Bass Dilema

[mikew8541]

This has left me scratching my head. Any ideas are appreciated.

Lake Specs/History:
90 Acres Seriously stained water (tanic acid)
65-67 degrees currently
Vegitation is almost non existent except around edges.
Average depth of about 5 feet with a 12 foot dee trench running through.

Normal fishing method is flipping junebug rubber baits into weed edges near shore. Trick worms, Flukes, Sencos.

The water level has dropped about 4 feet in the last several weeks and the fishing has been difficult. normal methods produce minimum yeild. Apparently the bass just arent in the weed edge, and there is little or no bottom structure to hold them.

have tried water covering baits ( cranks spinners etc) to try and locate a productive spot, to no avail. Havent caught one bass on fast baits and very few on rubber at the weed edge.

looking for ideas here ....never to proud to learn something new.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

Find creek channel or ditches with a drop off and a bend in it and fish it with a texas rigged worm or shakyhead,may even be able to throw a deep diving crank on the drop itself.if the lake is falling find the steep drops or ledges will be your best bet IMOP.get on out and find some humps or brush a hump dosnt have to big to attract fish.also this time of year fish the center of creeks and mouths going into pockets.have fun.



Forgot something you tried blue colored plastics?we caught some dandys 3 years ago close to on a blue worm and greenpumkin.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Bass Dilema

I agree with Ron, Go deep. If the level dropped 4 feet in an average 5 foot deep lake that narrows it down big time. Dont be afraid of using a rattle trap along ledges, and a tube worked on any chunk rock you find. Slow it down some. A suspending jerkbait worked slow would be a good choice for a search bait. Finicky fish will bite very subtle like. Set that hook at the first sign of resistance.

Good Luck.

 

[mikew8541]

Re: Bass Dilema

ok thanks guys. im heading back out there today to give er another try. we just had some pretty good storms go through, perhaps that will have some positive effect.

 

[mikew8541]

Re: Bass Dilema

well argh....nothing...not even a bite today...i tried spinner baits....rattle traps.....blues....junebugs....blacks....even bubble gum.....i fished deep....i fished shallow....drops.....flats.....weeds....and ive come to the conclusion....well....im gonna blast them out....

dynamite....the universal bait.....

Kidding of course...but one thing i noticed today ....gazillions of small fry encircling the shorelines....tons and tons of em....now i kinda figure the bass are eating pretty hearty on them....

 

[koolerb]

Re: Bass Dilema

Just out of curiosity did you try throwing any soft jerk baits into the baitfish? Or maybe a weightless Senko same color as the baitfish. Throw it in and just let it sink and sit there for a while.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

Here is also a little thing with the fry like that,put a round head fig on around 1/8 or less once and a fat albert or a little sassy shad and just swim it threw the schools slowly,also let it fall in the middle of the school.definatly try the tubes to we southern boys can get caught up on our power fishing but ive learned alot here from my nothern friends thats helped me!and on your traps what size you throwing?may need to go down to the 1/8 and the same with the blade.

 

[mikew8541]

Re: Bass Dilema

the traps and spinners were both 1/8 oz. I seriously just think the bite isnt there because of weather factors. Our weather here has been so unstable.

I have decided that tomorrow I am going to dive the lake and have a little look see. I have never dove this lake before, so im looking forward to this. I let you guys know what I find.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

I have decided that tomorrow I am going to dive the lake and have a little look see. I have never dove this lake before, so im looking forward to this. I let you guys know what I find.

Now thats doing your homeworkdplant ya some brushpiles on some drops to and you'll be able to see exactly how to fish them.if ya get bored you can up this way i got a deep lake you can dive in and find me some good spots.dgood luck

The weather has the fish all messed up here to.its been really cold with front after front and this week its been close to 80 the past two days,tomarow back down to 50 and raing.

 

[cwilt]

Re: Bass Dilema

try downsizeing # 5 rapalas,4 inch senko .when the water drops down here they go deep, also when water gets that cool here they start to bed (january) when a cold front passes through i don't bother going its slow going until the weather stabilizes

 

[cwilt]

Re: Bass Dilema

try downsizeing # 5 rapalas,4 inch senko .when the water drops down here they go deep, also when water gets that cool here they start to bed (january) when a cold front passes through i don't bother going its slow going until the weather stabilizes

 

[koolerb]

Re: Bass Dilema

Wow, you’re gonna dive the lake! Cool! That's thinking out of the box. (I hate that phrase). I can't believe I didn't think of that. But then again, the waters pretty cold this time of year. Let me know what you find out.

 

[mikew8541]

Re: Bass Dilema

Well i dove it yesterday. Water temp about 69 degrees. Believe it or not bass were holding right off the banks. They werein about 3 feet of water, which was the depth of the weedline before the lake went down, so they didnt move anywhere near as far as I thought they would.

The odd thing I found was they were very very lethargic, and I have no explination for that. At least I was on them, apparently they just arent feeding very heavily, or the baits ive been using dosent peak there interest.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

Thats bass!1!sometimes they dont do what were taught there supose to dodi caught fish on a buzzbait one time in 49 degree weather:^well now you know were there at,now its time to try different retrives and lures after a cold snap they do get lock jaw try a small suspeanding jerkbait move it dowm and then let it sit for different amounts of time until the fish tells you what they want.

 

[John_S]

Re: Bass Dilema

I admire your tenacity! Ike better watch out!

"
...but one thing i noticed today ....gazillions of small fry encircling the shorelines....tons and tons of em....
"
"
I found was they were very very lethargic,
"

Like us, after a turkey dinner! only they are having one every day.

Some of the hardest fishing is when there is an over abundence of bait fish. They don't have to work hard to gorge themselves.

 

[koolerb]

Re: Bass Dilema

Pretty cool, I'm going out and buying a snorkel.

 

[mikew8541]

Re: Bass Dilema

Ok heres what Ive done. I matched a fluke to the baitfish color, then added a small bead rattle, for noise, and a little extra bouyancy( theres air trapped inside of the glass bubble) then just kept adding and taking away from nail weights until i acheived neutral bouyancy with the bait.

Casts in 3-4 feet of water (the normal shore depth, where the bass normally hold) and boom boom boom....one after another.

Several fish were in the 5-6 lb range, not uncommon for this lake(pond?) and the fish were ballistic. Had 3 fish all day that were over 8 lbs on a digi scale with a +/- of 1/4 oz.

An amazing day considering how things have been lately.

This lake is so low that I had to get into the h2o when I launched my boat, I removed my cell phone, and wallet.....but forgot my digi camera was in my side pocket, and I hear its ruined. I removed the battery and let it dry, and everything seems to be working ok, except the led is pure black, and the pics all turn out pure black. I am going to go purchase a new camera today to get some picks of upcoming trips for you guys.

Another little thing we have done at this lake before was to take an aqua view camera and mount it to a mini remote control boat....hahahahaha what a mess that was, but it was fun. Diving this lake was very informative, I wonder if I shouldnt dive all lakes before tourns? Probably not, I dont tourn fish much anymore, mostly just benefits and such, and the occasional friendly wager outting.

At any rate regards to all and Stay in touch.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

Several fish were in the 5-6 lb range, not uncommon for this lake(pond?) and the fish were ballistic. Had 3 fish all day that were over 8 lbs on a digi scale with a +/- of 1/4 oz.

WOW now thats a day! dont forget they make the fluke in different sizes but sounds like you got it all figured out,if im down that way again im calling you to guide med

 

[koolerb]

Re: Bass Dilema

Sounds like all the hard work paid off, you smoked em!!!

I'm definitely buying a snorkel.

 

[Ron G]

Re: Bass Dilema

You going to freeze your ****off Koolerbd