When Fishing Gets Tough

[rFisherk]

...go small and light.

I recently fished a CA pond and had a catch that would be considered good anywhere: lots of fish in the 13-inch range, some smaller and 5 that were between 3 and 4 pounds--all this in about 3 hours. I've learned from decades of fishing and guiding other fishermen, that when the fishing gets tough, or the water is heavily pressured, I switch to light lines and small lures. Among small lures, a 1/16th ounce Road Runner with a curlytail grub is, I believe, the best little lure ever invented. Also very good are Charlie Brewer Bass Sliders, and Strike King's Mini-King spinnerbaits and Crappie Cranks. All these are fished on 6-pound-test line.

[J-Doc]

Completely agree.  I also throw rooster tail type baits.

 

Lately, even Rooster Tails and Road Runners are not getting bites.   You know it's tough when neither of those get bites on actively feeding white bass too.

[rFisherk]

I love Rooster Tails for open water and white bass and largemouth jumps, but they get hung up too much along the bank or any kind of cover.

[fishinwrench]

Going small/light, or deep has never worked for me on really slow-bite days.   Moving to different water (dirtier or clearer) usually helps, but if you can't do that then your pretty much stuck with what you have to work with.

Switching species can be a major savior.  When the green/brown bass are in a major funk then the crappie, gills, cats, or white bass bite is often on fire. And vise versa.  I can't tell you how many times I've beat my brains out all day bass fishing, then ran into someone at the ramp that had a stellar day catching crappie or whites all day.  Fish species seem to take turns being the most active critter on a body of water during periods of time.  Very seldom are they all biting good at the same time, so if targeting only one species all the time you are going to have periods where your catch rate goes down the tubes regardless of what you do.

[MOPanfisher]

I used to put a couple of offset/safety pin spinners (usually #2 but occasionall #3) in my shirt pocket and a half dozen or so curly tail grubs from 2-3" in whatever color suited my mood, purple, chartreuse, orange, white whatever and hit the ponds with a light spinning rod and usually 6 lb line, sure spend some memorable times doing that.  Things like a very territorial Rhea or maybe it was an Emu not sure (did you know they can growl and scare the living &^%$ out of you) and an overly friendly large horse that if you didn't pet it would gently nudge you about 4 feet into the water, of course that doesnt count things like snake, turtles, wasps and all the other vagaries of life.

[J-Doc]

Going small/light, or deep has never worked for me on really slow-bite days.   Moving to different water (dirtier or clearer) usually helps, but if you can't do that then your pretty much stuck with what you have to work with.

Switching species can be a major savior.  When the green/brown bass are in a major funk then the crappie, gills, cats, or white bass bite is often on fire. And vise versa.  I can't tell you how many times I've beat my brains out all day bass fishing, then ran into someone at the ramp that had a stellar day catching crappie or whites all day.  Fish species seem to take turns being the most active critter on a body of water during periods of time.  Very seldom are they all biting good at the same time, so if targeting only one species all the time you are going to have periods where your catch rate goes down the tubes regardless of what you do.

You really need to come try that on Beaver Lake! LOL!    Seems everything can get lockjaw on that lake. But I like where you're going with this.  I'll definitely give this a try more often.

[fishinwrench]

You really need to come try that on Beaver Lake! LOL!    Seems everything can get lockjaw on that lake. But I like where you're going with this.  I'll definitely give this a try more often.

Noway !   Ultra clear water reservoirs are not my thing.   I used to live on Lanier.....spent many fishless days when I could see exactly where they were.   It's frustrating.

[Mitch f]

We have an older distinguished gentleman in the MSA that swears that the Panther Martin spinner is the greatest lure ever created. 

 

[J-Doc]

Well its not ultra clear this year but we have had very high water with millions of small shad all over the lake.  It's like a fat boy sitting on a couch eating tater chips all day long.  When something else swims by, they just keep stuffing chips in their mouths. 

[fishinwrench]

You can't solicit a bite based on hunger unless fish truly ARE hungry and seeking food.  You gotta play on some different instincts, and doing that (on purpose) requires knowing exactly (almost) where some fish are at.   

I think that immediate bites (on the fall) are the bites missed most by anglers on those slow days.  They simply never knew they even had a bite.  All that jigging, hopping and seductive twitching and dragging along bottom or through cover is a waste of time some days, but the fish WILL bite on the initial drop ALOT when your cast lands in the right spot.    Ya gotta watch for that and set the hook instantly when your instincts tell you that something about the way that bait is sinking just doesn't seem quite right.