Jasonacer

FINALLY! Headed out to Big M area last night. Not overwhelming, but caught 5 short fish (largemouth, 12-14" each, largest 14.5"). Topwater, whopper plopper. Lots of small fish out there so had 20+ blow ups, but they were too small and inexperienced to grab the bait too well. Fun seeing the blowups, though! Water was about 78-80. 3' visibility. Calm, post rain. Fished from 5-8 PM. Even had a pair of small fish (12" or so) chase my ned rig to the boat. Got one of 'em. Tried swimming it after that but no luck. Thanks to all of you who posted for the maps, the advice, and the guidance. Unbelievably awesome to have a successful night after so long without. Jason

Yeah, saw the sheriff heading back out last night at sunset still looking. Said they were doing it for the family. Tough night for them. Never did hear the results, though. They came in from the opposite side from Indian Point.

Almost got caught in a storm today. Threw the C-rig for an hour with no love. Didn't find the fish on the graph before I started fishing but was short on time cause of the weather. Frustrated. Jason

Well, back from the lake. The good news is that I caught 3! The reality is that 2 were LM and maybe 1/2 lb each and the other was 2" perch. LOL. Hooked in the mouth! Fish were at 20 feet, shad were schooled and boiling all around me. 4 schools. Occasional visit from the smallies but nothing topwater. The other good news is that gravel is a great place. I got to watch a smallie chase a shad for 15-20 jumps before he got him. I literally had just stopped and had no rods available. LOL. Still a beautiful day on the lake, saw a deer on the way home, got to see the shad boiling 5' from the boat (no, I couldn't make out color/size, just lots of boiling and flashing), caught more than last time, met a nice guy at the ramp, and learned something about bottom composition (gravel vs chunk vs mud). Also learned there was no love for green pumpkin senko pro's on drop shot. hehe. Thanks all, more to follow after the next trip. I'm thinking carolina rig and crank and a new area. Any thoughts/questions are welcome. I worked like hell to catch fish and there was just no love today. Guy at the ramp said it was a tough day . . . he only caught 14! Grrrrr. LMAO! Thanks again for your help. Jason

Off to Indian Point with map in hand and a new navionics chip to look for some pea gravel with dips and humps, work on my presentation, and hopefully catch a boatful. Which I will release, of course. Thanks all, will post what happens with either a heavy heart or clicking of my heels. Jason

Interesting point, Old Plug. You mean speed of retrieval, location of cast or boat, or pops/twitches, that kind of thing?

Oh . . my . . . goodness. Those maps are pretty spectacular. Thanks another million for pointing me towards them, rps!

@Daryk - Thanks for the sympathy, always glad to hear I'm not suffering alone. lol. @Brian - Great idea, will book one soon. @rps - I have not seen that map. I use the interactive one a lot (think its from conservation?) and use it to guide my fishing areas. I'll try to find the one you talked about. That would be HUGELY useful. @dtrs5kprs - Great advice, I hope. I have been looking for chunk rock because I read somewhere that the fish were moving toward that type of structure. I will look for pea gravel now and especially the humps and dips. That tidbit is awesome advice that I had not thought of. Heard it before but was too panicky about not catching fish! Guess I should slow down and really analyze better. Thanks much. Thanks to all of you again, giving me hope that I can slay 'em on day. LOL. Jason

Good morning, folks. Thought I would post on this forum as a last hope for Table Rock for me. I need some assistance. Or at least tell me I should give up fishing and save my money! LOL. 3 days in a row with zero fish (other than a couple perch and a super short LM). I normally am on the water at about 4 PM and fish till 8-9 PM.. I have studied this forum, youtube, and articles. Here's a list of techniques I have tried and how I tried them. - Ned rig - PBJ, green pumpkin - left sitting on bottom with rare hops, slow drag, and bouncing retrieve. - Jig - black and blue, brown and purple, grn pmpkin, various weights, various manufacturers - hopped, slow drag, and swam it. - Topwater - whopper plopper, buzz bait (black on black), spook jr (clear), several others - popped, slow retrieve, fast retrieve - drop shot - could do some more work here but have been frustrated. 8 in up from weight, slow drag, left in place and made it dance. Only used one color so far. - Senko - wacky, texas rigged - grn pmpkin, - crank - sexy shad, square bill. I hate crankin but am getting desperate! - spinner - twin willows, white mostly/some blue - slow roll, burn it, lift and sink, normal retrieve, bounced off stuff Have hit three different departures since starting my efforts - Aunts creek, bridgeport, and Indian point. Focused on wood, rocks, transition zones between rock sizes and other ground types. Have fished mainly 12' and shallower, fish have been being graphed at about 5-16 feet, mostly in the 10-12' range. Fished with wind, against wind, clear skies, cloudy, water temp has normally been around 77-82. Stained water (wondering if this might be a big part of my problem). Not ever gonna stop fishing but Table Rock has beat me down pretty good. Am I missing something? Hell I have even turned off my Lowrances. Thanks for any words of wisdom. You all have already done a lot by posting past advice on these forums, which I greatly appreciate. Jasonacer p.s. - If all this info offends anyone, sorry, I plan on deleting the post soon but needed to get the info about what I am doing to give the whole picture.