Cant catch fish....

[fun_all_wrong]

Ok- I recently bought a new boat, I like it but now there is a problem.....  I can't catch fish....(not good fish)  I have always been able to catch atleast one keeper fish back in the rivers back home... but these lakes southwest of Dallas/ Fort Worth are killing me.

I have thrown- Jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, rattletraps, zara spook, brush hogs, poppers, a jig, tiny torpedo, weightless skirted jig, and a tube bait, even a buzz bait...

Normaly Im not a big fan of spinner baits and rattle traps.....  but people claim to catch well on them.....  

I havn't caught a keeper fish in lots of fishing....   I caught 1 fish with a jerkbait, one with a popper, one tiny one with a tube, and one white bass with a rattle trap...

I use 4 different rods....  my tube bait rod and jig/worm rod are rigged up with 20# fire line....

my topwater and jerkbait rods are rigged up with 10# power pro...

I have fished rocks, stumps, tried points (structure fishing is new to me....) thrown around boat docks....

I have even tried two different lakes...  I can't catch a keeper...  you figure at some point after my line was in the water for that long a keeper fish might yawn and my hook could fall into its mouth or something....

But all jokes aside, Im getting frustrated....  any tips?

Any ideas?

[papa smurf]

Your best bet may be to ask someone who is familiar with the lakes that you fish which could be the people at the local tackle shops or a buddy or coworker who fishes the lake regularly, or you could join a bass club in your area.  There are also guys on this forum who are from Texas. If all else fails, hire a guide if one is available.

If none of these options are available, pick out one small section of the lake and mark all of the areas that you think will hold fish at this time of year and fish them methodically.  One more thing you might want to try is to fish the higher percentage times like dawn and dusk when bass are easier to find and catch.

[senile1]

Good points by Papa Smurf.  Also, you say structure fishing is new to you.  Are your casts accurately accessing the structure.  Sometimes your bait has to fall right on a big bass's nose for him to take it.  Other times, you need to cast past the structure, reel it up to it and pause, let it drop, bump the structure, etc.  And one last thing . . . is your lure landing as gently as possible when you cast?

[alhuff]

if the lakes you are fishing have shinners i would tie on a weightless soft jerkbait like a Super Fluke or Bass Assin, something like that, in white/pepper color(i think) and work it around the shoreline throwing it to structure that stands out from the rest of the bank....

i had great luck with that bait and also Rattle Traps and Spinnerbaits when i fished the lakes around Killeen south of you.

keep at it,

Alfred

[fun_all_wrong]

Thanks,

From what I have seen at these lakes it seems there are more shad there than anything.... (so I have thrown a silver tube bait, and silver rattle-trap)

Part of my problem might be having the lure land with too much splash in the water.... but the little chop on the water I thought would cover that problem.

Talking to other people is what got me to throwing the rattle trap to start with... Normaly they stay in the tackle box with me...

I have been out in the evening, thats when I caught one of the fish with a popper...

As far as structure fishing- I have just been spending extra time fishing points (where the land makes a point, thinking it will come out and make the same shape in the water.....)  Other than that I have just "beat the bank"  

I don't anything else about what to look for with structure or where to find it....  I have looked online for maps and such....  no this website is about as helpful as it gets but the map isn't all that detailed. (Im still not positive what Im looking for)

Hope that helps....

Thanks again

[bigdog]

If your looking at a lay down don't throw to the bank first park your boat about 15 to 20 feet farther out from where you think the top of the tree is and throw to top first then start heading up the trunk.If you start throwing to the bank first you might scare the fish that in the part of that holds the most cover.

                                                                 chuck

[Daniel My Brother]

Hey FAW,

I've had dry spells, too. Here's what worked for me. First I trapped a small muskrat, then ran treble hooks through him fore and aft. After a couple of casts I landed this nice 36 pounder. I hope this helps.

[fun_all_wrong]

That looks a lot like the bass that I broke off with my flyrod a few weeks ago...  It didn't have a dry fly (I think it was a mosquito....)in the upper right corner of its mouth did it?  

[Daniel My Brother]

Could be...I found 2 dry flies, 3 hula poppers, and a Norman DD22 crank bait.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Bass fishing is a lot like hunting. A squirrel hunter knows not to pick a large parking lot next to

walMart, but ought to be looking near some oak trees or at least in some woods where he's seen squirrels. Too many folks pick places bass just don't go, but look "fishy". On lakes with competing anglers the most obvious spots are over-fished anyway. Even when most find the best places for bass they won't fish it well for fear of getting hung up. I look for the most impossible places to access, especially places where surface debris hasn't been disturbed, no little bait lines where a lure got dragged through some duckweed. I look for odd objects that break up an otherwise very dull abyssal plain bottom no self respecting angler would fish over. But all it takes is one pile of rocks on bottom of a 40 acre plain to attract all the bass. Look for different. Anything different. Bass like changes in bottom, like where gravel changes to softball sized rocks, or from mud to riprap. They travel along ditches and creek bottom channels just like deer travel across country, staying low. Bass like holes, and humps, stumps and logs, tree tops, docks, moored boats, even a chunk of styrofoam floating in a pocket.  You need to locate many DIFFERENTS to locate bass, then put a lure in that will swim through whatever the bass are in, at the depth fish are holding at. Eventually you'll find certain confidence baits that fit the various scenarios of fish habitat. Meanwhile just learn which baits do what and use them intelligently. Someone out there has greatest confidence in probably every bass lure, so don't let anyone tell you it has to be a certain bait. If you find the bass and can put a lure on its nose, you will connect.

Jim

[fun_all_wrong]

Somehow everything seemed easier in a little river with a jon boat...  or fishing from the bank in a little creek.....  I figured bigger water and a "real" boat would mean more fish....

[Rattletrap]

Did you you hook that bass inside or outside the mouth?  ;D  

[Daniel My Brother]

The muskrat actually grabbed him by the dorsal fin. Helluva ride.