I live in NC. Out back I have a what looks like a man made canal/finder/channel of murky freshwater thats about 8 ft deep/ 60 ft wide. I’m stuck on my private 15x15 foot dock so I can’t move around the lake.

I’ve in the past have caught largemouth, smallmouth, carp, crappie, catfish and eel. 
I had to take 2 years off due to pancreatic cancer but now I’m back and still not so strong. I easily get tired so whatever time I can fish is precious. Somehow it feels there aren’t any fish or I’m missing something.

most days there currents created by the wind and there’s always wind. There no natural structures coming out the water or anything I can see from the bank which are lined with trimmed bushes none that stand out as a place from to hide.

I can’t spend a lot of time outback before I get exhausted. Can you guys and girls have some advice of anything 

I fish sometimes early morning, late afternoon about 5-6 pm. I’ve used soft baits, lots of assorted chatter baits, color appropriate lures… and nothing.

I can’t use any type of natural baits or lures cause I’m surrounded by a bunch of turtles every time I drop a line. I’ve tried drop rigs, Texas, Carolina, Alabama rigs, wacky rigs and tons of top water and spinning baits. Most times, I can get out my dock but not until at least noon because I’m at treatment or not feeling so great and don’t get out of bed till then.

i just wanna enjoy whatever time I got left.

 Thanks and God bless. Tight lines!

You have your own 15x15 private dock. Can you sink brushpiles concrete blocks... to sweeten it up? Or would that be too exhausting? 

 

I'm  recovering from esophagus surgery . Havent fished since May. I was sunned at how weak I was after two weeks in the hospital.

Your best bet is fish with a friend / neighbor willing to take you out.

Another option is start seeding / chum around the dock. Suggest buying meat worms and night crawlers and chumming those a few times a week, plus canned dog food. In a week or so fish will be drawn to the dock and fishing with unweighted tail hooked night crawlers should get results. When the fish return a unweighted 5” wacky rigged Senko should also work in lieu of the night crawlers.

Good luck, we will all 🙏 for you.

Tom

Do you own the water? Do you own the land under the water?

 

If you do, then maybe it is OK to do something like this without a license or state permission, but if it is a public body of water and you put things into it that could move around and or cause navigation hazards to others who don't know they are there could get you in hot water.

 

If it is public water I would check with your state's fish and game wardens or check the law on such things first. Maybe your local government has regulations to follow as well.

 

It might be a great idea, but I would just make sure its all legal and not going to cause anyone else any issues.

 

Hope you recover and strengthen up soon- and get back to fishing!

First off, congratulations on not allowing the cancer stop you. I’m on year 2 of “recovery” myself and still wear down pretty fast. 
 

That said, from your description of the water, my first thought would be slow rolling a single blade, black spinnerbait. That can be pretty physically taxing after a while though. My next thought would be a floating worm on a light wire hook, with a #2 splitshot about 15-18” in front of it. Slowly dragging that floating worm picks up fish that nothing else will. And if you’re looking for something faster, of the chuck and wind variety, try throwing a smallish, crappie sized spoon around. I’ve caught a whole lot of bass flinging a little gold Kastmaster. 
 

Those are the big ones we use fishing the stock tanks around here, which most are kind of muddy, shallow and devoid of any real cover. 

 

The original J11 Broken back Rapala maybe the best lure made for pond bass.

Tom

Well I hope ALL you guys continue to get healthier and stronger. 
 

It sounds as if the water has changed since you last fished it. If you had good success before but can't get bit now then there’s a fish problem and what that might be I couldn’t say.. 

 

I would try live bait probably. At least till you get stronger. 

Dangle a worm under a bobber, Leo. If that does't work, try a minnow. Pancreatic cancer is one of the worst. Congrats on surviving it. 

I see you live in NC, I lived there for a while too. 
What has your temperature been? My uncle had a pond in Wv, the fish just quit biting when the water go to warm, took awhile too cool off too.

If you can get your hands on a minnow trap to seem what’s out there. I used to start out putting the trap shallow, after checking it next day, to see what ya got. Then move it deeper, get an idea where the minnows are hanging and what kind you have in there.

 

Congrats on getting through your ordeal and focusing on something you enjoy @LEO9311! 

 

I've been giving this some thought. I also live in NC. I wonder if your fish have just moved off the bank for the summer. We're cooling down and hopefully they'll be back soon.

 

It terms of tackle I'm going to suggest something that works for my buddy who catches 30-40 sunfish a day on an urban lake in NC. I've not used this setup, but he swears by it. He uses very light tackle and the "Trout Magnet" system by Leland Lures. They're little jig heads, small floats, and pretty small plastics. You can get a box set of them on Amazon. They even have a special rod they make for it. 

 

Best of luck!

I like @GRiver and @Rucksack's suggestions.

Congrats on beating cancer ! That alone is amazing. Sometimes sitting on the dock taking in the sun and watching the water is what you need. We all love to fish but just being by the water sometimes is just as therapeutic as fishing. Drop shot a roboworm morning dawn.