Two Bites Finally - Prjavelin's Diary Updated 10/3/12 2024
prjavelin reply :
I have been skunked the last 5 times ive gone fishing. early morning , morning, mid day you name it. anything from places with big boulders to shallow to deep clay points. I mean anywhere its the same. I get nothing. In places where Ive catched fish before I cant catch a thing now. Im doing really bad.
First thing, Im fishing mostly spinnerbaits. Second lure its hardbaits(deep divers trying to find the deep bass and jerk baits)
The main forage is shad i think. The lake has clamshells everywhere and a LOT of them. I bet the population of shellcrackers must be very healthy. Third, bass must also eat some tilapia. We Have a very very strong population of tilapia here.
the plants here are these: (both are always found in less than 4 feet of water. when covered by water these plants die)
also these:
here are two more pictures of two usual environments in the shore towards deep water, this is the usual grounds here:
clay bottom, this is the spot where I caught my first bass. it was flooded then.
now this is rocky grounds:
this is another shell we have(lots of these too) that looks like a garden snail:
the temperatures have been in the 90's close to the 100's degrees. I can see the bass splashing in the middle of the lake eating from the schools of shad but I cant seem to find them close to shore and I fish from shore.
It seems to me like im either getting a boat or something that floats or anything or when summer starts my season ends. BTW the levels are going down consistently. its getting pretty low
Texfisherman reply :
As Summer kicks in, I find soft plastics to work better and better. If you're in a boat, I would work a t-rigged or wacky-rigged worm at those rocks. Cast right up on the edge of the rocks and slowly work the worm back to the boat. Take your time and give it a nice, slow presentation.
I love the picture of that rock line. Working slow-moving baits may make all the difference in this heat, even if you're shore fishing.
Just my thoughts.
Nitrofreak reply :
What you may want to try is a spoon, get it out there as far as you can especially around the clam shell areas, you can fish it a couple of different ways, swim it back to you or a "YO-YO" retreive, get it close to the bottom and even let it graze the bottom if you can.
central.PA.bass reply :
Hmm... you just listed 3 moving baits... spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jerkbaits.... try a soft plastic... The fish arent going after any moving type bait so throw out a senko or something and let it sink to the bottom and slowly twitch it back in..... If there are fish there... they will eat it. Good luck
rockchalk06 reply :
I agree with the Majority here, try a soft plastic. Texas rig it and see if you can use it top water. I am having the same issues here in Central OK. Its hot, 104 and no wind. Bass wont hit squat below the surface. I have been throwing a T-rigged worm and using top water poppers. I have been doing really good on both but a bit better on a popper. I kinda wait around between 630 am and 9am when the bass are pushing the bait fish closer to shore with some good success.
BTW kinda off subject, that is some dang pretty county there
dale.m reply :
The same thing is happening in my region as well. The fish will absolutely not bite on hard baits. I switched up to a t-rigged trick worm or senko and have been catching them steadily on that. They seem to like the watermelon seed and pumpkin/chartreuse colors in NC. Hope that helps some.
BassinNY reply :
T-Rigged Senko, Craw or Fat Ika worked slowly on the bottom may be your ticket. The summer can be tough at times, but patience on your presentations should pay off.
islandbass reply :
Finesse might be the way to go. I too would try plastics and use as light of a line as I can get away with, like 6# test.
5 times is not so bad. If you start feeling bad, dont'. I have gone through longer dry spells and many of us can. You might find some comfort to know that my brother went and entire season and a half before he caught his first bass by himself. It puts 5 skunk outs in perspective, lol. He lives in another state and I'd call him every time I caught one, lol.
prjavelin reply :
ive tried the soft plastics once or twice but ive had 0 success with them either. I cant say ive given those a fair shake though. Ive been casting spinnerbaits non stop because they were working out before the heat went up and the levels started to drop.
Unfortunately I cant get anything that floats yet so Im stuck at shore. 
the life of a poor fisherman.
edit: Im making justice to my tittle of skunk master lol
islandbass reply :
Just think of it as paying your dues. I too am shore bound and sometimes there are a few more trips with zero results than we want to have. Just stay with it and drop down to 6# test, flouro if you can. It just might be the edge.
prjavelin reply :
how about frogs or toads? i have 3 or 4, a hollow body, a horny toad and a crankbait looking one. Can I use one on top water maybe the hollow body or the horny toad? does these work on this lake where There arent many ?
Fishes in trees reply :
Those donut style belly boats are relatively inexpensive and this is the season and water temperatures for them. As for bait choices, I'd go finesse. 3/16 oz Brewer Slider heads, 4 inch worms, 6 lb test. Maybe some sort of 1/4 oz shaky head and a little bit bigger worm. Soft plastic, low and slow is probably the way to go on that water at this time.
roadwarrior reply :
Small swimbaits: Keitech Swing Impact Fat, Shadalicious, Hollow belly or Swimming Senko
Rage Tail Baby Craw
Rage Tail 7" Thumper or Anaconda
Rage Tail Single Tail Grub
Rage Tail Lizard
GYCB 5" Senko and Fat Ika
GYCB Kut Tail in a MegaStrike Shak-E2
Bandit 100, 200 or 300
Red Eyed Shad
Norman Fat Boy (Redear)
PopMax
prjavelin reply :
ill look into the floating boats. I don't know how to swim so I'm gonna be a little hesitant to get one. I will need a vest for sure.
here are a couple more pics of the lake.
many will say these look like many bass will hold there. think again. Ive never seen or caught one here(at least in the 4 months ive been fishing for bass)
are those holes bass nesting sites?
Broke bass fisherman reply :
Well if nothing else you have really beautiful scenery to look at while you are getting skunked.
ClackerBuzz reply :
everyone likes reactions baits b/c their more fun. when this happens to me i've learned to change my mind set. 1- i'm out there to enjoy a nice day in nature. 2- i cast a wack rig senko. 3-i look around and enjoy nature some more. 4-i set the hook when a tug interrupts my relaxation.
once you've got a bite take note of where, when, how, color etc and try to build on it.
prjavelin reply :
so yes, I went fishing today again. I got skunked again and rained on too. I had to cut my trip short. Fished for one hour pretty much. All and all I got some useful infomation from someone that was coming from the spot I was going into.
the spot is a series of points and coves. most are rocks like the ones I showed in the pictures. well there was this guy coming from there with his kid. He told me he caught 2 bass. One him and his kid had another one. Both were caught from the points casting into the middle of the lake. Both were caught with a brush hawg kind of plastic in a brown color. He had hard baits also tied to the other rods but caught nothing with those.
for the hour i spent there I used a trickworm in limetreuse color. Also tried a spinnerbait for a while. Fished one lure then the other for a little while and moved. that was my day pretty much.
I got soaked in water. Now I realize how having rain gear can save the day.
rockchalk06 reply :
You getting rain is more exciting than if you would have caught the state record!
mikey5string reply :
That water level looks low. Has the lake been drained recently?
Can you get ahold of a depth contour map?
prjavelin reply :
finally Did it, after 6 trips where I caught nothing I went fishing today and the lake had gone all the way up in the levels it was when I caught my first bass. So I went to a nearby spot that ive never been to and I broke the dry spell. it was amazing she jumped out of the water, went crazy, pulled and pulled and gave me a hell of a fight and took the first bass of my new rod honors. XD it was a blast!! I had a ton of pics that will be coming up in a few minutes. Can you guys guess what lure I used to catch her?
she was a fatty one, around 15 inches.
she was a beauty for sure. I kept it on the water and held her there because she was really spooked. I left her go after I saw she was breathing again and she wanted to leave. It was awesome.
one of the inflows in the lake.
i got lost on my way out and it sucked. i spent around half an hour walking around thru thick brushes until i decided i had to go back and i finally found the way out. I was scared I may had to call for help from the houses nearby. I was 50 meters from the dirt road it was embarrasing to say the least but i found my way. next time a machete will be with me to make the road.
Broke bass fisherman reply :
On 7/8/2012 at 6:32 AM, prjavelin said:she was a beauty for sure. I kept it on the water and held her there because she was really spooked. I left her go after I saw she was breathing again and she wanted to leave.
That is a nice fish congrats. Hopefully your luck will continue.
AR21angler reply :
Ditto On the soft plastics I've been doing very good on t rigged worms and occasionally lizard early in the morning and at about 7 in the afternoon
Busy reply :
Way to stay with it!! I'm glad you had fun 
prjavelin reply :
i almost went fishing now. it sucks that I could have but nobody wanted to go with me and Ive never gone fishing at night. Im kinda cautious about going alone.
MCS reply :
Nice catch! So what did you catch her on?
deep reply :
I sure would love to fish where you were fishing! Glad you beat the skunk.
prjavelin reply :
@MCS I caught it on a KVD spinnerbait. these are turning into my crutch really fast. btw I bought 2 terminators yesterday, so more and more Spinnerbaits for me.
@ deep, whenever you come to Puerto Rico for vacations or anything, Let me know and ill take some days off to take you fishing.
prjavelin reply :
Went fishing on Thursday. Man was I disappointed. 6 hours fishing and no bites yet for some reason I sticked to the same spot. My uncle was trolling the lake on his boat while I was fishing from shore and he told me the bite was slow. ******* has taken me fishing on his boat once in 2 decades. I hate when people are greedy. I was supposed to go fishing today since its ly day off from work but my wife I coming back from a weekend with her parents in a hotel, while i was working too, and her car is acting up so here I am waiting in case Anything happens. This last trip was hard to me took some of that desire to fish from me. I have to go to my best friend son birthday. So no fishing later today either. Tough times...
prjavelin reply :
I went fishing yesterday for two hours or so. The bass were going nuts on topwater eating shad. I couldn't catch one. If only I could cast farther I would be right on top of em. I will go fishing again on Sunday. I will go to a spot where I caught bass before.
deep reply :
No matter what guys say, it's not always easy to catch schooling bass that are busting baitfish on top. Ask me how I know?
HeavyDluxe reply :
Another novice, bank-bound angler here... I would add my voice to what others have posted. If the bass are passive and holding down in cooler, deeper water, then slowly dragging/twitching a soft plastic sounds like a reasonable approach. Gets the bait to them, keeps it down there and provokes a strike.
I know *I* don't want to chase anything much this time of year...
The best advice someone gave me was to watch bassresource videos on YouTube about jig basics (I was using GYCB Fat Ikas on the end of the line). That has made a huge difference in my fishing so far this summer.
prjavelin reply :
A tropical storm just passed thru here. I have a day off and like the wfn saying: everyday its a great day for fishing. Yes I'm going fishing, I know the odds are against me. Same thought I had before and I've caught fish. I'll be fishing for two hours. Hopefully the lake doesn't look like hot chocolate.
I will fish a anaconda, spinnerbaits and a senko. Maybe a livetarget crank
prjavelin reply :
Skunked again. For some reason the bass were at the weeds not where I was where there aren't as many weeds. It's been 4 skunks back to back, close to 6 like the last time. I only fished for 2.5 hrs. I used the baits I talked about in the previous post.
I noticed that my reel got broken in or something cause all of a sudden it started casting a mile and feeling extremely smooth. Has anyone else noticed this with their reels? Mine is a daiwa laguna. I will put vocal bearing on it and polish it when I get a chance.
MCS reply :
The two tropical storms that passed near here in Jax this year, the best bite was the day or so before and during. Once the storm passed it was weeks before the bite came back on.
prjavelin reply :
And Im back at 5 skunks. This sucks. the lake was kinda weird. It was a cloudy day and the fish were NOT splashing and eating on top water like they usually do. Maybe they were somewhere else. I didnt heard many splashes from bass. for some reason either the reel keeps breaking in or im getting better or both. I can cast really far with it with minimal effort. I did a guesstimation and I think im between 80-120 feet.
I used poppers, the rage shad and spinnerbaits. There was a lot of dirt and leaves in top of the water which made it worse if i tried surface lures. I may go fishing tomorrow again but ill go to another lake(30min farther than my home lake). I dont know.... wish me luck i guess.
the picture in the first post is the picture with the spot i was fishing, the one with no water on it and bushes in the back part of it.
MarkH024 reply :
Sometimes even in the best "conditions" they wont bite on the surface. Did you have a cold front come through? In any event, whenever the bite is tough, slow down. Work a worm on the bottom or through the weeds. Slow and subtle is your ticket to a non-skunked day. I like to power fish about 95% of the time. Cranks, spinners, jerkbaits, flukes, etc...anything that creates reaction bites. If that stuff isn't doing it for them, then I will switch to a texas rig, wacky or shakey head. Something a little more subtle. Usually you'll find one hungry mama.
prjavelin reply :
im starting to try to back away from the power fishing style ive adopted and going into a finnesse fishing style. I believe this may suit my lake and the actual condition im in. Im thinking about shakey heads, hopping jigs, senkos again, developing skills on the texas AND carolina rigs. So im watching a lot of fishing videos. Im trying to figure out what do I need to fish those styles.
like you say, reaction strikes are so fun. sometimes you just have to go with something that catches fish. Bottom line i want to catch fish regularly. right now regularly is one ever 3 weeks or something stupid like that.
prjavelin reply :
6 empty trips. the levels of the lake went UP. I have 3 or 4 spots to fish when i used to have a TON of shoreline spots. For the next trip im gonna consider two things since im fishing from the shore: im gonna go into a different reservoir or im gonna go extremely early to see if i can catch the early risers. Im kinda frustrated.
I need a boat, a canoe, anything that may help me float and reach those places where the fish are holding. My situation sucks!
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
You need a NEW spot!
prjavelin reply :
I finally broke the spell. It was kinda weird cause I went over to talk to the ranger and he is also a fisherman and he has caught only 2 bass in that lake. I started talking about tackle with him and I told him about senkos, he didnt knew what were the senkos so I brought my tackle box over and showed him and then I did the most reasonable thing, gave him two senkos and a hook. He was really happy and thankful. I then went to fish by the boat ramp, there was nobody fishing the lake but me. I went over to pick up the spinnerbait rod and I something told me to go with the senko like I told the guy. made my first cast and by the time I was doing the third pull she took my line in and I pulled her out. I couldnt get the hook out so I cut the line and I slid the eye out and off of the fish. She is not as big as she looks like. She is around 11-12 inches.
Another fact is that the lake went WAY up almost about to spill over.
I fish from shore that boat is the boat of the rangers. I have 2 spots that I can fish right now. I used to have like 15 with the lower levels.
I saw somebody selling a bass hunter 10.2 for 750 obo. I dont know if that a good deal but It doesnt have the trailer and Im gonna pull it with a car so i need a trailer. I need something to float and fish in this lake.
Sniffles reply :
On 8/29/2012 at 1:24 PM, prjavelin said:I finally broke the spell. It was kinda weird cause I went over to talk to the ranger and he is also a fisherman and he has caught only 2 bass in that lake. I started talking about tackle with him and I told him about senkos, he didnt knew what were the senkos so I brought my tackle box over and showed him and then I did the most reasonable thing, gave him two senkos and a hook. He was really happy and thankful. I then went to fish by the boat ramp, there was nobody fishing the lake but me. I went over to pick up the spinnerbait rod and I something told me to go with the senko like I told the guy. made my first cast and by the time I was doing the third pull she took my line in and I pulled her out. I couldnt get the hook out so I cut the line and I slid the eye out and off of the fish. She is not as big as she looks like. She is around 11-12 inches.
Another fact is that the lake went WAY up almost about to spill over.
I fish from shore that boat is the boat of the rangers. I have 2 spots that I can fish right now. I used to have like 15 with the lower levels.
I saw somebody selling a bass hunter 10.2 for 750 obo. I dont know if that a good deal but It doesnt have the trailer and Im gonna pull it with a car so i need a trailer. I need something to float and fish in this lake.
Why not just get a kayak. If you dont have alot of money just get a more affordable sit-in. Its what I have, and If I want to stand I just find a nice peice of shore I otherwise couldnt have reached and get out. And also have a blast doing most of my fishing from the yak. My Sit-in is just a pelican, one hatch in rear, Two flush rod holder built in the back, great for trolling. and one scotty rod holder in the front. I only paid 200$ new and couldnt be happier
prjavelin reply :
The lake is changing a LOT. I got fishing today for like 2 hours. the fish were going crazy all over the place I could see many 2-3 inch bass 1 foot from shore. I also saw a lot of tilapia small mostly. I had a big 3-5 pound fish couple feet from shore that I tried luring into my spinnerbait. It just looked at it and showed no interest. Still seeing a big bass feet from shore is better than seeing a lot of bass in the middle of the lake where I cant catch them.
I guess things are looking up!!!
deep reply :
Sounds like it's going to be a good Fall for you PR. Good luck, and good fishing!
prjavelin reply :
I dont know if I should be happy or mad. screw it im happy. I got 2 bites today in around 1 hour of fishing. considering I was catching 1 bass per month I think it was a good day. First fish came after pulling a jig head on the bottom thru rocks.the action simulated something feeding on the bottom. I got her on a cheap spinning setup i have with 6# mono . when she, a 12-14 inch bass, came close to me she jumped out of the water like these beautiful creatures love to do and broke my line. considering i have a baitcaster with 50 pound braid I almost punched myself. It was the only worm i had on that color, it was a ashy linda silvery color. I emptied the tackle box looking for another and I found nothing. A bright green worm, a limetreuse, and a brown worm(straight tail from zoom that has a fatty end. sorry i cant remember the name) ohhh yeah zoom trick worm.
second came on the brown worm same presentation and it bit the worm like 4 feet from shore started running, i didnt set the hook right and i missed her. Either way Ive finally figured a way to entice bites.
I WAS STOKED. maybe next time i get to pull one and I get more pics.
what jig head is good for dragging on the bottom?
deep reply :
Good stuff PR. Glad to know you're getting some action!
pbrussell reply :
On 10/4/2012 at 10:35 AM, prjavelin said:I dont know if I should be happy or mad. screw it im happy. I got 2 bites today in around 1 hour of fishing. considering I was catching 1 bass per month I think it was a good day. First fish came after pulling a jig head on the bottom thru rocks.the action simulated something feeding on the bottom. I got her on a cheap spinning setup i have with 6# mono . when she, a 12-14 inch bass, came close to me she jumped out of the water like these beautiful creatures love to do and broke my line. considering i have a baitcaster with 50 pound braid I almost punched myself. It was the only worm i had on that color, it was a ashy linda silvery color. I emptied the tackle box looking for another and I found nothing. A bright green worm, a limetreuse, and a brown worm(straight tail from zoom that has a fatty end. sorry i cant remember the name) ohhh yeah zoom trick worm.
second came on the brown worm same presentation and it bit the worm like 4 feet from shore started running, i didnt set the hook right and i missed her. Either way Ive finally figured a way to entice bites.
I WAS STOKED. maybe next time i get to pull one and I get more pics.
what jig head is good for dragging on the bottom?
Way to look at the positive. Now you can take the information you gathered in that hour and apply it next time. For your next go around perhaps you can take your baitcaster with braid and a slightly heavier jighead and use the same methods. This will not only ensure your line not breaking, but I would imagine the braid would have more sensitivity than the cheaper mono you were using despite the pound test difference.
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