What the heck am I doing wrong!

Well day two in the new tube and no complaints with the tube but the fishing is pathetic, almost to the point of total boredom! I'm fishing mostly for bass and this the scenario: water temp. high 60's-low 70's, fishing anywhere from 3ft to 12ft of water and around 11am to 6pm both days. Im using plastics like white curly tail grubs, purple with blue glitter 6" worms, watermelon colored worms, little cleo spoon (green/chrome) and a frog pattern popper. Had one fish attempt the top water popper but that was it in almost 12 hours of fishing. Any one out there willing to teach me a few tricks,lol. I swear I should write a book on how to NOT catch fish. Just like the other day, me, and 3 other friends took my boat out for some perch fishing. We must have moved around to 10 different spots and only came up with about 8 keepers between all of us, another friend of mine went out and limited out within 2 hours,lol. We were in the right area, right depth, right bait and almost nothing!

Are you using any scent for your plastics? I use hot sauce fishing scent, works awesome and stays on your bait for many many casts.

choppywaters wrote:Well day two in the new tube and no complaints with the tube but the fishing is pathetic, almost to the point of total boredom! I'm fishing mostly for bass and this the scenario: water temp. high 60's-low 70's, fishing anywhere from 3ft to 12ft of water and around 11am to 6pm both days. Im using plastics like white curly tail grubs, purple with blue glitter 6" worms, watermelon colored worms, little cleo spoon (green/chrome) and a frog pattern popper. Had one fish attempt the top water popper but that was it in almost 12 hours of fishing. Any one out there willing to teach me a few tricks,lol. I swear I should write a book on how to NOT catch fish. Just like the other day, me, and 3 other friends took my boat out for some perch fishing. We must have moved around to 10 different spots and only came up with about 8 keepers between all of us, another friend of mine went out and limited out within 2 hours,lol. We were in the right area, right depth, right bait and almost nothing!

Need more info. i.e. depth of the lake, pond or impoundment your fishing. What are the types of forage, both baitfish, and others, like craws, ect. What line are you using, and finally what type of presentation have you tried..? Without this info. it's nearly impossible to give you any advice as to why your not catching more bass. Just to let you know, I've been fishing for bass since 1973 and learned a bunch during that time, however, everyone has one of those days when you can't seem to buy a fish..lol

Also weather changes, and moon phases can affect the bite. This is especially true if the bass are suspened, which usually happens during the summer when the water gets to warm, they will hang at the thermocline, which could be at 15' over 60 ft of water, or they could go deep, that's why the depth of the water is important to know. So no matter what bait you use, if your not throwing it where the bass are, your type of bait won't matter. Oh almost forgot, what type of structure does the water have, i.e. timber, lat downs, weeds, lillypads..ect..?

Hit me or fisher up next time you wanna catch some fresh bass well help you out man!

Hammer 4 wrote:

choppywaters wrote:Well day two in the new tube and no complaints with the tube but the fishing is pathetic, almost to the point of total boredom! I'm fishing mostly for bass and this the scenario: water temp. high 60's-low 70's, fishing anywhere from 3ft to 12ft of water and around 11am to 6pm both days. Im using plastics like white curly tail grubs, purple with blue glitter 6" worms, watermelon colored worms, little cleo spoon (green/chrome) and a frog pattern popper. Had one fish attempt the top water popper but that was it in almost 12 hours of fishing. Any one out there willing to teach me a few tricks,lol. I swear I should write a book on how to NOT catch fish. Just like the other day, me, and 3 other friends took my boat out for some perch fishing. We must have moved around to 10 different spots and only came up with about 8 keepers between all of us, another friend of mine went out and limited out within 2 hours,lol. We were in the right area, right depth, right bait and almost nothing!

Need more info. i.e. depth of the lake, pond or impoundment your fishing. What are the types of forage, both baitfish, and others, like craws, ect. What line are you using, and finally what type of presentation have you tried..? Without this info. it's nearly impossible to give you any advice as to why your not catching more bass. Just to let you know, I've been fishing for bass since 1973 and learned a bunch during that time, however, everyone has one of those days when you can't seem to buy a fish..lol

Also weather changes, and moon phases can affect the bite. This is especially true if the bass are suspened, which usually happens during the summer when the water gets to warm, they will hang at the thermocline, which could be at 15' over 60 ft of water, or they could go deep, that's why the depth of the water is important to know. So no matter what bait you use, if your not throwing it where the bass are, your type of bait won't matter. Oh almost forgot, what type of structure does the water have, i.e. timber, lat downs, weeds, lillypads..ect..?

The area I'm fishing is anywhere from 3ft to 12ft, its a marina connected to a bay that connects to our lake. There are also several areas that are called the "lagoons" that are or would seem to be bass havens. The marina has your usual seaweed and a certain area I fish has weed beds and a few old pillars from an old dock. The lagoons have tons of weed beds, cat tails, down trees, weed beds but more importantly, this area is hardly fished due to its inaccessibility (not with a tube though LOL). As far as presentation, I throw say the dark colored worm out along a weed bed (and Im pretty accurate at casting) let it sink then snap the rod tip up, let it sink again. I also let it sink then a slow retrieve. I do this with all the plastics and nothing. I forgot to mention, last week they had a HUGE fishing tournament here, there must have been 300 bass boats at this launch (no kidding) everything from local guys to sponsored guys with trucks matching boat and trailer (Kellogg's, Army, National Guard) etc. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it or not, they weren't allowed in the lagoon areas.

Seaweed in freshwater..?

I'm gonna guess that if there is any type of structure in the deeper water, it can be anything, even a creek channel, rocks, ect. If you have a fishfinder try metering any areas like this to see if they are holding fish. Also if there are any springs in deeper water that would be my first place to fish, you can get maps that will point these out. If none of that applies, then I would 2 things, toss a crank bait that has a pattern of the baitfish in your lake, i.e. perch, bluegill, ect. I would get a lipless crank, and retrieve it at different depths, starting low, and work up, if you start catching fish, note the approx. depth, as bass will usually suspend in schools.

Second, I would tie on a 6" roboworm to a carolina rig, and drag it slowly along the bottom where you think there may be fish. Both of these presentations will allow you to cover water faily quick.

If you find fish are shallow and holding tight to cover, I would be flipping a craw, creature, or jig bait in the thickest of cover, note: you need heavy line, preferably braid in 55 to 65# test, or mono in 25 to 30 lb test. If the water has major tidal movement, then I would fish the incoming tide in the weeds, ect.

Your going to have to experiment a bit, my suggestions are only that, just suggestions, w/o being on the water.

Also, I would try a white/chartreuse willow bladed spinner bait, use gold if the water is on the clear side, sliver blades if it's stained. If the water is clear, you want to rip the bait, if it's stained, slowroll it.

As for scents, imho, it never hurts to use, although many fish have been caught w/o it.

There are other options, but way to many to type out. If possible, talk to local bass fishermen that catch fish in your lake, ask for pointers, as most won't tell you exactly how they catch bass consistently, putting in time on the water, i.e. learning where structure is will only help you to do better over time. I hope this helps you some. BTW, if you are in a boat, or tube with electronics, turn them off while fishing.

Hammer 4 -- Thanks for the tips. This weekend Im going back out and going to hit another spot where I saw (I think) 2 other tubers the other day. I also bought a couple packs of Senko worms to try out and a new perch crank bait.

Early mornings and early evenings try surface lures, poppers, frogs, buzzbaits. As the sun goes up the bigger fish usually go deeper and that can be 15 to 30 feet of water. It all depends on time of year, water temperature, etc. If they are not in the shallows go to a drop shot rig and work 20 to 30 feet. What your doing wrong is that you are staying with 3 to 12 ft. of water and you already said the fish were not there that day. If you try one method at certain depths and it doesn't work you then you will need to change up your plan. Go to a different depth, a different presentation, and have patience. You are out there to relax and enjoy your time on the water. You also need to understand that just because the fish were in that area yesterday doesn't mean they couldn't be there today.