To start I’m a relatively new angler (about 1 year of experience) so it could be completely my fault, but I can’t seem to catch any bass, maybe one if I’m lucky, once I move to a large pond/lake. I have a small pond in my neighborhood that I can catch multiple fish a day on multiple different lures. In the past week I’ve gone to two different “lakes” (honestly just oversized ponds) each for atleast 3 hours and one caught one fish between the two. I mainly go early morning and start with a walking bait or whopper plopper, lipless crankbait, and Texas rig tied on. I usually walk the entire bank throwing topwater down the bank followed by Texas rig and then fan out cast towards the middle of the water with my lipless. Any info on how to improve will be greatly appreciated

 

More Info on ponds I went to this week: no real coves or points, minimal structure above water and since I’m bank fishing not sure about underwater, I also noticed a lot of big fish swimming away from the bank as I walked past but when I bring my lure past them they also just swim away so think they might be carp (I’ve heard carp can ruin bass lakes but idk if that’s true) but that might be me making excuses.

 

sorry that this was a lot I’m just getting frustrated that I fish almost daily and can only catch fish from small ponds

See if either of these old posts help:

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Team9nine said:

See if either of these old posts help:

 

 

 

This was very insightful, thank you! I’ll be doing some careful scouting of the bank when I revisit one of these bodies of water tomorrow and the photos you posted should be helpful for reference.

I'm checking them out as well.  I have the same problems. I can go to my mother in laws small pond and catch bass after bass but NOT the case when I go to a larger body of water.  Sometimes I'll catch one or two at best but most of the time I get skunked.

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From the bank, or from a kayak, it's often best to treat it like a small pond.  Realize you can't possibly cover the whole lake, so break it down into something more manageable.  Put up some borders in your mind and block everything outside the borders out.  Pick an area that looks like the ponds you're familiar with, and just focus on that.  I like to find a cove or something and try to stay off the main lake unless it's the dead of winter or summer.  Then I'll usually look for a point I can walk out on, bridge, or dam.  Break down whatever area you choose and find the good spots in it.  It probably won't win you any tournaments, doing it like that, but it'll likely make the day more enjoyable for you.  This way you won't be overwhelmed by choices.