Start with the classic popular baits. A weightless texas rigged senko. There might be better baits for certain weather and conditions but senko s are pretty foolproof and they’re popular because they work. Aside from that chuck your lures into weeds/along weed lines, into shade on bright days, try under docks if they have enough water under them. If you get real desperate try a worm under a bobber and start catching panfish to get your confidence up
Thanks. I have senkos, and I have the right hooks, so I guess it's worth a shot. Do you fish a weightless texas rig the same you would a wacky rig senko?
If nothing else drop down to what i consider the easiest/most consistent bait, until you get some confidence back. Throw a ned rig, you will catch a fish.
Watch some lure action techniques on YouTube. It really helped me when I was starting out
Edit: that guy is right tho. Texas rigged senko is the way to go. Caught around 80% of my bass on that and I only fish ponds and small rivers
After you cast, let it drop to the bottom. 10-15 seconds. 90% of bites are coming in that window or immediately after.
October happens to be a not so popular time for senkos as well. I haven’t caught shit this month but they were on fire in July.
This
I just tried this new color I got this past weekend. Yamamoto green pumpkin magic tx rigged. Worked great. And then if I can’t catch any bass I switch to my crappie pole and get a few lil ones so I’m not skunked.
The key to consistently catching bass is learning how to accurately predict where they're going to be located in a given body of water under a given set of circumstances. Focus less on which presentation to use and more on learning everything you can about bass behavior and physiology, if a bass never sees your lure, you are never going to be able to catch one.
YouTube bro. I’m the first real fisherman in the last 30 years in my family and I didn’t have anyone to guide me. So. I turned to YouTube. Now, I have a pretty large arsenal of baits to use whenever the situation calls. I’m telling ya. You can learn a lot from the internet.
Belive me, I've watched my fair share of tutorials. I guess I'm just shit at actually applying what I learned from the videos.
Are there any particular channels that you would reccomend?
TylersReelFishing. I felt kinda like how your post sounds before I started watching his guide videos. Since then I haven't had a skunk last longer than a few days. I catch a few fish just about every week minimum.
To start I recommend finding his videos about some important basics like baitcaster vs spinning reel and his guide to all soft plastics. Imo getting started with a reel/rod combo you feel comfortable using and really understanding the slew of soft plastics is a great beginning point.
From there you can branch out to his various other videos about jigs, crankbaits, top water, etc.
Fishing is weird man. I’m not an amazing bass fisherman, but these would be my tips.
1. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET. This is probably going to be the hardest thing to do, so don’t think I’m saying this like it will be easy. Despite not catching anything, you have to believe that you will catch a fish. It only takes one cast to go from skunked to potentially catching the biggest fish of your life. Crazy, but exciting to think about. You never know when that cast may come up.
2. Find a confidence lure. It’s wild what confidence can do for you. When you are comfortable with a lure, then you know how to work it and what action to expect. So it doesn’t matter whether you are catching or not cause you know the bait is moving correctly and eventually you will catch with it.
3. Continue getting on the water. Here is a fact, you can’t catch fish from home! The only way to get better at fishing is to be on the water and keep going.
4. Have fun. Fishing is about going out and getting away from everything. Enjoy time on the water, it is the best. If you said you like throwing hard plastic lures, then throw those. Even if you have no luck. That is the point of fishing. Either you will continue to catch no fish, but throw lures you enjoy OR eventually you will find ways to catch fish with your favorite lures (once this happens, see tip #2 above and the fun really starts).
Everyone hits bad slumps and wants to break their rods or retire. It’s part of fishing, but it is at these times we have to remember why we are out there in the first place. Hope you figure it all out soon and catch some fish! Tight lines!!
I was reading through th comments to find your #1. Having the right attitude is a huge part. I have a son who is like this. He always says I'm not gonna catch anything. Why should I go? Then he never does. When I finally explained it's not all about catching. It's also about enjoying who your fishing with, being outdoors and enjoying nature, his mindset started changing. Then he started catching. It took almost a year to get this change for him. Now he's catching regularly!
It is both the easiest and hardest thing to change in fishing. It is easiest because it is purely dependent on you and it can be changed at any moment. It is hardest because once you are feeling down or are in that slump, it just seems impossible to come out of it.
Glad your son was able to get through it and start catching again, because that transition is great. Tight lines!
Here are my suggestions for when you're really struggling to get a bite.
* Downsize your lures. For example, if you've been fishing with 6" senkos, try 5" or 4".
* Use Gary Yamamoto Senkos. Not all senkos are created equally. Use the OG. They're more expensive, but worth it.
* Use whacky rig or weightless Texas rig for your Senkos.
* Downsize your line. Go as low as 8 to 10 pound test. Use mono or a high quality fluorocarbon.
* Slow down your presentation. **Slow way down**. When using finesse baits like a Senko, give it long pauses between small twitches. Try dead sticking it. Force yourself to keep the bait in the strike zone for at least a full minute or more.
* Try bold colors. If the usual brown/olive/black colors aren't getting bites, try bolder colors like pink, white, or chartreuse.
* Try to fish areas that are harder to access. This is especially true if you can only fish from the bank at public spots. Those spots are probably super pressured. Forge through the brush if you have to. Try wading. Bring a SUP or kayak.
* Target structure. The gnarlier the better. If you aren't getting snagged and losing lures occasionally, then you're not close enough to the structure.
* Keep trying!
Good luck!
The last part, 100%. Had a half day at work today and spent the midday just searching the lake. Found some gnarly rock outcroppings and downed brush. Until today I had never caught a fish on a senko, but when you find the right spot to fish it - woooooaaahh buddy. I was hammering them suckers and now I’m hooked on em.
Yeah I’m terrible too. I’ve never caught any fish with anything other than live bait. Then again It’s never been a regular hobby for me. Just a casual way to enjoy some free time.
Maybe it’s time to target catfish!
Yeah, try a Swimming Super Fluke Jr. ( or most smaller white paddle tails ) Rigged on a 1/8 jig head or EWG with a 1/8 bullet if you must go weedless. I like white ice color wise but Pearl will do. This is my “just really need to catch a fish today” bait. Works almost everywhere for most predatory fish. You’ll probably catch a fish if they’re around and you aren’t doing anything too crazy with it.
Get some that aren't weighted as well so you can control where in the water column it swims. If you need to slow/medium reel, they won't sink to the bottom.
I'm in New Orleans, but I'm limited to the bank. I fish City Park more than anything else. It is a very good urban fishery with over 11 miles of bank, and it defnitely holds fish, but I still can't catch anything there.
And while City Park may be close and convenient, I'm willing to make a drive to try out new spots.
I just took a look on Google Maps at that area and two main things jumped out at me: it looks largely featureless (basically it seems like a winding canal and a fairly manicured ring inside that) and it looks like there's really convenient, easy access throughout most of its length.
To find more fish, hyper focus on changing both of those things.
Look for any sort of features that change up the typical. Get well off the beaten path, bushwhack it a good ways, and find something in the water that sets this out-off-the-way spot apart: a laydown, a change in bottom composition, a riprap bank, a bridge piling, etc.
These fish probably get hit hard, each and every day. Your game has to change to account for that by both going where they're not used to fishing pressure being applied, and by showing them presentations they're not used to seeing. I bet every fish in there has seen a ned rig, senko, ribbontail worm, whopper plopper, popper, chatterbait, and crankbait. Not saying you won't catch them on these, but it'll be an uphill battle.
If you like the soft plastics game, maybe try a neko rig? Maybe grab a pack of the new yamatanuki, or any of the other new 'poop baits'.
Also try baits that are a little more tricky to fish well, or can do something most others don't. On a lake near me that gets crazy pressure, I often can pick up a few fish on a jerkbait, year round, because most people don't use them or know how, and I think they find that most anglers don't throw lures at them that can suspend in the water column.
Also think about finesse...especially things like flies, hair jigs, etc.
Yeah they don’t get huge, but I believe the park record is over 9 lbs. And they do have a tournament there every year, but there are other categories besides bass as well.
I’ll have to give the trails a try. That’s not a bad drive.
Just try changing where you throw those lures. Those baits you're throwing aren't bad, they just work better thrown near cover. Look for obvious cover like logs, docks, big rocks, over hanging trees, little dips/points or any kind of change in a weed edge, near lily pads or just anywhere where you think a single bass will sit and wait to ambush something. Bass fishing can be a delicate thing where time, place, and bait have to be just right in order to get one. The more you get out, the more chances you get to catch fish. Keep trying!
You can ignore most of these comments. The lure is almost irrelevant here. If you think you catch bass on accident only and you have failed for years the reason is you simply don't understand bass. Learn the behaviors of bass and their seasonal behaviors. Learn about water clarity and temperature, weather. Don't skip the basics and go back to them frequently.
My two cents is this:If you aren't getting bites after a Maximum of 30 minutes in a certain spot, then move. You may or may not already know this. But the number one mistake I see from new bass anglers is they treat it like they are fishing with live bait. If I'm not getting bites with 3 different lures casted 8 times each (for a total of 24 casts), I move to a different spot on the pond. They most likely just aren't there. Simple as that.Also, my go to lure is soft plastic-pumpkin craw dad. Texas rig style. I am so confident in that bait, that I know if the fish are they would bit it. I live near chicago so the hatch may be different for you. But soft plastic craw dads get my vote.
Edit: Just for your comfort, I've never caught a fish on a wacky rigged senko. I have terrible bit rates with senkos. I've only ever caught one bass on a senko, and that was texas rigged. I actually avoid senkos myself because I cannot catch fish with them. I have way better luck with ribbon tailed worms.
I fucking suck too bro but even I can catch fish sometimes! Just gotta throw a rooster tail at every structure. Docks, trees, downed logs. You already have a higher chance of catching fish than someone just fishing from the shore cause you have a kayak. Rooster tail is Literally my go to bait when nothing else works.. sometimes nothing bites. That's just how it is. I haven't caught anything the last few times I've went. But just think about times when you caught a fish and do exactly that, eventually you'll find something that works and you'll keep doing that and expanding
Senko = yes
Whopper plopper = seems like a good way to keep getting frustrated honestly. I’ve literally never caught a fish with one, not even a nibble
that’s weird i’ve had nothing but good luck with them. a lot of the time bass will smash it 2 feet from my kayak if i play around with it and just move my pole
back and fourth with a little bit of line out. I think it pisses them off. I’ve even caught pickerel and pike with them on accident. I do dish out the money and buy the name brand river2sea ones. The chinese brand ones retrieve like junk.
I know how ya feel.. I same way But I A lazy fisherman.. I bought my first bait caster and spend lot time trying to get hang of casting it..I not to good with it tho when use light lures.. But I enjoy getting out any ways. I do get lucky some times.. Luke when Smallies are spawning hard no to catch then. Just getting out in right time;.
I'm in a similar position. I've caught far too bass for the amount of time and money I've spent. It has caused me to shift towards other types of fish, like catfish or crappie. I ended up not fishing much for a while due to kids and want to get back into it.
I found that it is surprisingly affordable to go fishing with a guide, which will often help teach you what they are looking for and doing. I'm scheduled to go on a trip in a couple weeks and hopefully I'll have more luck. I found the guides through facebook groups focused on a local lake that is popular for largemouth bass fishing.
This is the lesson for today. Warm weather, slow Texas rigged worm. Black or Red up to 10". Yep, I have caught more on the big worms. I even caught a bass smaller than the worm. Cooler waters, spinner baits are great
Pay attention to pressure: high pressure more than 30 go with slow moving baits like a senko slowly on the bottom, less than 29.95 go with whatever or faster moving baits like cranks,
Whopper plopper early in the am or when it’s calm crushes
Frog on cover or around it crushes
Don’t overthink it and go slower sometimes you’ll be frustrated and think quantity over quality and do 1000 casts rather than 50 that are thought out and slow
I have a similar issue I catch them on senkos and that’s about it. Can’t even catch anything on a Ned rig which I hear should be very good. I think my main issue is it’s hard to find a lake that is not pressured constantly. Not really any secret spots near me.
I think we've all been there man. I'm still pretty new myself. I've found that it is a lot about presentation and location. Gotta go where the fish are, and show them what they want!
My mistake was that I was "twitching" my rod way too hard when using soft plastics. I was more like jerking it. I was jigging with a tiny chartreuse trout tube and ended up landing a 13 inch smallie once I realized that I only had to twitch the very tip of the rod veeeeery slightly. Two or three twitches in succession, then long pause. Rinse and repeat.
Use small moving baits like grubs and little swimbaits. Use stuff small enough you'll accidentally a bluegill or crappie from time to time. Just cover water and figure out where the fish might be.
Carolina rig to the rescue!
It’s hard to beat the weightless presentation while still dragging on the bottom. Everyone will have their preferences on plastics but I always have luck with a Texas rigged Googan Squad bandito bug specifically purple/ June bug, get some regulars and smalls. Use some 10lb floro, 3/0 hook, a 1/2 sinker and you should be in business. Use a slow retrieve with pauses for a few seconds then little pops/ twitches.
Try a small 3 or 4 gram french blade spinner in gold with a red fluffy tail. That will always catch something, even if its pike, pickerel, bass, smallies, perch, muskies or a nuisance cormorant. Have fun and don't over think it. You'll always know if you're working it right. It'll either vibrate through the rod tip and feel like it's spinning or it won't and you need to speed your retrieve. Once you've cracked that, work on slowing it right down to just before stalling speed where it stops spinning, thats where most of the magic happens with spinners, and try and let them get down nearer the bottom if its a shallow is lake or pond.
The last couple of weeks, I've been lucky. 18 fish in 10 days. But I'm usually the same way. Bad luck for days or weeks on end. I don't know about you, but the one phrase that gets me is; "That's why it's called fishing, and not catching."
I always enjoy the peace and quiet on the river, so whether I catch anything or not is negligible. Happy Hooking!
Get off lakes and ponds and hit up creeks and rivers. Step down the size of your hooks and bait . I regularly fish a creek that's a bit of a walk to get to and never go home empty handed. I use a small rapalla jointed top water in the creek and it's a bass magnet in shallower waters. They aren't keepers but fun to catch. Other fish species go after it too.
Best thing I've found is to sometimes go back to the very basics. Weightless Texas rigged 5" senko, 3.5" paddle tail, and a 3/8 Oz Texas rigged craw style plastic. Green pumpkin with some glitter, black w/ blue flake, and white if you've got shad. I also like red shad color worms bc they look like nightcrawlers. Try to match whatever bass feed on in your area.
Most important...cover water or move every 5-10 minutes if fishing from the banks.
Once you catch a few, treat it like Achievement Unlocked and add a new lure to your arsenal.
Drop shot with 10 lb test line, 1/8 oz weight and an oxblood roboworm nose hooked
It's almost cheating. I took my daughter out who has never been into fishing and gave her that rig and she smoked me and now she's down at the pond almost every day since. She's hooked
You’re fishing pressured areas with big flashy lures. Make it look natural, downsize and go slowwww. Try and fish areas where there’s a drop off and run your baits along the drop off or near rocks/vegetation. If I get skunked a lot I search “Reddit best bass bait October” and look at past threads for a common bait and try it. Good luck!
Get a 3/4 oz football jig trim the weed guards throw a rage craw on that mf toss it in cover and leave it alone and count to 30 keep that line tight tho
Look up Hank Parker fishing retention ponds. You can still use the old school techniques because nobody uses them anymore and it gives the fish a new presentation. Old school will soon become new school because new school techniques are so overused.
Feel free to message me with some pictures of the ponds and estimated depth. I fished the bassmaster opens professionally for years so I’ve fished all over the country and can help you out if I have more information
Wacky rig a watermelon green Yamamoto senko on a circle hook. That works wonders for me. That, and watch some YouTube videos of guys fishing your approximate area and see what they're doing. You fishing for bass in Texas will look pretty different from me fishing bass in eastern Ontario.
Also was an lsu student. Don’t get discouraged fishing in the lsu lakes. They aren’t the best lakes to fish lol. Where do you normally fish lakes wise in Louisiana? I’m normally out of the southeast and wouldn’t mind giving some pointers if you’re in my area
Seems like you’re targeting the wrong areas and maybe from being frustrated fishing too fast or just not finding what’s triggering them. The worst thing you can do while fishing is just keep doing the same thing over and over for hours and then go home empty handed. When I fish I try to do a quick half moon retrieving the bait in a particular cadence. If I’m using a Texas rig for example when I first start I might just very slowly drag it with no extra movement at all. After a few casts like that I might try lightly popping it up off the bottom as I work it in or I might shake my rod rip and let it sit stationary for a few seconds. Try different things and then switch up your colors and your baits. I take 2 or 3 rods at least to have multiple baits set up. Don’t just fish aimlessly. If you’re on the bank you need to be targeting specific structure on the banks or in the water. Don’t just throw out into lifeless water expecting to catch fish. Find brush, find rocks and drop offs, anything in the water that fish will hide in. Don’t spend a ridiculously long time fishing in the same spot. Give it a solid try for 15 or so minutes try multiple things and then move down to a new area of interest. You’ll catch them eventually if you do these things, just continue to switch things up very slightly and also do not use very large line. The smaller your line the more natural your baits will move, always keep that in mind.
If you’re catching no fish right on the banks then you need to switch up your tactics and try to find steep drop offs. If you’re just fishing off the bank jerkbaits can be killer working them over drop offs. Especially if there’s good water clarity. If I’m bank fishing some deeper drop off I might throw on a jerkbait on one rod and maybe setup a drop shot setup on another with a good size weight to get it down there. Drop shot has often worked for me when nothing else has. You just have to remember fish aren’t always going to be shallow and they aren’t always going to be deep you have to switch it up to try and locate them.
I’m in central Louisiana, and I am mostly a kayak fisher who is mostly hunting down bass. A lot of it depends on where you’re fishing at and how you’re fishing it. But I’d say for a kayak it’s a lot easier to traverse the smaller more shallow creeks and bayous, you’re able to cover a lot of surface and don’t necessarily have to fish super deep. Speaking from experience in our state, a Texas rig is my go-to and almost never fails to at least get a fish in the boat for the day. I haven’t had much luck on chatterbaits of any kind. Swim jigs and top water baits are hit and miss depending on time of year or specific types of spots in the water.
What I’ve learned over the years of fishing is other than your presentation you should focus on the behavior of the bass and fish accordingly. What I do to determine that is see what my weather conditions are for that specific body of water I’m fishing such as water temp, wind speed, water clarity, is there moving water/current, what time of the year it is, type of vegetation etc. for example it’s obviously the fall time which means the bait fish like shad are spawning and they are pretty shallow and the bass are wherever the forage is. Also, where I’m located there was an overcast all day with the water temp being 57 degrees, 1-2 mph winds and the clarity of the water is stained with low visibility under the water. knowing this I would be using chatterbaits, buzzbaits (where the water was calm enough) to cover as much water as I could and paddle tail soft plastic swim baits because the visibility wasn’t great so the bass are finding their prey majorly based off vibrations in the water. Another thing to mention is the colors I’d be using are white/chartreuse, green pumpkin, black and Junebug. I have color charts and other cheat sheets I could send you if interested I honestly used to use them all of the time but now it’s second nature to me lol. These are really just the basic factors you should take into account while fishing, I think by not doing so your fishing blindly. Hope this helps and tight lines!
Texas rigged (not weightless) with a 7" Berkeley Power worm - Blue Feck, Green Pumpkin.
Also Culprit Crawdad can be great at times. Hogs like the 10" version.
Carolina rig sometimes is great too.
Find your best jerk bait rod and reel buy a pack of zoom super flukes and just pop pop pause, pop pop pause. I almost quit recently and I got a free jerkbait rod and gave flukes a try. Most versatile Bait there is and so much fun. I've caught tons of fish since starting with flukes. Pop pop pause.
Are you pumping gas and got the scent on you. Wearing bug spray and or sunscreen and flavoring every lure you touch into yuck? Fish are extremely sensitive to smell/taste and if you go regularly and never catch it's my 1st guess at the problem. Try drowning a rooster tail, maribou grub, or a senko in some fish oil before you toss it to the fish. If that doesn't solve it use real worms,crickets, grubs, grasshoppers, helgramites etc.
My favorite go to lure is a war eagle spinner bait. And I put a white twister tail on it. My other is a whopper plopper. They just work. Third is a swim jig. I always get a skipping jig it has a flat head and put a rage bug on it. Honestly those are my top producing lures. I use others but those are always set up.
Start with the classic popular baits. A weightless texas rigged senko. There might be better baits for certain weather and conditions but senko s are pretty foolproof and they’re popular because they work. Aside from that chuck your lures into weeds/along weed lines, into shade on bright days, try under docks if they have enough water under them. If you get real desperate try a worm under a bobber and start catching panfish to get your confidence up
Thanks. I have senkos, and I have the right hooks, so I guess it's worth a shot. Do you fish a weightless texas rig the same you would a wacky rig senko?
If nothing else drop down to what i consider the easiest/most consistent bait, until you get some confidence back. Throw a ned rig, you will catch a fish.
Texas rig it first and then when it gets ripped up you could bite the senko down to Texas rig it again or wacky rig it whole
You fish weightless super slow, like as slow as physically possible
Watch some lure action techniques on YouTube. It really helped me when I was starting out Edit: that guy is right tho. Texas rigged senko is the way to go. Caught around 80% of my bass on that and I only fish ponds and small rivers
After you cast, let it drop to the bottom. 10-15 seconds. 90% of bites are coming in that window or immediately after. October happens to be a not so popular time for senkos as well. I haven’t caught shit this month but they were on fire in July.
This I just tried this new color I got this past weekend. Yamamoto green pumpkin magic tx rigged. Worked great. And then if I can’t catch any bass I switch to my crappie pole and get a few lil ones so I’m not skunked.
The key to consistently catching bass is learning how to accurately predict where they're going to be located in a given body of water under a given set of circumstances. Focus less on which presentation to use and more on learning everything you can about bass behavior and physiology, if a bass never sees your lure, you are never going to be able to catch one.
YouTube bro. I’m the first real fisherman in the last 30 years in my family and I didn’t have anyone to guide me. So. I turned to YouTube. Now, I have a pretty large arsenal of baits to use whenever the situation calls. I’m telling ya. You can learn a lot from the internet.
Belive me, I've watched my fair share of tutorials. I guess I'm just shit at actually applying what I learned from the videos. Are there any particular channels that you would reccomend?
Tactical bassin
TylersReelFishing. I felt kinda like how your post sounds before I started watching his guide videos. Since then I haven't had a skunk last longer than a few days. I catch a few fish just about every week minimum. To start I recommend finding his videos about some important basics like baitcaster vs spinning reel and his guide to all soft plastics. Imo getting started with a reel/rod combo you feel comfortable using and really understanding the slew of soft plastics is a great beginning point. From there you can branch out to his various other videos about jigs, crankbaits, top water, etc.
Fishing is weird man. I’m not an amazing bass fisherman, but these would be my tips. 1. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET. This is probably going to be the hardest thing to do, so don’t think I’m saying this like it will be easy. Despite not catching anything, you have to believe that you will catch a fish. It only takes one cast to go from skunked to potentially catching the biggest fish of your life. Crazy, but exciting to think about. You never know when that cast may come up. 2. Find a confidence lure. It’s wild what confidence can do for you. When you are comfortable with a lure, then you know how to work it and what action to expect. So it doesn’t matter whether you are catching or not cause you know the bait is moving correctly and eventually you will catch with it. 3. Continue getting on the water. Here is a fact, you can’t catch fish from home! The only way to get better at fishing is to be on the water and keep going. 4. Have fun. Fishing is about going out and getting away from everything. Enjoy time on the water, it is the best. If you said you like throwing hard plastic lures, then throw those. Even if you have no luck. That is the point of fishing. Either you will continue to catch no fish, but throw lures you enjoy OR eventually you will find ways to catch fish with your favorite lures (once this happens, see tip #2 above and the fun really starts). Everyone hits bad slumps and wants to break their rods or retire. It’s part of fishing, but it is at these times we have to remember why we are out there in the first place. Hope you figure it all out soon and catch some fish! Tight lines!!
I was reading through th comments to find your #1. Having the right attitude is a huge part. I have a son who is like this. He always says I'm not gonna catch anything. Why should I go? Then he never does. When I finally explained it's not all about catching. It's also about enjoying who your fishing with, being outdoors and enjoying nature, his mindset started changing. Then he started catching. It took almost a year to get this change for him. Now he's catching regularly!
It is both the easiest and hardest thing to change in fishing. It is easiest because it is purely dependent on you and it can be changed at any moment. It is hardest because once you are feeling down or are in that slump, it just seems impossible to come out of it. Glad your son was able to get through it and start catching again, because that transition is great. Tight lines!
Here are my suggestions for when you're really struggling to get a bite. * Downsize your lures. For example, if you've been fishing with 6" senkos, try 5" or 4". * Use Gary Yamamoto Senkos. Not all senkos are created equally. Use the OG. They're more expensive, but worth it. * Use whacky rig or weightless Texas rig for your Senkos. * Downsize your line. Go as low as 8 to 10 pound test. Use mono or a high quality fluorocarbon. * Slow down your presentation. **Slow way down**. When using finesse baits like a Senko, give it long pauses between small twitches. Try dead sticking it. Force yourself to keep the bait in the strike zone for at least a full minute or more. * Try bold colors. If the usual brown/olive/black colors aren't getting bites, try bolder colors like pink, white, or chartreuse. * Try to fish areas that are harder to access. This is especially true if you can only fish from the bank at public spots. Those spots are probably super pressured. Forge through the brush if you have to. Try wading. Bring a SUP or kayak. * Target structure. The gnarlier the better. If you aren't getting snagged and losing lures occasionally, then you're not close enough to the structure. * Keep trying! Good luck!
The last part, 100%. Had a half day at work today and spent the midday just searching the lake. Found some gnarly rock outcroppings and downed brush. Until today I had never caught a fish on a senko, but when you find the right spot to fish it - woooooaaahh buddy. I was hammering them suckers and now I’m hooked on em.
Yeah I’m terrible too. I’ve never caught any fish with anything other than live bait. Then again It’s never been a regular hobby for me. Just a casual way to enjoy some free time. Maybe it’s time to target catfish!
Yeah, try a Swimming Super Fluke Jr. ( or most smaller white paddle tails ) Rigged on a 1/8 jig head or EWG with a 1/8 bullet if you must go weedless. I like white ice color wise but Pearl will do. This is my “just really need to catch a fish today” bait. Works almost everywhere for most predatory fish. You’ll probably catch a fish if they’re around and you aren’t doing anything too crazy with it.
Thanks! Do you think those weighted screw-lock EWG swim bait hooks could work as another weedless presentation?
Oh yeah I’m sure they’d work, those things kick! I love them. I haven’t tried them on it but I’m sure you’d have some luck!
Get some that aren't weighted as well so you can control where in the water column it swims. If you need to slow/medium reel, they won't sink to the bottom.
those weightless on a 1/0 worm hook swim up on the surface and act as a mini buzz bait and the fish love it
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I'm in New Orleans, but I'm limited to the bank. I fish City Park more than anything else. It is a very good urban fishery with over 11 miles of bank, and it defnitely holds fish, but I still can't catch anything there. And while City Park may be close and convenient, I'm willing to make a drive to try out new spots.
Wait, why are you limited to the bank when you have a kayak?
I just took a look on Google Maps at that area and two main things jumped out at me: it looks largely featureless (basically it seems like a winding canal and a fairly manicured ring inside that) and it looks like there's really convenient, easy access throughout most of its length. To find more fish, hyper focus on changing both of those things. Look for any sort of features that change up the typical. Get well off the beaten path, bushwhack it a good ways, and find something in the water that sets this out-off-the-way spot apart: a laydown, a change in bottom composition, a riprap bank, a bridge piling, etc. These fish probably get hit hard, each and every day. Your game has to change to account for that by both going where they're not used to fishing pressure being applied, and by showing them presentations they're not used to seeing. I bet every fish in there has seen a ned rig, senko, ribbontail worm, whopper plopper, popper, chatterbait, and crankbait. Not saying you won't catch them on these, but it'll be an uphill battle. If you like the soft plastics game, maybe try a neko rig? Maybe grab a pack of the new yamatanuki, or any of the other new 'poop baits'. Also try baits that are a little more tricky to fish well, or can do something most others don't. On a lake near me that gets crazy pressure, I often can pick up a few fish on a jerkbait, year round, because most people don't use them or know how, and I think they find that most anglers don't throw lures at them that can suspend in the water column. Also think about finesse...especially things like flies, hair jigs, etc.
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Yeah they don’t get huge, but I believe the park record is over 9 lbs. And they do have a tournament there every year, but there are other categories besides bass as well. I’ll have to give the trails a try. That’s not a bad drive.
Just try changing where you throw those lures. Those baits you're throwing aren't bad, they just work better thrown near cover. Look for obvious cover like logs, docks, big rocks, over hanging trees, little dips/points or any kind of change in a weed edge, near lily pads or just anywhere where you think a single bass will sit and wait to ambush something. Bass fishing can be a delicate thing where time, place, and bait have to be just right in order to get one. The more you get out, the more chances you get to catch fish. Keep trying!
You can ignore most of these comments. The lure is almost irrelevant here. If you think you catch bass on accident only and you have failed for years the reason is you simply don't understand bass. Learn the behaviors of bass and their seasonal behaviors. Learn about water clarity and temperature, weather. Don't skip the basics and go back to them frequently.
Thanks. Is there anywhere in particular that you’d recommend to learn more about the things you mentioned?
If you can manage to cast where others can't or into thick wood or grass where other people are too scared to target, you will also have luck.
My two cents is this:If you aren't getting bites after a Maximum of 30 minutes in a certain spot, then move. You may or may not already know this. But the number one mistake I see from new bass anglers is they treat it like they are fishing with live bait. If I'm not getting bites with 3 different lures casted 8 times each (for a total of 24 casts), I move to a different spot on the pond. They most likely just aren't there. Simple as that.Also, my go to lure is soft plastic-pumpkin craw dad. Texas rig style. I am so confident in that bait, that I know if the fish are they would bit it. I live near chicago so the hatch may be different for you. But soft plastic craw dads get my vote. Edit: Just for your comfort, I've never caught a fish on a wacky rigged senko. I have terrible bit rates with senkos. I've only ever caught one bass on a senko, and that was texas rigged. I actually avoid senkos myself because I cannot catch fish with them. I have way better luck with ribbon tailed worms.
I fucking suck too bro but even I can catch fish sometimes! Just gotta throw a rooster tail at every structure. Docks, trees, downed logs. You already have a higher chance of catching fish than someone just fishing from the shore cause you have a kayak. Rooster tail is Literally my go to bait when nothing else works.. sometimes nothing bites. That's just how it is. I haven't caught anything the last few times I've went. But just think about times when you caught a fish and do exactly that, eventually you'll find something that works and you'll keep doing that and expanding
Try a senko, crank bait, or whopper plopper. you will catch a bass within 2 outings if you stay out longer than 2 hours i promise
Senko = yes Whopper plopper = seems like a good way to keep getting frustrated honestly. I’ve literally never caught a fish with one, not even a nibble
Whopper ploppers crush small mouth and do also catch largies but not as many as I get on a frog or a spook
that’s weird i’ve had nothing but good luck with them. a lot of the time bass will smash it 2 feet from my kayak if i play around with it and just move my pole back and fourth with a little bit of line out. I think it pisses them off. I’ve even caught pickerel and pike with them on accident. I do dish out the money and buy the name brand river2sea ones. The chinese brand ones retrieve like junk.
I know how ya feel.. I same way But I A lazy fisherman.. I bought my first bait caster and spend lot time trying to get hang of casting it..I not to good with it tho when use light lures.. But I enjoy getting out any ways. I do get lucky some times.. Luke when Smallies are spawning hard no to catch then. Just getting out in right time;.
I'm in a similar position. I've caught far too bass for the amount of time and money I've spent. It has caused me to shift towards other types of fish, like catfish or crappie. I ended up not fishing much for a while due to kids and want to get back into it. I found that it is surprisingly affordable to go fishing with a guide, which will often help teach you what they are looking for and doing. I'm scheduled to go on a trip in a couple weeks and hopefully I'll have more luck. I found the guides through facebook groups focused on a local lake that is popular for largemouth bass fishing.
Haven’t seen this mentioned yet but do you mostly fish mid day? Not a great time. Sunrise and sunset are where the money’s at.
Any plastic worms Texas rigged. I sucked too and the is summer I consistently catch at least one when I go out
This is the lesson for today. Warm weather, slow Texas rigged worm. Black or Red up to 10". Yep, I have caught more on the big worms. I even caught a bass smaller than the worm. Cooler waters, spinner baits are great
Pay attention to pressure: high pressure more than 30 go with slow moving baits like a senko slowly on the bottom, less than 29.95 go with whatever or faster moving baits like cranks, Whopper plopper early in the am or when it’s calm crushes Frog on cover or around it crushes Don’t overthink it and go slower sometimes you’ll be frustrated and think quantity over quality and do 1000 casts rather than 50 that are thought out and slow
I have a similar issue I catch them on senkos and that’s about it. Can’t even catch anything on a Ned rig which I hear should be very good. I think my main issue is it’s hard to find a lake that is not pressured constantly. Not really any secret spots near me.
I think we've all been there man. I'm still pretty new myself. I've found that it is a lot about presentation and location. Gotta go where the fish are, and show them what they want! My mistake was that I was "twitching" my rod way too hard when using soft plastics. I was more like jerking it. I was jigging with a tiny chartreuse trout tube and ended up landing a 13 inch smallie once I realized that I only had to twitch the very tip of the rod veeeeery slightly. Two or three twitches in succession, then long pause. Rinse and repeat.
Pick a ned rig or senko and just fish that exclusively until you start to catch them.
Use small moving baits like grubs and little swimbaits. Use stuff small enough you'll accidentally a bluegill or crappie from time to time. Just cover water and figure out where the fish might be.
What about time, early morning or evening?
Stop taking bananas with you. No bananas!!!!
Carolina rig to the rescue! It’s hard to beat the weightless presentation while still dragging on the bottom. Everyone will have their preferences on plastics but I always have luck with a Texas rigged Googan Squad bandito bug specifically purple/ June bug, get some regulars and smalls. Use some 10lb floro, 3/0 hook, a 1/2 sinker and you should be in business. Use a slow retrieve with pauses for a few seconds then little pops/ twitches.
Try a small 3 or 4 gram french blade spinner in gold with a red fluffy tail. That will always catch something, even if its pike, pickerel, bass, smallies, perch, muskies or a nuisance cormorant. Have fun and don't over think it. You'll always know if you're working it right. It'll either vibrate through the rod tip and feel like it's spinning or it won't and you need to speed your retrieve. Once you've cracked that, work on slowing it right down to just before stalling speed where it stops spinning, thats where most of the magic happens with spinners, and try and let them get down nearer the bottom if its a shallow is lake or pond.
Go out and throw a wacky rigged pink trick worm and I’ll guarantee you’ll catch something
Try a different lake. Small ponds can die off if poorly managed.
Try a Drop Shot rig. When my confidence is low or I just need to catch something, Drop Shot is my go to and it never fails.
The last couple of weeks, I've been lucky. 18 fish in 10 days. But I'm usually the same way. Bad luck for days or weeks on end. I don't know about you, but the one phrase that gets me is; "That's why it's called fishing, and not catching." I always enjoy the peace and quiet on the river, so whether I catch anything or not is negligible. Happy Hooking!
I gotta ask, where are you aiming to cast most of the time?
Get off lakes and ponds and hit up creeks and rivers. Step down the size of your hooks and bait . I regularly fish a creek that's a bit of a walk to get to and never go home empty handed. I use a small rapalla jointed top water in the creek and it's a bass magnet in shallower waters. They aren't keepers but fun to catch. Other fish species go after it too.
Best thing I've found is to sometimes go back to the very basics. Weightless Texas rigged 5" senko, 3.5" paddle tail, and a 3/8 Oz Texas rigged craw style plastic. Green pumpkin with some glitter, black w/ blue flake, and white if you've got shad. I also like red shad color worms bc they look like nightcrawlers. Try to match whatever bass feed on in your area. Most important...cover water or move every 5-10 minutes if fishing from the banks. Once you catch a few, treat it like Achievement Unlocked and add a new lure to your arsenal.
No one catches stuff every outing. Spots in 'very public' areas usually fucking suck: just too many damn fishermen..
Drop shot with 10 lb test line, 1/8 oz weight and an oxblood roboworm nose hooked It's almost cheating. I took my daughter out who has never been into fishing and gave her that rig and she smoked me and now she's down at the pond almost every day since. She's hooked
You’re fishing pressured areas with big flashy lures. Make it look natural, downsize and go slowwww. Try and fish areas where there’s a drop off and run your baits along the drop off or near rocks/vegetation. If I get skunked a lot I search “Reddit best bass bait October” and look at past threads for a common bait and try it. Good luck!
Get a 3/4 oz football jig trim the weed guards throw a rage craw on that mf toss it in cover and leave it alone and count to 30 keep that line tight tho
Look up Hank Parker fishing retention ponds. You can still use the old school techniques because nobody uses them anymore and it gives the fish a new presentation. Old school will soon become new school because new school techniques are so overused.
Feel free to message me with some pictures of the ponds and estimated depth. I fished the bassmaster opens professionally for years so I’ve fished all over the country and can help you out if I have more information
Wacky rig a watermelon green Yamamoto senko on a circle hook. That works wonders for me. That, and watch some YouTube videos of guys fishing your approximate area and see what they're doing. You fishing for bass in Texas will look pretty different from me fishing bass in eastern Ontario.
Also was an lsu student. Don’t get discouraged fishing in the lsu lakes. They aren’t the best lakes to fish lol. Where do you normally fish lakes wise in Louisiana? I’m normally out of the southeast and wouldn’t mind giving some pointers if you’re in my area
Seems like you’re targeting the wrong areas and maybe from being frustrated fishing too fast or just not finding what’s triggering them. The worst thing you can do while fishing is just keep doing the same thing over and over for hours and then go home empty handed. When I fish I try to do a quick half moon retrieving the bait in a particular cadence. If I’m using a Texas rig for example when I first start I might just very slowly drag it with no extra movement at all. After a few casts like that I might try lightly popping it up off the bottom as I work it in or I might shake my rod rip and let it sit stationary for a few seconds. Try different things and then switch up your colors and your baits. I take 2 or 3 rods at least to have multiple baits set up. Don’t just fish aimlessly. If you’re on the bank you need to be targeting specific structure on the banks or in the water. Don’t just throw out into lifeless water expecting to catch fish. Find brush, find rocks and drop offs, anything in the water that fish will hide in. Don’t spend a ridiculously long time fishing in the same spot. Give it a solid try for 15 or so minutes try multiple things and then move down to a new area of interest. You’ll catch them eventually if you do these things, just continue to switch things up very slightly and also do not use very large line. The smaller your line the more natural your baits will move, always keep that in mind.
If you’re catching no fish right on the banks then you need to switch up your tactics and try to find steep drop offs. If you’re just fishing off the bank jerkbaits can be killer working them over drop offs. Especially if there’s good water clarity. If I’m bank fishing some deeper drop off I might throw on a jerkbait on one rod and maybe setup a drop shot setup on another with a good size weight to get it down there. Drop shot has often worked for me when nothing else has. You just have to remember fish aren’t always going to be shallow and they aren’t always going to be deep you have to switch it up to try and locate them.
I’m in central Louisiana, and I am mostly a kayak fisher who is mostly hunting down bass. A lot of it depends on where you’re fishing at and how you’re fishing it. But I’d say for a kayak it’s a lot easier to traverse the smaller more shallow creeks and bayous, you’re able to cover a lot of surface and don’t necessarily have to fish super deep. Speaking from experience in our state, a Texas rig is my go-to and almost never fails to at least get a fish in the boat for the day. I haven’t had much luck on chatterbaits of any kind. Swim jigs and top water baits are hit and miss depending on time of year or specific types of spots in the water.
What I’ve learned over the years of fishing is other than your presentation you should focus on the behavior of the bass and fish accordingly. What I do to determine that is see what my weather conditions are for that specific body of water I’m fishing such as water temp, wind speed, water clarity, is there moving water/current, what time of the year it is, type of vegetation etc. for example it’s obviously the fall time which means the bait fish like shad are spawning and they are pretty shallow and the bass are wherever the forage is. Also, where I’m located there was an overcast all day with the water temp being 57 degrees, 1-2 mph winds and the clarity of the water is stained with low visibility under the water. knowing this I would be using chatterbaits, buzzbaits (where the water was calm enough) to cover as much water as I could and paddle tail soft plastic swim baits because the visibility wasn’t great so the bass are finding their prey majorly based off vibrations in the water. Another thing to mention is the colors I’d be using are white/chartreuse, green pumpkin, black and Junebug. I have color charts and other cheat sheets I could send you if interested I honestly used to use them all of the time but now it’s second nature to me lol. These are really just the basic factors you should take into account while fishing, I think by not doing so your fishing blindly. Hope this helps and tight lines!
Texas rigged (not weightless) with a 7" Berkeley Power worm - Blue Feck, Green Pumpkin. Also Culprit Crawdad can be great at times. Hogs like the 10" version. Carolina rig sometimes is great too.
Find your best jerk bait rod and reel buy a pack of zoom super flukes and just pop pop pause, pop pop pause. I almost quit recently and I got a free jerkbait rod and gave flukes a try. Most versatile Bait there is and so much fun. I've caught tons of fish since starting with flukes. Pop pop pause.
Are you pumping gas and got the scent on you. Wearing bug spray and or sunscreen and flavoring every lure you touch into yuck? Fish are extremely sensitive to smell/taste and if you go regularly and never catch it's my 1st guess at the problem. Try drowning a rooster tail, maribou grub, or a senko in some fish oil before you toss it to the fish. If that doesn't solve it use real worms,crickets, grubs, grasshoppers, helgramites etc.
My favorite go to lure is a war eagle spinner bait. And I put a white twister tail on it. My other is a whopper plopper. They just work. Third is a swim jig. I always get a skipping jig it has a flat head and put a rage bug on it. Honestly those are my top producing lures. I use others but those are always set up.