no luck, what am I doing wrong?

[chrisreyn]

we are at Table Rock Lake, MO, on the Mill Creek/Joe Bald area of the lake.
Been fishing the main lake points and along the shoreline where its flooded brush using nightcrawlers, spoons, and doughbaits and have not caught a dang thing!!!
Im not a very knowledgable fisherman and the new bride is getting upset at me :redface:
any suggestions or pointers? Out of the 4 of us, we have only had one decent bite, a 4-5 lb channel cat that slipped the hook before we could land it.. ....

 

[jigngrub]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

Try some live minnows or shiners 3' below a bobber.

 

[5150abf]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

I am not near Kansas but am having the same problem here, same grounds I always fish, same bait same presentation but nothing, Ihave gotten maybe 6 cats all year in 14 trips, last year I hit that number on my second trip.

It has to be the weather, the barometer throws them way off, I have read as long as the weather is the same for 3 days regarless of what that weather is they will hit and around in Indiana 3 days with the same is pretty rare this year.

I believe it has somehting to do with thier swim bladder, when the barometric pressure changes the swim bladder expands or contracts and puts them off for awhile, I also think they find a depth that helps compensate for the barometer, so if it drops they go deep if it rises the come shallow.

I went yestarday and wore a sweatshirt all day on July first, very odd

 

[MSGTRETIREDCSP]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

Try a Rapala deep diving crankbait. Gray and silver colored, approxinately 2 1/2 to 3" long. Troll around the lake at about 1.5 to 2 mph (if you're in a boat). I've had good luck doing that and if they don't hit, at least you and your new bride will enjoy a nice ride around the lake.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

Try a Rapala deep diving crankbait. Gray and silver colored, approxinately 2 1/2 to 3" long. Troll around the lake at about 1.5 to 2 mph (if you're in a boat). I've had good luck doing that and if they don't hit, at least you and your new bride will enjoy a nice ride around the lake.

Trolling can be very productive, even in flooded waters!

I caught these Crappie trolling back in March when our lake/river was 3' above flood stage and 8' above winter pool where it was supposed to be.

They were in 3-4' of water, where water wasn't even supposed to be. I caught them trolling jigs 3-4' under bobbers (you can pm me for the secret color) @ 0.9 mph.

 

[ricstoner989]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

Try a rapala black and silver or a broke back these have good action and r easy to use.How deep is the water u are fishing in? in shallower water try using something with a small lip if it's deeper water use a lure with a bigger lip this will make it dive deeper.Fishing is easy once u get the basics down and figure out wat the fish are biting on you'll start catching more fish and have a much better time out!

 

[wilb3]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

Its been God hot here the last few days and 90s anticipated the rest of the week. I went out this a.m. and got on the water by 7:15, in by 11:30. Didn't get the water temp but I'm sure it affected my pan-fishin as its been slow.

 

[ngt]

Re: no luck, what am I doing wrong?

I suggest using a drop shot setup, letting it land right along the side of the brush on the side, and doing short quick somewhat fast jigs trying to keep the weight on the bottom. I prefer the round ball weights over the long weights. I am usually lucky to get one, and I've caught 14 over 4 trips using this. Biggest only being about 3 lbs, and many small ones, but I've been told to use a bigger worm and sent for bigger fish.