Hattrick7

That doesn't look like a circle hook to me. I crush all my barbs down so releasing the fish is a breeze. Poor guy had a pretty rough day!

Try using a drop shot with roboworms. Maybe the 4" ones to start. I'd position the drop shot weight about 6" from your bait. There's probably grass or weeds down at the bottom. I'd fish it slow shaking the bait slightly and then dragging it in slowly with the same process. There's gotta at least be some grass at the bottom and they may use that as cover. There's tons of YouTube vids on dropshotting. Experiment with different worm lengths and colors if the 4" ones don't get bit. I'd also try using a shakey head with roboworms. Experiment until you get something. If there's bass in there they have to fees on something. Wacky rigging senkos work well too. Good luck!

Anyone have any tips on this lake? I know it's in a private community but that's not really an issue. Anything will help.

My KVD 1.5 is my secret weapon. I got a Rebel crank in the dollar bin at Walmart and thing is a joke. Runs like crap no matter what I did to it.

I agree with the KVD cranks. I fish a small lake with no real cover or structure and that 1.5 usually gets bit. Retrieve at different speeds. I would also retrieve pause then retrieve a little faster to mimic a scared baitfish. I usually get hit close to shore as the bass like to corner the baitfish there normally. I would get at least one KVD 1.5. You can get them at Walmart for 6 bucks. Sexy shad is good all around IMO. Good luck!

Have you tried the Uni knot? Search youtube there's a good video of a guy putting mono on his baitcaster. I followed his instruction on mine and the thing's solid. 12# mono straight tied to the spool without going through the holes.

Thanks for your responses. It really may be a case of you get what you pay for.

I got three separate lures outta that dollar box. One was a Rebel crankbait and that thing sucks. Runs sideways, doesn't wobble right. I tried fixing the eyelet but nothing worked. Doesn't give me a whole lotta confidence in that Rebel brand. But for a buck each you're not losing much except space in your tackle box.

I've had good success on senkos and gave the shim e sticks a try since they look and feel almost identical to the senkos and they're so much cheaper but I think I've caught only one bass on them. Does anyone use them regularly and actually like them better than senkos? I'm wacky rigging them the same.

You've already found where the fish are and that's huge. My question is what is your retrieve like? Is it the same every time or are you mixing it up? When using worms are you fishing it the same way or varying? When using cranks try mixing it up (colors and retrieve). Retrieve, stop, retrieve at various speeds. If using worms fish it slow or with more action. Try using different colored worms and different sizes. If the lake is stained I would use a darker color worm with either blue or red flakes and wacky rig it. If you haven't tried a jig I would try one. That might be the one they're waiting for. There's lots of videos on youtube to learn how to fish them. Good luck!

Its the hunt that keeps me fishing. Its the challenge of getting a fish to bite something that's not real. Its finding the fish then finding the bait that'll get them hooked. Its something that you can probably never completely master and that's why I'm hooked.

Not saying it is but just from what I've read. http://www.arkansasstripers.com/fish-slime-coat.htm

Maybe the fish was handled in a way that took off too much of it's slime and then going back in th e water bacterial infection started to set in.

There are catfish in the lake as well. I've caught one on a crankbait before.

Just a thought. Wondering if anyone else has tried it.

The lake I fish is pretty heavily pressured. I've caught some smaller bass on cranks and decent ones on senkos. I never would have believed it if I didn't witness it but a guy that was fishing next to me had three poles rigged with hot dogs. Minutes later he pulls in a nice 3+lber. The other day I was throwing everything at em. Cranks, senkos and other various plastics with no results. I tied on a brown/black jig and I see this decent sized bass come up to it, look at it and then swim away. It was like the fish knew he was being tricked. So I'm thinking why not cut off about 3-4" of a sliver of a hot dog and wacky rig that and see what happens. Has anyone tried this? I'm thinking that it might not survive the cast. I'm thinking about fishing it like a weightless senko just using a sliver of hot dog instead. If anyone has any experience I'd appreciate it. I'll probably post my findings in about a week or so.

When all else fails I'm going to fish an Oscar Meyer Texas style. Now I'll have to find the right sized hook to fit the dog and that's where the challenge really comes in.

I know this is gonna sound really weird, and maybe it's just the lake I fish, but this guy next to me caught a nice 2-3 lber on hot dogs. Yes hot dogs. It was maybe about 30-40 minutes after the sun went down he set up three poles all with hot dogs and the bass came by and slammed it about 10 minutes later. I never would have believed him if I didn't see it myself. The thing though is it's pretty much cast and wait. Too boring for me but the guy caught it. So I guess when all else fails and you have an extra pole maybe throw on a hot dog.

I think you should definitely get some crankbaits. Whatever your budget is there's a crankbait or swimbait out there. I think without these it's like playing golf with 1/2 your clubs. You can get the job done but when you need your 7 iron and the closest thing is the 5 you don't have as many options. I just started out with getting one here and one there and just slowly building. One thing to look for is how far the bait dives vs the lake you fish often. I've found that some may look the same in size but they dive to deeper depths in which your lake might not be necessary. As for the more expensive ones (for me at least $10+), I haven't tried those yet and I'm curious if they really are worth the extra money.

Anytime. I've learned a lot from this site. Good to be able to give something back.

I'll watch some youtube vids to get the confidence going again.

Ok it sounds like there's others with a similar experience so I'm not the lone wolf out there. Sam mentioned the chemical thing when the bass are in trouble and I wouldn't discount that. I just read this recent article about bass behavior and it seems to be inline with what Jim Kerr was stating. Anyways, here's the link to the article. http://www.umpquavalleybassmasters.com/bassbook.htm

I mainly fish a lake from shore. I've read that bass typically school together even though it may be only two or three. I'll walk around the general area and no more bites. It's weird. I wish I had a boat to fish a real lake proper!

I've noticed that once I catch a bass at a certain location I am not able to catch another one in the same general area. I have read somewhere that a frightened bass will also scare the other bass away. Does anyone have any insight into this?

I actually was at the store to return something and since I was there I said "What the hell, I'll pick up a bag of Senkos." And so I go out around 6, wacky rig the Senko and nothing. Not one bite. Then this guy fishing a little over from me catches this 8-10" bass on a hot dog. But that's fishing and it's all good. As long as you're having fun doing it is all that really matters. Although having a nice bass on the end of your line is a lot more fun than getting skunked.