Is it me, or is it the fish?

[realitybias]

So I have just started fishing for my first time in about 8 years, and I've pretty much completely forgotten how to fish. I fish at a spillway, a very beautiful place, where water from a lake spills over the dam from 80 feet to 30 feet. The air temperature today was about 48 degrees and VERY windy (10-15 mph, I'd figure. Even more at some times).  I fish at the bottom sector of this spillway, closer to the spillway, the water is quite deep and EXTREMELY choppy (3-4 foot crests). It isn't this choppy in all places, though, and in fact, there are small inlets that are COMPLETELY still even when the spillway stream is choppy. The water quality is VERY murky, I can see maybe a foot down into the water before it gets too dark for me to see further. Some locations, though, such as the still water area, seems to be a bit more clear (but not much). Let me go over the landscape, before I go over the two days that I fished, and how they went down.

Some people get EXCELLENT results fishing from this spot and catching striped bass with shad. I'm always surprised how close to this giant torrent of water fish seem to hang out, but hey, it seems to work for them. I've never caught anything there... but I'd love to. They were really hauling in the big ones here.

Some people fish from ATOP the spillway. I dont think I could ever do this.. it involves bringing a fish up 50 or so feet, but it seems to work for them. Still they dont get near the amount of bites as the people at the bottom.

Other alternative locations that people fish from are the center, where the water is quite deep, from boats. That is not an option for me, although sometimes, I can throw  a cork and get it to go to the general location.

The places that I have fished the most in this area are a still-water inlet that runs off into another river.. this inlet is so very still that it is a huge contrast between it and the torrent that it merges with. The water is clearer here, but not by much, and every so often, I could see a few fish jumping out of the water, so I know they are there.

The other place that I fish often is the spot where the inlet merges with the river created by the spillway. The merging spot is interesting, as one part of it has a heavy current, and one part of it does not. There are plenty of trees that are submerged in this area, and it is quite easy to get tangled up, but bass seem to love this place, and I keep getting reports of people fishing this place and getting lucky.

So the question is... what should I do in a situation such as this? What am I doing wrong? Because in two days and over 12 hours of fishing, I've caught nothing yet.  The first day, I went from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and fished from the side of the torrent of water that rushes over the spillway. I didnt catch anything, and neither did my two friends. I was using little plastic grub with a hook in it, and a sinker (not sure what weight). I then switched to cork, and shad fish, got nothing. The day before, it had rained a bit, but the water was relatively calm and the spillway wasnt really much of a torrent as it was a gentle waterfall. There were plenty of boat fishers, but it seemed  nobody was catching anything. The weather was about 60 degrees F.

The next day, I fished again immediately after a huge storm, from 11 AM to 5 PM. I used spinner attached to cork, spinner not attached to cork, worm attached to sinker, worm attached to cork, and shad. I think my problem may have been that I changed locations too often.. But anyhow...

What was I doing wrong, and do you guys have any tips?

The next day, I fished with a spinner bait attached to a cork, and got not even so much as a nibble. Likewise, I fished with a

[bigdog]

Try a live crawfish..oh ya Welcome

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bankbeater]

Welcome Aboard!!

[georgiabassfisherman]

welcome aboard uh to answer ur question it could be because of all of that rain. i usually find it harder to catch fish after a rain and all that fresh water.

GBF

[realitybias]

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I'll try to get some pictures up next time I go of the area. It's lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville, Louisiana. It really is a great place to fish, if anyone is familiar with it. I'm just trying to get technique down...

I suppose it might be best if I posted a more general question..

What are some good techniques to catching fish in murky water from a bank? And  should I be fishing in the calm still-water stream that is spawned from the river, or should I be fishing in the rougher waters? (people have success in both).

[realitybias]

You're right, though, the rain probably puts a dampener on things... I hope that next time I go, hopefully NOT after a giant rain storm, the fishw ill be biting more.

[realitybias]

Here is a bad resolution pic of the actual spillway

http://www.denmon.com/images/darbonne_01.jpg

[Pa Angler]

WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!  

[dodgeguy]

what do you mean fishing with a cork?try a lipless crankbait,a senko, or a t-rigged worm.

[jomatty]

are you fishing for largemouth bass?  if not you may not get that great of responses and it sounded like you were after the shad and stripers.  anyhow in all that wind and  murky water that you describe i would have a spinnerbait tied on.  take a look at what the folks that are catching fish are doing and follow their lead.

[Cigarlover 1]

Welcome Aboard!

[FatBoy]

I'm not sure what you mean about using a spinner with a cork.  You cast out a spinnerbait and reel it back in.  You don't want a bobber at all.  I'd recommend you read up on some of the great articles on this site.  Go to the Fishing Articles menu at the top of the page.  Check out the articles for beginners and the Bass Lure Techniques.

[Catt]

How y'all are?  

As a kid I use to fish the spillway areas on Bundick's Lake near Deridder and Vernon Lake near Leesville both in Louisiana. Now I occasionally fish Toro Creek which is spillway feed from Toledo Bend. On all three I wade fish below the spillway using Texas Rigs, Spinner Baits, and Rat-L-Trap. My best luck comes from covering lots of water from near the spillway down stream; when I catch a fish stop and work that area over.

[brian_d]

i would definately try using a big colorado blade on a spinner bait, or probably a 3/4 ounce ratl trap. if  i noticed fish hitting a school of shad, a senko would be on the line in a heart beat.

[Redlinerobert]

Wow.  I looked at that picture and immediately thought, "stripers".

I would use a medium heavy 7 ft rod that can handle up to a 1 oz lure.  Use a good quality baitcast reel and spool it with 30 or 50 lb Sufix braid, tie on a 1 oz white hair raiser with a white tail and heave it parallel to the spill way.   If you dont get hit on the initial drop you will get hit on the retrieve.  

[gtalbert]

Wow that spillway looks great, you need to buy some white 4" or 5" Storm WildEye Swim Shad.  If you can find them buy some 5" WildEye Jerkin Minnows in Albino Shad, thats what we catch 25 and 35 pounders with when they spawn in the creeks.