I share your frustrations. I stopped fishing for about ten years because of health problems. I restarted after Covid. I was shocked that my old fishing spots, where I could nearly always catch a fish, were overloaded with people and the bass were in hiding from constantly getting hammered with lures. I couldn't get a bite on the same lures I always caught fish on in the past. 

 

I don't have an easy answer for you. What I have done and am doing is using live bait during the worst of times and seasons. By mid-summer fishing is almost entirely with finesse lures. 

 

People aren't wanting to tell you much because they are having the same issues. Most youtube videos where they seem to catch fish left and right are after 8 hours on the water and much editing. Or even a couple days of fishing spliced together. I love Jimmy Houston, he doesn't try to fool anyone. Watched his video the other day and he said he had been sitting there for three hours without a bite before he finally caught a fish.

 

Another thing with professional fishermen is that they are often masters with just a few lures from many years of practice. My son in law is a professional fisherman and like him, one of my favorite lures is a spinnerbait. He can skip a spinnerbait around like other professionals skip wacky worms. He drops that thing in cover with the blades barely spinning and pulls out monsters. He works a spinnerbait in ways I likely never will. 

 

Find what you are good at and build on that. And give yourself a break, these are tough times to fish in. I try to enjoy just being outdoors in God's great creation. I don't always catch fish, but I have seen eagles, otters, had deer practically walk up to me, and much more just by being outside.

Darren, here's another video of a guy catching bass by just wading a shallow river. This would be great practice at detecting a strike:

 

 

Thank you everyone for the replies. you have all provided me useful information. 

As far as poles go I have 6 poles in my stable. 3 spinning rod/reel and 3 casting rod/reel. I have been using my spinning gear for wacky worms, ned rig and drop shot. Casting gear for Squarebill crank bait (my favorite), chatter bait and heavier Texas rigged plastics. 

I have a lake nearby that I usually do not go to (Lake Bowen in Inman SC) its a smaller lake but I think it may be best to focus on something small instead of Murray and Hartwell as I have done previous. I will try and focus on the shoreline that is mostly littered with boat docks and some laydowns. 

If I have to pick 2 lures I feel most comfortable with rigging and casting its going to be a plastic worm, unweighted wacky style and a square bill crank bait.

Thanks again everyone!!

I wish you well, Darren. Please keep posting at Bass Resource and share your successes (We'll cheer!) and failures (We'll commiserate.). I also urge you to consider the option of fishing less fished water. Here's a trip I took last fall to water that was difficult to reach. If you're willing to work, you can catch lots of bass (I caught 2,044 bass in 2024 and the Maine fishing season is relatively short.) and big bass like these:

 

 

Consider fishing the marina area where the boats are docked.

Good Fishing

IMO the most important thing is the lake you’re fishing. If the lake doesn’t have a good population of bass even the best can only do so good. Big lakes can be intimidating. Find a small lake with a good population of bass. And work fishy looking spots shallow.

1 hour ago, greentrout said:

Consider fishing the marina area where the boats are docked.

 

One time in Vicksburg, I fished the under an old marina's dock. There were holes in the boards big enough to fish through and I caught so many fish! It was a blast.

My previous comment got flagged and then deleted and I have no idea why, but I'm not gonna type it all again.

 

Bottom line is throw a Ned rig first at every spot

1 hour ago, 1984isNOW said:

My previous comment got flagged and then deleted and I have no idea why, but I'm not gonna type it all again.

 

Bottom line is throw a Ned rig first at every spot

There is some wisdom in that.

 

For me, throwing a subtle soft plastic bait is a technique I use when fishing pressured waters. After that, I then switch to a crankbait or other more noisy/intrusive lures. My thinking is that pressured fish will be more likely to commit to a subtle lure first, and if I use a crankbait, they are more likely to shut down feeding until all fishing activity ceases.

If you’re close to Murray and Hartwell, then check out Lake Russell if you haven’t already. In addition to the stuff your already throwing consider adding a shakeyhead to the line up.

Hi Ya'll

It's been a spell. I have had a few trips out recently that yielded success. Spent less time in the same spots as I normally did. It was like I picked a spot that looked swell and started fishing as I trolled along parallel to shore / dock line. If my partner or I had any bites we would spot lock a few moments to seek out a catch. Most of the time we would catch one at these spots but nothing repeated. Then we moved along rinse and repeat all along the areas we liked to look at. Taking in the natural beauty as we went along. I landed more fish in the past 2 trips than I have in the past 2 years combined. It wasn't a lot of fish I landed a 5lb Largemouth and several spotted bass. Brother caught several spots as well and a nice catfish.  

So I would say that catching fish made the trip more fun for sure. It also was nice to enjoy being on the water with family and being thankfull for the chance to even go fishing.

Thanks everyone.

Darren 

Wanted to put this in there too but can't figure out how to edit prev post. My bad.

The fish I caught were on mostly a wacky rigged 5"senko using a long shanked hook. 10# clear leader line about 6' tied to a 15# braid line. 7' medium fast rod and 2500 sized spinning reel. I also landed a few on bait casting a square bill crank bait. 7' medium heavy fast. I do also use a small 18" clear leader tied to braid for this setup.

Next trip I may try something called a neko rig in addition to continuing with wacky rig.

I do enjoy throwing and reeling so I will continue to practice the square bill but I want to learn a jerk bait as well.

24 minutes ago, Hi im Darren said:

Wanted to put this in there too but can't figure out how to edit prev post. My bad.

The fish I caught were on mostly a wacky rigged 5"senko using a long shanked hook. 10# clear leader line about 6' tied to a 15# braid line. 7' medium fast rod and 2500 sized spinning reel. I also landed a few on bait casting a square bill crank bait. 7' medium heavy fast. I do also use a small 18" clear leader tied to braid for this setup.

Next trip I may try something called a neko rig in addition to continuing with wacky rig.

I do enjoy throwing and reeling so I will continue to practice the square bill but I want to learn a jerk bait as well.

The Neko rig is quickly becoming my favorite way to fish docks. Hartwell is my home lake. I would not recommend anybody trying to get back into fishing and figuring things out to start on Hartwell. The herring make Hartwell a unique place that can drive the most experienced anglers mad. If ever there was a place to run and gun in fishing it would be Hartwell. Also if your boat has a 9.9 or smaller or you have a kayak then I suggest trying out Robinson or Cunningham in Greer. I've caught some huge bass out of both although Cunningham is alot smaller than Robinson it produces good fish just the same. It has just about every type of cover you could ask for and is a great place to reacquaint yourself with fishing different types of structure.

If you dropped me in a lake that I knew nothing about with no electronics, I'd throw a topwater that covers a lot of water like a buzzbait or Whopper Plopper early and keep moving unless I found them stacked somewhere. Then I'd start pitching to laydowns and docks when the sun got high. The Senko is hard to beat.

 

Try Lake Wateree, mid lake Tuesday-Thursday because it will be quieter. Between now and mid June you should be able to find bass in coves but still shallow. Look for any structure between the back of the cove and the mouth. Try around the shallow vegetation. Postspawn bass can be stubborn, but they will move away from the spawning areas and just kind of chill near some structure or cover. Hit every point, stump, anything that breaks up the flat mud bottom. Try spinner baits, T rigs, topwaters that cover a lot of area like buzzbait, Plopper. This is the time of year when the best bite moves from midday to morning/evening. 

 

Another good idea is to look for smaller waters, like Cheraw State Park, where you won't have a lot of competition and have the run of the lake. You'll know that at least you drug your lure by some bass. Just can't run a gas motor.

First off, there are times when I become the king of paralysis of analysis when it comes to fishing, especially come tournament time. So when I struggle, I do my best to keep it simple with just a few baits, especially a Senko.

 

But often times choosing the right bait isn't the issue. A lot of times it's the retrieve, so I force myself to mix it up. Sometimes it's the speed of the retrieve. Other times you need to hop it, yo you it, rip it, pulse it, let it sit, drag it, pause it, and the list goes on and on.

 

I'm glad to hear you've had more success lately.

A weightless 4 or 6 inch Senko will catch bass from Maine to Florida and coast to coast.  Change up the cadence and don’t be afraid to slow down.  A lot of bites happen on the slack fall or the long pause between movements.  Throw into cover, ledges, and points.  Slowing down is a good thing during the less active times of the day.

Sounds like you're executing a good plan. It should keep getting better over time. I like the plan of sticking to two main things and mixing in a third to learn. Something I could do better myself. 

15 hours ago, dytmook said:

Sounds like you're executing a good plan. It should keep getting better over time. I like the plan of sticking to two main things and mixing in a third to learn. Something I could do better myself. 

 

I started dropping down to only two lures per trip, sometimes just one, and my catch rates have gone up a lot. It makes me focus on technique and think about conditions a lot more before starting out.

 

OP based on your report, sounds like you're already doing this, but I think about my two lures as a "moving" and a "slow" one. Moving being things like bladed jigs, spinners, cranks, etc, and slow being mostly texas rigged soft plastics like worms, flukes, and creature. Colors will drive you wild, so just stick with a natural color like Green Pumpkin until you learn more. 

 

I start on my moving lure most days. That helps me know if fish are active and where they're holding. 

 

Once you learn more about conditions, you can start making educated guesses on what to throw. Until then a good "hack" is using an App. I use Bass Forecast because it has good lure suggestions. 

 
I gotta know the baits you’re trying now to get you 5-7 fish in total for two year’s efforts.  
 

but for starters , kudos  to the keeping on!  I’d be swinging on a golf course by now.   
 

 

You said you really enjoy square bills. The one key I can give you to using them is keep pounding them in to cover or the bottom. I crank really fast few slow cranks maybe a pause than back on it hard. You will break lips, you will get snagged but that’s the square bill life.

I would add a ned rig, tube, and senko to your arsenal.

 

Try find your own spots. And remember that just because you or someone else got fish in a certain location, with a certain bait on a certain day, does not guarantee future success. Conditions can change by the minute, forcing the fish to adapt. 
 

Start with main lake points or fish any visible cover. Look for differences, even subtle differences with your eyes and electronics. Maybe it’s a turn in the weed line, maybe there’s a change from large boulders to smaller chunk rock that you notice on the bank. Focus on the little things and that will help you eliminate as much water as possible. 
 

Time on the water helps and it sounds like you are due for some fish soon. 

On 4/29/2025 at 3:20 PM, geo g said:

A weightless 4 or 6 inch Senko will catch bass from Maine to Florida and coast to coast.  Change up the cadence and don’t be afraid to slow down.  A lot of bites happen on the slack fall or the long pause between movements.

 

I can't verify that the wacky works in Florida, but it sure works in Maine. I caught the majority of yesterday's bass on a wacky worm and I didn't feel half my hits, but rather saw them when the line twitched because the worm was falling when the bass took it.

 

1 hour ago, Susky River Rat said:

The one key I can give you to using them is keep pounding them in to cover or the bottom.

 

I'm too fraidy to cast treble hooks into cover, but I have good success with them in open water when I fast retrieve and them let them float up. It's up and down, up and down, like a roller coaster.

On 4/30/2025 at 8:22 AM, Darth-Baiter said:

but for starters , kudos  to the keeping on!  I’d be swinging on a golf course by now.  

 

So true. I salute your tenacity. I own property on a 169-acre lake and fish it often. Fishing the same water again and again and again means I've come to know it. I could point to a spot and say "Cast there." and then even tell you when the bass was about to hit your lure. On my lake, there are dozens of laydowns and I could fish 20 of them and catch nothing. Why? I don't know. However, there is one laydown on my lake that holds bass. Lots of bass. It looks like all the others, so I don't know why the bass prefer it, but they do.

 

Fishing is finding that one laydown, that one point, that one flat that the bass prefer...on that day. You have the tenacity to do this.

@Swamp Girl the whole susky is a rocky snagged filled mess. I learned to just chuck and hope 😂 that is the game I play. So if I go to a lake darn sure I’m casting into whatever mess is there. 

3 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

So if I go to a lake darn sure I’m casting into whatever mess is there. 

 

Congratulations. I have had luck using squarebills using a jerkbait type retrieve. I don't actually stop them, I reel the whole time, but I pull the lure with my rod, then reel up the slack. This gives me a start and stop, but the stop is never stopped, just much slower.

 

If you're having fun with squarebills, simply add another type of crankbait to it to change things up. I like the Bomber Fat Free Fingerling for a slightly deeper diving crankbait. They are cheap and work, but they also are a old school and sort of overlooked.

 

Honestly, I like H20X squarebills. Both the regular size and the 1/4oz mini size. That mini size is the stuff sometimes.

 

I've found color makes a lot of difference sometimes.

 

One way you can change a crankbait is to remove the metal split rings and replace them with a soft split ring from tied braided fishing line.