I went out on the boat today to the local lake for about 5 hours. I caught NOTHING. I first went to a heavily wooded area that had a lot of dead submerged trees. I threw every type of soft plastic T-rigged. I also threw floating crankbaits. Nothing. I moved to a channel and threw more plastics. Nothing. I then moved back to the wooded area where there were two guys in a boat catching fish left and right. I threw a spinnerbait and my only jig which came untied and I lost it. NOTHING. It was cloudy all day, about 40-50 degrees. The water was a little warmer than the air temp but not by much. Everytime I go out to fish, it rains, its cold, its miserable even when the forecast says it will not be bad, it is. Any ideas on what I was doing wrong? The water was about 10-15 feet deep.

First off did you notcie what they 2 guys were throwing? Doesn't even have to be the exact bait but were the using a steady retreive, slowly dragging on the bottome, etc.. This can give you a clue as to what presentation the fish were wanting. What was the water clairity like? Heavily wooded area to me means jig, especially if the water was stained or muddy. If I cannot get them dragging a jig i'm usually throwing a swim jig/spinnerbait or squarebill to cover water and find the correct depth zone on were they are hanging.

First off did you notcie what they 2 guys were throwing? Doesn't even have to be the exact bait but were the using a steady retreive, slowly dragging on the bottome, etc.. This can give you a clue as to what presentation the fish were wanting. What was the water clairity like? Heavily wooded area to me means jig, especially if the water was stained or muddy. If I cannot get them dragging a jig i'm usually throwing a swim jig/spinnerbait or squarebill to cover water and find the correct depth zone on were they are hanging.

I could not see what they were throwing and it was a steady retrieve. The water was stained. I always get confused on what type to bait use when and where. Plus my pole is shorter than me and I'm 5'9". I probably had a few bites but I wouldn't have had a single clue. I'm a rookie lets just put it that way. I really need to find someone in my area that I can go fishing with.

I began fishing 4 decades ago, actually I´ve been bass fishing for a little bit more than 3 decades, at first I blamed my lack of success with a bunch of excuses and that included the so called "luck" factor, as years have passed I´ve learned that just as 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water and 10% of the fishermen catch that 90% of the fish, 90%of the time "luck" has little to do with me catching fish. Simply put: if you are not catching anything is because you are not fishing right; you are not fishing the right bait, the right spot, the right depth, the right speed, the right technique and so on. You make your own "luck."

Im guessing they were fishing jerkbaits, a-rigs or rattletraps

 

You fished none of those three KEY springtime baits

GO on this thread and read. Read about where they found the fish and why. Think about the lake you fish and how you can apply it.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/41658-so-yall-want-to-learn-toledo-bend/

 

Then, contact someone on that thread, offer to pay for gas, baits, whatever so they will take you out here and there. You have facebook? Make a post on there you need bass fishing help. Surely one of your friends has it bad for bass or you have a female friend who has a dad who is or a woman who has a husband who is.... you gotta go lookn.