Hey guys! I was on the water the other day and having a tough day and I got to thinking.. I feel as if when most people are having a tough day they have one strategy to put a couple of fish in the boat. I was curious what you guy’s go to strategy on a tough day is if y’all don’t mine sharing it! Thanks!

Depends on a few factors

Time of year

Water temp

Water clarity

 

Something I'd toss to increase my chances early in the season when the water is fairly clear and below 55 is different than what I'd toss mid-summer in murky water over 70.

Man, all winter has been tough me. Fishing slow is the pits , but that’s what I do when things get tough. Either that or fish for walleye!

I tend to fall back in my best producing baits. If that doesn’t work I remind myself that my PB was caught on a day when it was the only bite I got... 

I'm with @MN Fisher in that it is totally dependent upon all of the circumstances.  I could make a safe generalization and say that if the water temp is below 75-80 (I'm in central Illinois) my anti-skunk is half of a ZinkerZ on a Ned head.  If the water is above 80 the Ned no longer works and I'm most likely throwing a jig into some grass on a main lake point or football jig into rip rap in the deep water right where the rip rap ends.  You really have to figure it out for each individual lake though IMHO.  

I try to reason with what is going on but I don’t know how to think like a fish. I guess and generally guess wrong. I try not to overthink it. If I was in and around grass and things are not working I switch to rock and a steeper incline and fish real slow. Tubes, grubs, craws and creatures. Fish them slow. 

Catch a bluegill or perch and call it a day. 

Yep. I’m with @huZZah, I put the bass gear away and do a little multi species fishing .  

Cold water =Ned

Warm water= weightless senko

Hot water= weightless trick worm

I t depends on the time of year and where I am fishing. Most of the time I go to a Zoom grub or centipede. On rare occasion I might throw a tube if I am really desperate to catch one.

If it is windy I will go to a small swimbait.  Yesterday, I was faced with tough conditions and when the wind picked up I caught several small bass on a 3" Hazedong.  No, it wouldn't have helped in a tournament but it made the day more enjoyable.  If it is calmer, a Ned is tough to beat when the conditions are negative.  

Spring fishing can be tough period. On days when I'm.not catching fish in the spring, I'll try and downsize to a smaller bait, and fish even slower. Look for bass in deeper water near an area where they might spawn. 

I put a spinnerbait or crankbait on and cover lots of water.  If I'm not going to be catching anything at least I'm going to get to see lots of new scenery.  I might even find a new hot spot I didn't know about.

On 3/6/2021 at 4:52 PM, huZZah said:

Catch a bluegill or perch and call it a day. 

That's all I caught yesterday lol!

 

First day out this year. The water temp did get to 49 but the water was dead calm and very muddy. We could not see our lure no deeper then 2-3 inches down. I did hook into a very heavy fish with a Little John, but it came off. Never even got to see it ?

I dont have a fall back strategy . I just keep making adjustments hoping that I will finally get something figured out before its time to leave .

If I know right where the fish are then a Ned or tube work well. More likely when there's a tough bite, the challenge is locating them. Nothing better than a curly tail grub or small swim bait to cover water in a subtle but effective way...

I second FryDog62's curly tail grub. I have my favorite on a 1/8 ounce owner ball head jig. 

If I'm having a tough day, I presume that it is me and not the fish.  I generally think that should I put the right bait in front of a fish, they will bite it.  So I lead off with the premise that I just haven't chosen the right bait yet - so I switch.  To what?   Perhaps a different area of the lake, perhaps a different bait, different color, I just try something else.   A long time ago I read something that Roland Martin told a writer, that got recorded, where he talked about how important he thought the wind was.   It was his opinion that the fish nearly always faced into the wind, and that determined where they would be on places like points.  I fish around trees & stumps & bushes alot.  I like to think that no matter what time of day it is, the fish are most likely to be in the shade.   Not necessarily the obvious shade on the surface, but where might the shade be 6 or 7 feet down.  So I make guesses about where that might be and throw the bait at that.  Maybe I'm pitching a bait right into it or maybe I'm running an appropriate depth crank as close to it as I can get - just depends.

Sometimes I find myself getting a bad attitude when the fishing gets challenging.  Generally some form of IPA helps.  Sometimes it is a stout, high alcohol one, because, after all, I only need one.   Other times ( most likely when it's hot out ) I'll go lo-alcohol, like a Founders or a Bell's. Light Hearted IPA, something like that.

Other times, when the going gets tough, the tough eat a sandwich, or just spend 15 to 20 minutes driving around the lake, reminding yourself that you're doing this instead of working or being responsible.  Attitude adjustment takes many forms, but Im pretty firm in the notion that should the fishing get tough, it is my attitude that needs adjusting.  A classic case of "Figger it out, son"

On my primary lake I'll ease out to the humps and throw Megabass Okashira 1/8 oz jig with either a 3" Spark shad or Z-Man Slim Swimz 3". It's produced a couple Spotted bass every time I've thrown it. It's like a spybait I  can crawl on the bottom. It's pushing the Ned off the save my rump pedestal.