Hey Guys. I've been lurking around this website for awhile looking at articles and reports and decided to post this topic in hopes of getting a bit more specific help on a lake I've been fishing this year.

 

I had a rather successful spring, catching good sized fish every outing though only catching a few. I believe my best day I totaled 8 in a few hours. Once summer hit my luck died, catching only a few small fish. I chalked it up to the summer heat and didn't worry much about it.

However I haven't returned to any luck this fall. I've been trying similar patterns to how I caught them in spring with no luck. Tried dropshots, senkos, t-rigs, spinners, cranks, flukes, poppers without much to show for it and definitely not hitting any sort of pattern. Seems more like I'm just throwing on their heads and getting lucky.

 

To talk a little about the lake - it's rather small as I could walk all the way around it in a few hours if I really sped through. Has a couple of small coves and some overhanging trees. Most of the bottom is covered in some sort of thick algae (not sure what it is exactly) that makes bottom fishing difficult (hence why I dropshot a lot). Maximum depth probably isn't more than 10 foot or so with one side of the lake being much shallower than the other. 1 idea I do have on why I'm not catching fish the same is that I believe they treated the water for the algae. It used to grow up to the top of the surface and at times would cover nearly half of the water. This year the water was a weird blue-ish green color a few times when i went and it seemed like they put chemicals in it. There also was hardly any growth on the top of the water this year. Could just be a coincidence though.

 

Any ideas on how to attack it would be appreciated. Unfortunately I don't live close enough to another public lake so it's my only option for a quick couple hours of fishing after work. Thanks!

First, welcome to the forums!

 

Sounds like you've tried just about everything

short of dynamite or electro-fishing. I'd suggest 

slowing down your presentations a bit - specifically 

your soft plastics.

 

Have you tried simple nightcrawlers (live)?

 

As for treatment, is this a reservoir, or a lake in a 

housing community? Chemical run off from lawns, 

etc., can certainly impact the fish. I've fished lakes 

right after they've been treated with copper sulfate 

and had success. Not to say it doesn't have an 

impact.

Thanks for the quick response and welcome.

I've fished with nightcrawlers most of my life up until the last few years. Primarily I have only had luck catching lots of bluegill with them. Which is what I did during the peak of summer in a nice shady spot

 

The lake is part of a park with a playground, ball fields, and soccer fields. They also have a pool which may or may not run off into the lake, I haven't seen firsthand how they drain the pool or anything.

 

I'll try and slow down my presentations. I do have a habit of rushing through to try and get the most casts in as possible before dark.

I bring 3 rods with me at most.  I have my crankbait or spinnerbait, my texas rigged or tube rod and my wacky rod.  Something, somewhere in the lake will hit one of those presentations for me(usually its the wacky).  I suggest to fish it slow, take your time and pay attention to whats happening around you.  Follow the birds, follow the turtles, follow the baitfish.  Let the fish tell you what they want, don't force what you want onto the fish.  I suggest trying a weighted wacky rig(Flick Shake) instead of the drop shot.  You can cover more water with the wacky rig than a drop shot and the presentation is almost the same.  You should be able to find fish quicker with it.  

I bring 3 rods with me at most.  I have my crankbait or spinnerbait, my texas rigged or tube rod and my wacky rod.  Something, somewhere in the lake will hit one of those presentations for me(usually its the wacky).  I suggest to fish it slow, take your time and pay attention to whats happening around you.  Follow the birds, follow the turtles, follow the baitfish.  Let the fish tell you what they want, don't force what you want onto the fish.  I suggest trying a weighted wacky rig(Flick Shake) instead of the drop shot.  You can cover more water with the wacky rig than a drop shot and the presentation is almost the same.  You should be able to find fish quicker with it.  

Thanks I think I'll try a wacky rig next time I go. I've never used it much in the past because I've been more comfortable throwing a senko t-rigged weightless or a dropshot. But I need to try something new.

If you need any tips just let me know.  1/16 jighead seems to work the best with 5 in worms(senkos).  It's so easy it should be illegal.