on cover associated or close to that depth change.

Is the only thing you tried soft plastics? Those are baits you use when you've usually found concentrations of fish or have locked onto a pattern. Soft plastics aren't very good search baits for finding fish fast.

BTW, I know this may seem hard to believe but not all bass fisherman are completely honest especially when they're talking about what they caught their fish on.  Some have gone so far as to......GASP........retie different lures onto the ends of their rods before coming into the weigh in.    ;D

[Tiki Stik]

"where" and "how" we fished were the same as the tourney guys. There was one chute where almost everyone was concentrating on (about 75yrds. x 1 mile) and we fished there as well. As far as depth, when fishing t-rigged, I "take it for granted" that you'd be fishing at "whatever" the max depth is where you are casting, then jigging 1, 2, 3, off the bottom (softly). I watched several of the boats, how they were fishing, etc. Definately not lying to me... it was brush hogs, flipped into flooded trees, soft jigging off the bottom. I'll catch on.... I've only fished the lake about 8 times total.... I really want to learn it.... it holds a BUNCH of bass. I friend that lives on that lake showed me a pic today of a 12-2 lbs. that he caught there (was a monster). Thanks to you all!!

[cart7t]

I don't know you're fishing expertise but I generally try and avoid anyplace that has boats stacked up fishing unless I have no other choice.  You're fishing very used water and the bass have probably already seen a half dozen brush hogs dropped in front of their nose by the time you got there.  

If in fact the fish were tight into the cover there's a few baits I'd try that were different from what anyone else was using.

A jig and some kind of trailer, preferably pork. By late spring, many folks have stopped using pork as a trailer but it can be just as effective. Uncle Josh makes some flipping chunks with long tails on them that work really well in warmer water.

A senko or sluggo type bait with a small nail or push-in lead weight right in the head so the bait sits tail up on the bottom and dead stick the thing.

A 4 or 5 inch tube.

I would've also tried slow rolling a spinnerbait down into that cover and tried to coax a reaction strike.

[Muddpuppy]

If you haven't used brush hogs or sekos much make sure that the hook point isn't set too deep in the bait when T-rigged. Try different size weights, go lighter to vary the fall and down thru limbs or heavier to get deeper and into weeds or none at all if the water is only about 6-10' and is clean for a slower fall. I prefer to fish unweighted, but we fish shallow water, 1/16 has been recomended that and 1/8 up to a 1/4 may also be a good start. Throw next to any trees or weeds letting it go to the bottom, and let it sit for a several seconds, then twitch it a few times lightly, then sit and repeat before you start your retrieve. Pay close attention while the bait is falling that is often when it is hit. Also if this lake has more obstacles to pull over or thru then some of the others that you fish, then there maybe a possibility that you just aren't feeling them as well as in the other lakes or if they are just lightly tapping the bait.

I would try to go as much as possible when there isn't much traffic until you get it figured out. We have a small event on a lake I fish alot, this weekend, but next weekend is a major local anual open touney. There's no telling how many boats might be on the lake this weekend pre fishing so it maybe tough to find any fish and we know the lake.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I can't imagine serious tournament anglers actually letting it out what they're catching bass on until MAYBE after the last weigh-in. I agree probably most will let others see loser baits tied on a rod or two just to keep everyone thrown off. Ya just don't give out tournament secrets when money is on the line. Doing so would be much like telling a chess opponent what your game plan is. Serious bassin REQUIRES trying out all sorts of baits and presentations. Even if some anglers have a hot bait it isn't likely that choice will hold up from day to day or even most of any one day. You have a great key already shared above, use something the others aren't using. KVD did that with a 20 year old Smithwick and took the event in Pittsburg. Bass catch on pretty quick to what's being rained down on them, so present something they don't see very often. Do you think Denny Brauer would abandon his jig plan just because he heard some were doing well with a Ratle Trap? No way. They fish their own strengths. If a situation arose where a RT might be the best choice, then that gets tied on, not because others have it tied on. No pro becomes a pro trying to follow other pro choices of the day. No tournament angler will be successful long enough trying what the pros won't do.

Jim

[Rattlinrogue]

Tiki,Rogue here.How ya doing up there in the Delta?Somebody may already have said this,but I probably would have tied on a spinnerbait and went to chunking if nothing else was working.With all the snags and laydowns you were describing,I'd throw up into all of the thickest,nastiest cover and bring that spinnerbait right through it.Don't worry,It rary gets snagged.When you bump a limb or come over a log,kill the bait for just a moment then start reeling again.The fluttering of the blades as you kill it mimics a dying baitfish.Many of your bites will come when you do this.You'll be able to make hundreds of casts and cover a lot of water.When not throwing into cover,be throwing close to it.Hope this helps.Tight Lines,RR