Advice, Springfield Area: Struggles of a Bad Angler

[snagged in outlet 3]

30 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

I spent a lot of days standing side by side in bassboat with the same person. It wasn't unusual to be using the same baits, doing the same thing, and one of us catch many more than the other.

That happens to my son and I all the time.  To the point we talk about it on the way in the truck.  One of us is cracking up laughing and the other one just can't figure what the heck is going on.  When we notice it happening we let the guy in the slump have first shot at every likely target.  But it still doesn't switch the mojo.

Boy but it sure does lead to some major ribbing.

[fishinwrench]

When I go catfishing it's always one rod out of 3 identical setups that catches almost all the fish.  I can move the rods around, change baits, ect.  But it will always be that one rod getting almost all the bites.   

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

That happens to my son and I all the time.  To the point we talk about it on the way in the truck.  One of us is cracking up laughing and the other one just can't figure what the heck is going on.  When we notice it happening we let the guy in the slump have first shot at every likely target.  But it still doesn't switch the mojo.

Boy but it sure does lead to some major ribbing.

Yep. I was lucky enough to get to do it with the same guy for around 40 years. A whole lifetime of memories but I wish there would have been more. 

[Mitch f]

3 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Maybe, maybe not. 

2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 ok

17:1 time to change

[Flysmallie]

34 minutes ago, Mitch f said:

2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 ok

17:1 time to change

Whatever you think. You are the professional. 

[Mitch f]

All those in-line spinners work well until you catch one decent size fish, then the wire gets slightly bent and never spins at the same speed again. You try to to bend it back...still never works the same. If only they made (and they might) an in-line spinner with a titanium wire, then the rpm would stay fast enough to create the perfect vibration.

[Mitch f]

39 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

Whatever you think. You are the professional. 

I’m not a professional, just almost as opinionated as you!

[snagged in outlet 3]

32 minutes ago, Mitch f said:

All those in-line spinners work well until you catch one decent size fish, then the wire gets slightly bent and never spins at the same speed again. You try to to bend it back...still never works the same. If only they made (and they might) an in-line spinner with a titanium wire, then the rpm would stay fast enough to create the perfect vibration.

Yep.  You need back stock if they're biting them that's for sure.  I had a white bass swat a zara Saturday and I immediately went to black and silver Mepps.  They bit it okay and I switched to white and silver and they just wouldn't let it alone.  Can't beat em for whites.  And spots apparently like them too.

[MrGiggles]

On 7/30/2019 at 6:38 PM, jimithyashford said:

A kayak is my only boat, its gotta be better than bank fishing right? 

 

And yeah yeah, i knew as soon as i tied it on i was gonna get crap for the rooster tail, but i only had rooster tails and crankbaits to fish near the top. What would you recomend tossing at schools of baitfish when you start to see surface strikes? Or is that not worth casting at?

Rooster tails will be excellent for whites here in a couple weeks once they start grouping up and chasing shad. On Stockton, try the flats northeast of the island by Masters. You usually only get about a 30 minute window before dark, but you can easily catch a limit in that time when conditions are right. There are several brush piles in and around Masters cove, and I've caught more smallies around there than anywhere else on the lake.

Stockton is always hit or miss, unless you have a lot of prior experience (have an idea where the fish are and when), you have to cover a lot of water. Crappie are really scattered right now and hardly anybody is catching them, it will get better once the water cools off and they start to group together on brush piles. 

One thing to try is trolling deep diving cranks like Shad raps or Flicker shads. Boring as heck but you can cover a lot of water and get into some great multi-species action. I've seen several reports from guys in kayaks doing it successfully.

[LarrySTL]

Haris I agree with the others that you are doing something different however unintentionally.  If you are stumped for how to change, you can change lure size, or retrieve speed ( fast slow or medium), smooth and steady or big sweeps of the rod or little twitches, those are all simple to change almost instantly.  Type of line particularly mono vs fluoro vs braid, line diameter, line stiffness ( Maxima vs Triline xl vs Big Game ) line color (original fluorescent blue stren in very clear water is notorious for getting fewer bites) yellow power Pro braid, some lines sink some float.

If you are down 17 to 1, I agree that's not a random issue something is different. You don't have to know what's different you can just change something if you do it in a organized way. Try a bigger lure for 5 minutes then a smaller lure for 5 minutes. If you don't want to keep track of time keep track of casts; 10 casts with fast retrieves than 10 casts with slow retrieves 10 with steady retrieves 10 with erratic retrieves.

   You may not bump into the best solution but if you methodically stick with this you will bump into some better combinations. Some days these things will matter a lot, other days they will matter very little but if you keep eliminating what doesn't work you will end up with something that is better for that day.