Today, I went to the local reservoir, which is just a large flood control pond.

 

Here's the report,

turned down the frog

one on a Texas rigged worm

one on a curly tail grub

turned down the baby brush hog

turned down the jig

turned down baby fluke split shot rig

turned down weightless brush hog via my 5 year old

turned down hula popper via my 5 year old

turned down weightless fluke via my 5 year old

turned down 1/8 bitsy minnow squarebill 

one on a 1/4oz squarebill

another on 1/8oz grub

another on 1/4 squarebill

 

In about 2 1/2 hours I caught 5, but it was a hard bite. Right when I was getting ready to leave I tried the 1/4oz squarebill and it immediately got a small one. Then in about 10 minutes another one. I think they were keying on shad type moving baits.

 

I didn't have time to experiment more because the boy was nagging to leave, and it was hot and miserable.

 

I did try the 1/4oz squarebill late and I think it would have done okay, but I did work a little bit of shoreline with it and only got 2.

 

The bitsy minnow I didn't use a lot, and it doesn't cast very far so I'm not surprised it wasn't fire.

 

I did see a lot of small minnows/baitfish on the surface and popping as bluegill were after them. I'm not sure what all of it was, but there was a lot of mosquito fish.

 

I need some advice on what I should have done differently, what likely would have worked better. I need advice on how to get keyed in on what they want faster, rather than continue to try the same things that aren't producing. 

19 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

I need some advice on what I should have done differently, what likely would have worked better. I need advice on how to get keyed in on what they want faster, rather than continue to try the same things that aren't producing. 

Perhaps a good way to help other bassheads out with your questions,

would be to fill this log out.

Everything ABOVE where is asks 'total number of fish'.

This type of information can be very helpful in determining how, where & when to fish.

Probably far more important than what lures you used to get no bites.

A-Jay

That's handy, I didn't know anything like that existed. Thanks @A-Jay

 

Now, In my mind (whether it's uselss info or not), I think it's very important what didn't work. Especially the baby brush hog and the fluke, since those are my go-to lures.

 

My thinking is, since the fluke didn't work, and there were baitfish around, that they wanted a faster moving lure such as a crankbait or spinnerbait.

I'm assuming you were fishing from the bank.

 

What jumps out at me is that your trip appears to be a search for the right lure.  I do not approach fishing this way.  That said,  I don't fish from the bank so I don't have the same limitation as a bank fisherman where lure selection may be the only variable in some circumstances. What I would suggest is to consider other variables like the depth you are fishing,  the speed of retrieve,  the angle of your retrieve,  is the wind blowing toward you or away from you.  Are the fish relating to certain type of cover/structure.  I look at lures as tools that allow me to fish certain places in certain ways.  Some lures allow me to fish on top of the water,  some on the bottom.  Some lures allow me to fish fast, others slow.  Some make noise, some don't.  Do I need a weedless lure?  The list goes on.  I do think that some lures just seem to have that magic something that generates bites but I first try to determine the bigger picture.  For example, if I determine that they are hitting on top,  then I try to dial in the magic topwater bait that will maximize my catch.

 

Right or wrong,  after catching a fish on the T-Rig and grub,  I would have been trying to dial that in.  Why did I catch those fish?  Does it suggest a slow retrieve on the bottom is the key?  Should I try different size worms or different actions? 

 

Focus on why they are bitting the lure not what lure they are bitting.

Generally in the mid summer, I assume that they are keying on threadfin and start there. I’ll usually start with a spinnerbait, then do some targeted casts with a topwater.

 

If neither is getting any attention, I go to a lipless crank, and see if I get hits or followers. Once that slows down, I switch to a free rigged Zipper worm or a Tiny Fluke on a dropshot.

Most of the time I find myself alternating between the spinnerbait and dropshot. 
 

Edited July 28, 2025Jul 28 by ElGuapo928

It sounds like conditions may have changed on you multiple times, but the fact that a horizontal presentation accounted for your catches (I assume you were swimming the grub) you may have wasted time and effort with slower, more vertical presentations.

I always learn something from the first fish I catch, that's why it's imperative to know what you were doing when you catch it. Small bait, big bait, fast, slow, horizontal, vertical, where in the water column and was it an aggressive bite? Something about what you did to catch that first one triggered a response, so don't switch to something that doesn't include any of those factors. At the least, eliminate one at a time, say a spinnerbait for a swim jig or square bill, or a silent crank for one with rattles.

Thanks Joe. I had not considered horizontal vs vertical. Yes, I was swimming the grub.

 

Part of my problem is I have a hard time thinking through it and making decisions on the water. Analyzing it after the fact helps me to make real time decisions in the future.

Vertical vs. horizontal was emphasized a lot by Al and Ron Lindner of In-Fisherman years ago.  I have always found their method very intuitive, and it is how I also tend to think about breaking things down -- start with two factors: (1) top vs. middle vs. bottom of the water column, and (2) horizontal vs. vertical (or stationary) presentation.  Then, experiment further with additional factors like size, profile, speed, and (last) color.  

 

Using this scheme, I would classify the grub and crankbait as middle/horizontal (unless you were crawling them right on the bottom, which would be bottom/horizontal).  I would classify the worm as vertical/bottom, under the assumption that it falls to the bottom before you move it. (unless it was hit mid-column before it hit the bottom). 

 

"middle/horizontal" is the classic swimming/moving bait presentation.  it can be fished fast, covering a lot of area. If bass are active, chasing, and keying in on baitfish, they will hit this kind of presentation.  Given this produced 4 of your 5 fish, I would have stuck with mid-column swimming presentations and experimented with retrieve speed, changes in speed and direction, pauses and such.  Maybe tried adjusting size and profile (fat vs. long and skinny). 

 

Vertical presentations that hit the bottom, hop, or crawl almost always can get a bass if you hit the right spot.  But they are slow, and it's hard to find the right location, so they are not very time-efficient unless you know that's what bass are going for. This can be the most productive if bass are hunkered down and less willing to chase.  This produced 1 of your 5 fish, so don't ignore it completely, but maybe come back to it if the moving bait bite slows.  Experiment with speed and size.

 

You didn't have any action on top.  I often start out trying topwater, but I will also give up on it pretty quicky if I don't see any evidence bass are willing to attack the surface.  But If clouds roll in or I find shade somewhere, i might try again. 

 

24 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Vertical vs. horizontal was emphasized a lot by Al and Ron Lindner of In-Fisherman years ago.  I have always found their method very intuitive, and it is how I also tend to think about breaking things down -- start with two factors: (1) top vs. middle vs. bottom of the water column, and (2) horizontal vs. vertical (or stationary) presentation.  Then, experiment further with additional factors like size, profile, speed, and (last) color.  

 

Using this scheme, I would classify the grub and crankbait as middle/horizontal (unless you were crawling them right on the bottom, which would be bottom/horizontal).  I would classify the worm as vertical/bottom, under the assumption that it falls to the bottom before you move it. (unless it was hit mid-column before it hit the bottom). 

 

"middle/horizontal" is the classic swimming/moving bait presentation.  it can be fished fast, covering a lot of area. If bass are active, chasing, and keying in on baitfish, they will hit this kind of presentation.  Given this produced 4 of your 5 fish, I would have stuck with mid-column swimming presentations and experimented with retrieve speed, changes in speed and direction, pauses and such.  Maybe tried adjusting size and profile (fat vs. long and skinny). 

 

Vertical presentations that hit the bottom, hop, or crawl almost always can get a bass if you hit the right spot.  But they are slow, and it's hard to find the right location, so they are not very time-efficient unless you know that's what bass are going for. This can be the most productive if bass are hunkered down and less willing to chase.  This produced 1 of your 5 fish, so don't ignore it completely, but maybe come back to it if the moving bait bite slows.  Experiment with speed and size.

 

You didn't have any action on top.  I often start out trying topwater, but I will also give up on it pretty quicky if I don't see any evidence bass are willing to attack the surface.  But If clouds roll in or I find shade somewhere, i might try again. 

 

Thank you very much. This gives me a lot to chew on.

What stands out to me is the horizontal vs vertical. That’s why I’ll throw. Jig a lot. It can swim,hop drag. Covers all the parts of the water column. 
 

honestly. That’s a lot of lure switching in 2.5 hours. I know people argue against force feeding fish your lure. But I tend to stick to 1-2 and that’s it when I go out. Don’t let analysis by paralysis get ya. Don’t overthink it 

Hey, it's the dog days and you caught 5 bass. Concentrate on what worked and dig deeper. Also, literally fish deeper. "Deeper" is a relative concept in ponds. Look for cover and structure that's closer to deeper water. Any moving water is good. Find the bluegill beds and fish all around them.

 

I've probably caught half my fish this year on a Yum Dinger. It's a very boring bait. I don't even enjoy it. But looking back at my fishing log tells me I need to keep some in the boat. A few of my best fish this year have come by casting it on top of lilies and dragging it off the edge, near deeper water, like at the dam of a pond. I don't maintain contact with the lure. Let it drop on slack line, then just tighten up. Often the bass is moving with it when I reel up the slack.

 

If none of the conventional bass lures work, you can downsize and find a bass. You'll be surprised how many bass will be where you just fished when you go to a finesse bait. Ned, tiny fluke on a jighead, splitshot rig with a 4" worm or lizard should keep the skunk off the boat. 

I'm the same as MIbassyaker.  Are they up or down in the water column and do they want something horizontal or vertical.  Some days you will have an intuitive sense and start with one or the other, but if it isn't working swap around (probably where I fail the most).  If it is a morning or night I am starting up top.  If I don't get bites I will probably stick with it longer than I should because I love a topwater bite and this time of year I have confidence in it.  I'm sure it has cost me fish being stubborn.  I'll then progress through a horizontal moving bait of some type (spinnerbait, bladed jig, crankbait) to cover water and when I come to a piece of cover that looks like it just has to have one I'll throw a bottom bait into it, either a texas rig or a jig.  When I swap back to the moving bait I might swap to a different color/profile/size depending if it was working or not (e.g. if a bluegill bladed jig wasn't doing it, I'll grab a shad spinnerbait).  If the fish aren't eating horizontal baits at all and only want bottom baits, then I'll pull out a more finesse bottom bait like a neko or a ned.  When you do that, you lose a bit of the 'searching' capability, but you can still fish a ned reasonably quickly (though you're verging on a horizontal bait at that point).  And a neko doesn't have to be slow either.  Lately that has been my preferred finesse bait because I can throw it into cover or open, not hang up, move it reasonably quickly, and still get bit.

I forgot to add that when all else fails, dragging a 4” straight tail worm on a splitshot rig can put a few in the bag. 
 

 

If it was hot and miserable, I'd go home and come back another day.

 

Or just stay home and select another day that's more comfortable.

First off, five from the shore on a hot day in July is pretty good.

 

Second off, fish a Ned.

 

Lastly, as others have stated, cast to cover. Here's a bass I caught on the edge of pondweed this morning:

 

 

Look to the right and left of the bass. Look behind it too. See the cover pert near everywhere? That's where I catch bass.

 

P. S. - Get a boat. I've seen canoes for as little as a hundred bucks. An old canoe can take you to cover. Warning: Once you start to fish cover, it'll be Mr. Toad's wild ride. Sometimes you'll be the bug and sometimes you'll be the windshield. I had a big bass this morning bolt for lily pads. I just couldn't turn her and she unbuttoned in the pads. 

I would go buy more lures to try.

2 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I would go buy more lures to try.

 

The Monkey gives you a cut, huh?

4 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

The Monkey gives you a cut, huh?

Gives me a cut! He has severed an artery and bleed me dry.  He has been my financial adviser for far too many years.  I'm beginning to think he might not have my best interests in mind when giving me investment advice.  To late to jump ship now.  I am going to have to live off of Bait Monkey investments when I retire, It looks like I will be having bass for dinner every night in my golden years. 

KISS;  top horizontal moving lure, middle water column horizontal moving, bottom both horizontal and verticals slower moving lures.

Tom

2 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

KISS;  top horizontal moving lure, middle water column horizontal moving, bottom both horizontal and verticals slower moving lures.

Tom

 

Incidentally, you could do all of those with a single lure.  In fact, a couple different lures can cover all of that.  A texas rigged worm can swim top/middle/bottom or hop.  A ned or a lipless crankbait can do the same.  All depending on cover.

5 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 If it is a morning or night I am starting up top.  If I don't get bites I will probably stick with it longer than I should because I love a topwater bite and this time of year I have confidence in it.  I'm sure it has cost me fish being stubborn.  

But then when one crushes that topwater later in the day, after the smaller bass bite slows down, it tends to be a bigger bass. Keeping a topwater tied on later in the day this year has really changed the way I think about topwater fishing.

Lots to chew on here, thank you all. And yeah, I know that this time of year it's hard and I normally do okay.

 

The hit I got on the texas rigged worm was on the initial fall, not on the bottom.

 

@Swamp Girl, I always fish any available cover. I lose a lot of texas rigs and grubs.

 

And, yeah I need to either figure out what to do with my pond boat or get a new one. I'll probably get one come tax season. That though, is sort of a different animal. I still want to become the best bank angler I can be.

 

Regarding lure changes, let me clarify. I had 4 rods with me. So I didn't change that many, but I had 4 tied on to start and did change a few. The frog is the only one that stayed on for the duration of that trip, only because I didn't want to fish anything else on that rod. 

 

Usually I fish 2 or 3 lures/rods at a spot, fan casting and hitting what cover and structure I know of, then I move down the shore 25 yards or so and repeat. About 3 times of that and I'll change 1 or 2 of the lure selections depending on what they are.

 

For example, I might change from a fluke to a crankbait, but retain the texas rig, keeping with a fish presentation. Or change from a baby brush hog to a jig, but again, keeping with bottom presentation.

 

I also tried the fluke both at the top, just under the surface as a near topwater, and lower in the water column.

25 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

But then when one crushes that topwater later in the day, after the smaller bass bite slows down, it tends to be a bigger bass. Keeping a topwater tied on later in the day this year has really changed the way I think about topwater fishing.

 

I know fish eat topwaters throughout the day, it just hasn't been an effective technique for my waters most of the time.  The main exception has been when they are in grass mats and looking up.  Then they will come up for a big spoon or sometimes a frog coming across the mat.  I mostly don't have the big open water chasers of baitfish.  Most of my lakes are fairly heavy grass in the depths that fish are holding in and are clear so the grass grows down to 15' in most lakes.  Now fishing my dad's local last month I was catching them on a buzzbait at noon, but that was 1' visibility and scrubby cover- some submerged land vegetation mixed with a little milfoil.  The fish were in 2-3' of water so a buzzbait was a pretty good choice.  I just haven't had that here.  

7 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

@Swamp Girl, I always fish any available cover. I lose a lot of texas rigs and grubs.

 

I assume you're losing lures because you're boat-less. I lose few lures.

 

I'm learning that cover varies. The grass that lies flat on the top of the water is only good if you cast into it. Pondweed, on the other hand, produces more if you cast about two feet from it. I try to place my lure right along the edge of lily pads, as tight as possible, or in openings. Reeds and wild rice are great in May and again in the fall. Cabbage is consistently productive, but also holds pike and pickerel. However, what works in a Maine pond and bog might not apply to Kentucky. 

3 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

Incidentally, you could do all of those with a single lure.  In fact, a couple different lures can cover all of that.  A texas rigged worm can swim top/middle/bottom or hop.  A ned or a lipless crankbait can do the same.  All depending on cover.

Not effectively, worm surfaces or rarely works, swimming a worm isn’t a starter, but bottom contact lure it excels. 
A top water lure like popper or dog walking, a mid column lure like a crank bait or swim jig and the T-rigged worm for bottom. 
Multiple choices for each top, mid water column and bottom,  but not suggesting a panacea do it all lure.

Can a worm work; sure rigged weightless on the+surface, change the hook to a keel weight and swim it, then change the hook add a bullet sinker and work the bottom, you may catch bass, ideal no!

Tom