What Is My Problem?

I don’t bother to post much bass fishing related information or questions on here any more, but I cannot handle this anymore…The fishing for me on pool 8 has been rediculously spotty lately…One day you catch a big sack, the next day you catch 1 keeper…The wingdam bite had been money..and I was having a blast. Well that flow just keeps getting worse and you can hardly even hold on a wing dam these days..the smallies seemed to pack up and head out too..Backwater largemouth..I think everytime I go out i have a 30+ fish day lately..and if i try i can break the 50 mark often. Problem is keepers. I’m fishing deep structure and shallow to deep transition areas…all of these backwater areas i have been targeting are wintering areas. They are community holes however the structure that I have found is not pounded to the extent of the banks in this area. Still, the fish I boat remain under 14″ consistently. You would think a brush pile on a gravel-sand transition line on the edge of a channel in 9 ft of water would be loaded with big fish..but nope. Just about 40 12″ers and 2 or 3 @ 13-3/4″ is all I could muster. I tried fishing stuff with no current, lots of current..many different sand drops, weed flats, wood…pretty much everything i’ve tried has failed me. Can anyone just give me some clues to what I should be doing? I don’t want spots. Even a reference to a community spot that is holding big fish would be nice so i can just get an idea of the layout of what i need to be fishing. I hear 2 big things this time of year. Sand Drops, and wingdams near wintering areas…Well i’ve been all over that and had minimal success…so please help me go into winter with a bang!!

Thanks

If the water is rising, you may wantt o try shallower. General rule of thumb is fish will move shalower in rising water. I would still fish the same areas, but check that out. The small coves up on the black with steep drops should be holding good fish right now regaurdless of water levels. There is also some good structure in there. Try a deep crank, or slow rolling a spinnerbait. A c-rig is never a bad option either.

Darin

An open response to Cade. Cade, You are HAVING A GREAT YEAR. and YOU ARE STILL HAVING A GREAT YEAR RIGHT NOW.

30 fish, 40 fish, 50 fish per day for one person, What are you talking about? You are being SUCCESSFUL RIGHT NOW. What you are allowing is that the SIZE LIMIT is clouding your point of view. 15 years ago, when there was no size limit, you would be catching 40 or 50 KEEPERS per day, and you would be screaming what a great fall you are having.

You still are. What is so hard for you to understand is that anyone over the age of 30 didn’t have to put up with the overly stringent size limit of today. We all grew up with no size limit on bass and a tourny size limit of 12 inches.

Last week you posted photos of smallies that anyone would die for. Certainly better then any smallie I have caught this fall. In fact my fish have started dropping in size since 4th of July and I never got bigger yet. With the stress of YET. Water temps are still in the 50’s. And while we may see some flurries next week, it doesn’t mean the year is over.

And if it is, SO WHAT.

Look at your year. You have been successful in all phases of the year, since ice out. You have been on the fish since ice out and you are STILL ON GREAT NUMBERS OF FISH. Don’t let this artificial deterrent hurt you in your thinking. You are catching bass, and lots of them, and 90% of the guys in this state wouldn’t have a clue what to do to get on them like you are now.

Are you getting size? No. If you really must have size, then what should you do? You have to leave these fish and work HARDER. Fish only big fish lures like a jig and pig or a big crankbait, until you find OTHER Fish. But, Cade, and this is a big but, YOU have the talent to do so. You have the feel and, MORE OVER, the CONFIDENCE to DO SO.

I returned to pool 8 this year. I have lived in this area for many years, and I grew up hating pool 8. But I caught enough fish on 8 THIS YEAR, for the first time in many years, TO STAY HERE. Do I know it all, NO. In fact, there is my weakness, I don’t know the whole pool enough. And I have a major weakness in fishing wing dams. One of the reasons that I don’t fish this pool better is that I have no true fishing partner. A guy that I can count on, to do something else SUCCESSFULLY, while I fish another method UNTIL I FIND MY OWN FISH. My Fishing partner moved away, and a truly good one is hard to find. But you seem to have one. And that makes for a great day in the boat. And Helps to achieve success.

But all in all Cade, YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL. I don’t know you well enough to know if you fish other pools, but on 8 you are a tough guy to beat.

Right now you are still catching fish. THIS IS SUCCESS.

You want bigger fish. Move off these fish and keep working. BUT, if anyone can find his own fish on this pool, CADE, You can do it.

I can see it in your posts.

and that my friend, is the truth.

YOU HAVE HAD A GREAT YEAR, and no one can take it away.

the old rat.

Wow thanks Old Rat!

oh no….

Me thinks you might be fishing for more than bass.

Cade. You have had a great year as rat said. This is the fun part of learning the fish. Where do they go and what do they do in different and changing conditions.

Smallie’s are on the move to there wintering hole with water temps dropping. There will still be some shallow and if the flow is up, tight to structure.

Largie’s, moving and staying in place. They just may not eat at the time you are there. It could possibly be there time of day for the feed right now.

Explore and keep your like wet. Have you tried Big Ugly?

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Me thinks you might be fishing for more than bass.

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nice comment slipsinker..

i’m not sure how my post would have possibly made you think that..Just another post asking for advice, one of many on here. Isn’t that what the site is for, to gain information through sharing it with each other? All I came here to do was learn, and try to figure out what I’m doing wrong. I didn’t expect to have a very large and generous compliment at all. But it was nice and that is why I said thanks. think whatever you want of me, it’s not going to bring me down. Now, bring on some more learning.

Tim, big ugly has been stowed away lately I probably should give that a try
Thanks,
Cade

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Big Ugly?

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Moss…you should have patented that name… you could have made millions!

Except’s Cade’s Big Ugly is an entirely different bait.

I don’t get the comment that Cade was fishing for anything but bass either. Seemed like a straight forward post to me.

Some good ideas in the previous posts. As I don’t fish pool 8. Pools 4 & 5 are closer for me- here’s some general tips. First, the fish this time of year are really slowing down with the colder water- that whole cold-blooded thing they don’t have a choice. The larger fish are only active for very short periods. I find early am and the last 2 hours of light. Complete opposite of spring, even though the water temps are the same mid day late fall fish don’t seem to be very active, but you must fish until dark, don’t get discouraged. These larger fish usually won’t chase a lure, as someone stated a jig n’ pig with a REAL pork trailer. Pre-soak the trailers in some type of attractant. I prefer original fish formula. I pour out some of the brine and add the fish formula directly to the bottle. A SMALL rattle on the jig. Cold-water bass aren’t as curious as warm-water fish I believe the larger, louder rattles discourage the fish. The areas you are fishing seem good. I don’t like large dense brushpiles for larger fish. Look for isolated cover near by. remember with limited cover available in an area the larger fish will control that cover. So a good wintering area with limited cover will increase your chances of finding the larger fish in that area. Presentation this time of year for me is deadsticking the jig while occassionally GENTLY vibrating the jig activating the SMALL rattle. You will rarely feel the strike the jig will just get heavy. Now this year with this current this type of fishing has been difficult. It has been much harder to keep the jig in place limiting the places to fish. Also as mentioned in a previous post vertical banks are best. The fish don’t want to have to move far as activity levels change. Good luck

One more thing. I was re-reading Tim’s post he had a great point. ‘The fish may have not been feeding when you were there.’ I fish very few spots this time of year. What I do is fish a few spots thouroghly and often. It takes time to find these spots but when you do mark them and keep going back. Also boat control. Approach as quietly as possible, and get the boat into a proper position before casting. As I stated earlier these fish won’t chase, I have spots where if my cast isn’t from the exact right angle the fish will not bite.

There is a large chunk of fishing that is mental aspect. If you think that you stink at fishing, YOU WILL. If you have been on fish and killing them, and maybe winning a tourny or two, You believe that you can catch a bass in the bathtub. AND you may.

Many moons ago, I had such a year. I knew if I cast backwards over my head, I would catch a bass. I knew it.. and I could do it.

But when the river went bad, it hurt me and a ton of fishermen. A lot, and I MEAN A WHOLE LOT OF GUYS that I fished with 20 years ago, don’t fish.

The key is always this: FIND YOUR OWN FISH. Work hard. Go against the grain at times, FIND YOUR OWN FISH.

and believe in your self.

Right now, Cade needed to hear the truth. A touch of confidence. He is a good fisherman. I can tell by the posts here, that most of the guys here are good fishermen. And want to treat others with respect. What more could you ask for a bass forum. Guys helping guys instead of guys RIPPING GUYS.

I wish you well.

the rat.

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Big Ugly?

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Moss…you should have patented that name… you could have made millions!

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I have one called the “Big Sexy” because they like it on top, but they love it on the bottom

Experiment with your jig trailers and plastics for carolina/texas rigs

Cade,

Wintering is the one time of the year that Bass don’t school by size. As much as we would like to thinks our fisheries are loaded with big bass the truth is most of our fish are under 14”. I was on a school yesterday that range from 6-16” with just a few 16’s. You and I are seeing the actual size distribution of the fishery.

john

this likely has absolutely nothing to do with your situation Cade. But I’m wondering if some of Mike Auten’s approaches to fishing mid-lake structure on Kentucky might apply? Specifically, the one about: he keeps going back to the same spots…sooner or later, the fish he wants will move up on them and bite…

Perhaps the size issue you indicate may be timing related?

As for posting less, that’s a shame.

Cade- plenty of time to learn and find the bigger fish, you will gain confidence in techniques and general knowledge, then as you fish more you may find other spots with the “mother load”. This is what I am told anyway, would love to tell you what you are doing “wrong” but imo you are doing it right. Keep posting, keep asking questions and ignore the nay-sayers. Those who know it all do not exist in the fishing world (though some are close). As stated, sometimes you will hit a spot and they are there, come back 2 days later and not a sniff from a peanut?? If you figure it out, please remember to pm me if you dont care to share with those no-believers among us