Freshwater Frustration

[BeastMan]

Went out to the Rez again today for some bass fishing from the yak. Last time out I didn't catch anything but had enough blowups on the frog to stay interesting. Today was dead. 1 bite on frog all day. No bites on anything else. By no means do I consider myself some pro saltwater guy but I can usually find some fish. The marsh makes sense to me. I understand what to look for and have some sort of game plan. Sometimes I'll see some boat anchored on a random shoreline not catching. I'll bounce all over catching fish here and there and see that same boat in the same place hours later still not catching. All I can think is "poor guy ain't got a damn clue what he's doing". Well, that's me in freshwater chasing largemouth bass. I realize it takes time to get good and I'm going to keep plugging away until I get better but damn, it's frustrating.

Obligatory didn't catch anything pics from today

[BrunswickDawg]

I've always had a hard time with bass. Doesn't matter where I go or what I use. Now, give me some of my great-grandmother's doughballs and put me on Lake Allatoona and I can slay some crappie. Put me on a trout stream anywhere in North Georgia, and I can catch at least dinner for two.

[Bass Chaser]

You're fishing the rez in the worst month possible. Give it a month or so where you can run a spinnerbait or top water bait through those pad fields.

[Treemydawg]

Its too hot right now to fish shallow water and top water for bass. They are not going to be shallow or very active when it's as hot as it's been the last couple of months.(shallow is less than 10') Earlier this year I wore the bass out almost every trip on the same structure with the same bait on the same lake two- three times a week. June got here and the bite started slowing down. July it got even slower, so I changed strategy. I started riding the lake looking at my sonar for deep drop offs or deep structure and started catching fish again. This time of year they are deep. The last few trips I've made I'm catching them 17-25 ft deep bouncing a trick worm off of the bottom. I know fishing deep isn't near as fun as top water ( my favorite thing in the world is seeing a bass blow up a top water bait) but this time of year it isn't productive. I'm no expert or pro bass fisher, but I have several books on bass tendices that have taught me a lot. If you would like some of the names of the books and authors just pm me and I would be glad to send them to you. Good luck fishing

[BeastMan]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep plugging on in to the fall. Allow me to ask a dumb question. After a few hours of nothing, I spotted a school of shad popping and moving in to a creek. Being in my yak, I was able to follow them for a bit. I tried throwing plastic a little behind, in front of, and in the school to no avail. That's really a saltwater tactic. Is that stupid to do in freshwater?

[Barking 13]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep plugging on in to the fall. Allow me to ask a dumb question. After a few hours of nothing, I spotted a school of shad popping and moving in to a creek. Being in my yak, I was able to follow them for a bit. I tried throwing plastic a little behind, in front of, and in the school to no avail. That's really a saltwater tactic. Is that stupid to do in freshwater?

nope.. in about a month that's what you'll be doing if you catch any...

[Treemydawg]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep plugging on in to the fall. Allow me to ask a dumb question. After a few hours of nothing, I spotted a school of shad popping and moving in to a creek. Being in my yak, I was able to follow them for a bit. I tried throwing plastic a little behind, in front of, and in the school to no avail. That's really a saltwater tactic. Is that stupid to do in freshwater?

No that's not stupid at all. The only change I would make with what you said is the bait. I always keep a shad colored zaraspook on a pole in my rod box for just the same thing. You need to keep in mind that the Rez has tournaments almost daily. The bass have seen anything and everything someone could possibly have in their tackle box. Throw the zaraspook into the middle of the school and work it with a few fast twitches of the rod tip and then let it sit there like a crippled shad. Then repeat. That's the best info I can provide and it hasworked for me numerous times in the past, but keep in mind the Rez is a different monster. I was fishing one morning at my favorite lake, it was over cast and cool everything was perfect early. I forgot my sunglasses and about 2 hours into fishing the sun popped out and I went back to the boat ramp. There was a man sitting there in his truck looking through binoculars at the lake. He introduced his self and started asking questions about the lake. Later on in the conversation he said he lives by the Rez and fishes it regularly and fishes some tournaments there and has won some, but the fish there are so fickle because they have seen everything you can throw at them. He went as far to say that he could take me to 4-5 schools of bass in the Rez right now and I couldn't buy a bite because they have seen everything known to man. I'm no pro but I think I could catch schooling bass in the Rez with my zaraspook, they would have to prove to me that they wouldn't hit it. I may be way wrong but it's worth trying.

[BeastMan]

No that's not stupid at all. The only change I would make with what you said is the bait. I always keep a shad colored zaraspook on a pole in my rod box for just the same thing. You need to keep in mind that the Rez has tournaments almost daily. The bass have seen anything and everything someone could possibly have in their tackle box. Throw the zaraspook into the middle of the school and work it with a few fast twitches of the rod tip and then let it sit there like a crippled shad. Then repeat. That's the best info I can provide and it hasworked for me numerous times in the past, but keep in mind the Rez is a different monster. I was fishing one morning at my favorite lake, it was over cast and cool everything was perfect early. I forgot my sunglasses and about 2 hours into fishing the sun popped out and I went back to the boat ramp. There was a man sitting there in his truck looking through binoculars at the lake. He introduced his self and started asking questions about the lake. Later on in the conversation he said he lives by the Rez and fishes it regularly and fishes some tournaments there and has won some, but the fish there are so fickle because they have seen everything you can throw at them. He went as far to say that he could take me to 4-5 schools of bass in the Rez right now and I couldn't buy a bite because they have seen everything known to man. I'm no pro but I think I could catch schooling bass in the Rez with my zaraspook, they would have to prove to me that they wouldn't hit it. I may be way wrong but it's worth trying.

That's fascinating about the Rez. Maybe that's where a dumb freshwater guy like me could throw something out there like a matrix shad on a jig head and figure out what retrieve they'll hit. Again, it's a saltwater tactic but maybe it's so Rez unconventional it could work.

[TUSK]

are these out of vogue?

ChampaignCountyHistoricalMuseum_20080301_4271.jpg

[Bass Chaser]

That's fascinating about the Rez. Maybe that's where a dumb freshwater guy like me could throw something out there like a matrix shad on a jig head and figure out what retrieve they'll hit. Again, it's a saltwater tactic but maybe it's so Rez unconventional it could work.

Throw a topwater like a small buzz bait or pop-r. Matrix shad in white could work. The Rez is not deep. Average depth is like 7-8 feet. Bass seem to stay shallow year round.

[Duckdog]

Look a buzz bait, a bandit 200 in tn shad, a white two blade h&h and some tx rigged plastic worms is all you need to catch bass. Its not rocket science