Today I was at Berkeley Lake, mainly going for carp and catfish but I was struck with more of a mystery and lots of confusion. 

 

I used specifically corn, brined shad and a bratwurst. I know carp can be surprisingly very smart fish so I'm a little less surprised that the corn kept getting stolen but it was still a bummer

 

The shad didn't work at all but that's what I get for using store bought Walmart bait. Then there is the brat. Strangely enough it got the most action but was also stolen at the end. I feel the hook wasn't big enough but I'm still utterly confused. 

 

I did a little bass and trout fishing but came up empty as I was a tad too lazy to switch out baits at a frequent rate but it was still bothersome to get no reaction. I know that's on me. 

 

Being knee to this as a whole and mostly relying on others to help me fish, what are somethings I can do to make things more self reliant?

You tried to feed a bratwurst to a fish?????  I would never………. those are entirely too delicious for fish 

 

more self reliant? Hmmm. For the trout I would try inline spinners like rooster tail and panther Martin. For bass I like plastic worms 

16 hours ago, Isaiah_perez3215 said:

Then there is the brat. Strangely enough it got the most action but was also stolen at the end.

@TnRiver46 stole it.

If you're going to use a natural bait like shad, use the freshest possible. Bluegill love corn also, and will easily steal it from a carp hook. Turtles, crawdads, and bluegills will all eat hotdogs, I'm sure brats are no different. 

 

Learning takes time, don't feel bad about asking others for help. 

If it's legal...cut bluegill makes excellent catfish bait