The other day I was fishing a pond with pretty clear water(5-6 ft vis) with my polarized sunglasses on a sunny day around noon. Needless to say, I could see everything my lure and the fish around it did. I was using a small 1 inch white worm weightless because i was targeting bluegill. I never knew there were even bass in the pond, but they were shallow and I could see them that day. With each cast, at least five bass, mostly little dinks but a few larger bass, would follow it and occasionally bite. Most, however, never bit or hooked up. So I was wondering how many fish are curious but not biting on those days or those spots where there are "just no fish". Now I'll try to be more patient with my presentation and how long i fish spots. 

As Shakespeare would say, "There's the rub."  It's difficult to know if we should stay longer and, perhaps, entice some bites or if we should move more quickly and get bites out from more aggressive fish.  Generally, I'll work the most promising spots pretty hard but if there aren't any takers, I'll switch tactics and cover more ground.  This doesn't mean I'll fish the bait more quickly.  It just means I might not stay in a particular area or spot too long.

I dont remember who said it on these forums but someone said wed all probably throw in the towel if we knew exacly how many fish were in spots where we thought there were none. I used to think there were no bass in the ponds around my house now im figuring out that they are choc full of them. The hard part is figuring out how to catch them.

The other day I was fishing a pond with pretty clear water(5-6 ft vis) with my polarized sunglasses on a sunny day around noon. Needless to say, I could see everything my lure and the fish around it did. I was using a small 1 inch white worm weightless because i was targeting bluegill. I never knew there were even bass in the pond, but they were shallow and I could see them that day. With each cast, at least five bass, mostly little dinks but a few larger bass, would follow it and occasionally bite. Most, however, never bit or hooked up. So I was wondering how many fish are curious but not biting on those days or those spots where there are "just no fish". Now I'll try to be more patient with my presentation and how long i fish spots. 

 

My fav spot has schools of bass in this one area I always fish. If it is not windy I can always see them hanging around. Lots of smaller guys but the size varies in the school. You see babies and you see adults. Some days they won't stop biting and others I can't get them to even show interest. But other days it is about just hanging around long enough and they eventually start biting