Calling It Quits 2024

Charness0001 reply :

At what point on a given lake do you call it quits? I live in elizabethtown,ky and we have a local public park with a 100 acre lake. I know there are fish there but I just can't seem to locate them here. I can drive an hour or so and hit a couple bigger lakes that I can consistently catch fish but for some reason this little lake drives me nuts. At what point do you decide to give up on a lake. Also this lake also has no visible cover in the water, no vegetation, just nothing besides some Christmas trees the park people dump in there.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

If you know there's fish in there, why give up? If it were me, I'd keep fishing it as long as I could. Especially if the next lakes are an hour away. If you know where those Xmas trees are, fish around them. They make for really good fish attracters. When you catch fish, take note of when/where you caught them and what the weather conditions were like.

Shane J reply :

I wouldn't give up on it ever until I caught Hawgzilla that is probably living there. Public park ponds usually get pounded to crap by every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town, so you are going to have to be patient, possibly trying things you haven't yet, but most importantly... never give up!!

Teal reply :

Dude...stick with it.

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

If its highly pressured, find out what the local tackle shops and department store fishing sections carry and then make sure your throwing something completely different. Fish can get used to seeing the same lures day in/day out.

FishinDaddy reply :

I have fished about a hundred lakes over the last 10 years and there is one, the closest one to my house, that I have not caught a fish out of. I have lots of choices but I keep going back to this one every few months just out of pride. I will catch a fish out of it.

Keep fishing yours until you catch at least one. Then you can "choose" to never fish it again.

Shane J reply :

Good point, FD. Reminds me of a little lake that's only about 15 minutes from me, and on the way to a bigger better lake I fish here and there. I had stopped there a couple times to check it out, saw tiny bass around the shore line, but for 2 years, probably 5 or 6 times out there, I could never find the bigger fish. I kept at it, using the same big jigs and plastics, even though a couple locals said "there ain't no big fish in there." Well, I eventually did get that bigger fish, a healthy 5.5 pounder on a Tx rigged Lobster. I just had to do it for me, just to prove that I could catch a better fish there and prove a couple friends wrong. I haven't fished it since. Keep at it, and when you do catch a good one, it'll make you smile!

roadwarrior reply :

Why keep fishing in the Dead Sea? Lots of water sucks, especially unmanaged public ponds.

Some were never stocked, others have been poisoned and many dry up during droughts. We

have hundreds of ponds in the Memphis Metropolitan Area, I fish three. Go to the lakes you

mentioned where you know there are fish.

Darren. reply :

If it were me, I'd hit it on occasion, certainly not with any regularity. I fish as a hobby, for "the love of the game", so I prefer to go where I've been productive. If the skunk bites me at those lakes, I keep at it because I know it won't last. Just my .02

WRB reply :

IF you know there is a decent bass population in the small lake, then fish it at night or very early dawn when there isn't any local fishing pressure. No reason to punish yourself trying to catch bass where few if any live just to prove you can.

Tom

ProCrafter reply :

First....do you do a journal?...if not, time to start...log the date, time of day weather conditions I believe the site has a sheet to download for this. Next start taking just one set up per trip....100 acres should be easily approachable with this....say a Senko......fished wacky and fished from weedlines, near docks, etc and log your results, alot of guys only log fish caught...concentrate on where, when bites occured as these are giving you "Bites"of information to improve on the next time.....next trip same thing and you will see patterns emerge as to feeding times of day, barimetric pressure variance, fishing pressure times.

flippin and pitchin reply :

Some waters are like banging your head against a brick wall.......it feels good when you stop.

Nashua Nev reply :

I guess i am in with most of them... Dont stop. Keep trying different things. If you catch anything at all, good chance there is bigger. Very unlikely to catch the biggest one in a pond. Full moon, night time , midnight to 5 am. I have heard the term the 1 am bite several times. Good chance you will not see me out there at 1 am though. 5 am yes, but not 1. i need my beauty sleep

deaknh03 reply :

Give up. Send me your gear.

papajoe222 reply :

I've dealt with a similar situation and would only visit the nonproductive lake a few times a season. I finally figured out how to catch some fish and was pleasantly surprised at their size as I'd assumed there wouldn't be any decent size fish because of the lake's accessibility. I had given up on it until I began night fishing with some regularity and decided to give it another shot at night. My guess is that with the lack of cover and structure, the fish suspended and roamed during the day and wouldn't get active until low light conditions. The first time I night fished it was during a first quarter moon phase and I was pleased at my success. The second time was during a full moon on a cloudless night and I was only rewarded with one nine inch dink.

Catching fish is fun, that's why we do it. Figuring out how to get them to bite is rewarding, that's why we persist at it.

Charness0001 reply :

You can't fish there at night, they don't open til 7am and then close at dusk. It's an electric motor only lake so it takes a bit with a trolling to locate fish, and I do catch fish there just not on a regular basis. It's like this lake never has a pattern bc there's nothing in itwhen I go there my goal is to catch 5 fish fish like as tournament would and I may spend 5 or 6 hours trying to locate 5 bass which is crazy just for a 100 acre lake

ColdSVT reply :

apparently I am in the minority here. I would fish that lake non stop until I figured it out.

I have a similar lake near me. it took me forever to get a clue there but this year finally I wieghed fish in two tournys on that lake. I didnt win but I wieghed fish dammit! and thats a start!

Bankbeater reply :

I have a pond like that. I use to hit it 3x or 4x a year with nothing to show for it. Two years ago everything came together and I got my PB for the year out of that pond. Now that I have it figured out, it rarely skunks me.

ClackerBuzz reply :

great thread. if i had other productive water available close by, i would prefer it.

however like others i would still have an itch to master that lake and hook a lunker.

i would focus on early AM during the spawn and cast jigs and anything that vibrates.

second best would be AM anytime of year. i would serious downsize to 1/16-1/8oz soft plastics and drop shot the rest of day/summer. it sounds like the lake has a very stable environment so small is better when trying to 'figure them out'. once you have a consistent clue, up size again. i have a similar pond near me and tossing a 5" weightless senko is like throwing a 5lb rock. just too much for the heavy pressured, scarce cover, stable environment. your lake has a feeder stream. it brings oxygen and food. find the feeder stream and you'll find fish.

Nashua Nev reply :

well i am still thinking i would be putting in the time. I would be there at 7 am ready to go and/or i would show up 2 hours before they kick you out. Sighting them during the spawn.? look for the nests ? I am new at this technigue but that is also something to try. Only you can decide if you want to put in the time. electric motor on slow slow speed for trollling is exectally what you want when trolling. Throw out a couple different things. bring a book , a radio and a beverage and relax for a couple hours and troll the area. or give up, but that word is not typically in my thinking. where there is a will there is a way.

bullett 21 reply :

Try some drop shot method .in the trees and brush

Charness0001 reply :

Headed there again tomorrow, water is finally up to around 50 degrees so I hope I can get on them.

Oregon Native reply :

Have fished some of these types of fisheries. I like a small rapala quivered on the surface very patiently on light line...then twitched gently under. (gold or silver) A three inch YUM Dinger fished slow with no weight.

BassThumb reply :

If there is no visible cover, then look for anything on the bottom to hold fish. I would try bottom contact lures to search for rockpiles or sunken trees and such.

JT Bagwell reply :

One of my favorite places to fish is a 167 acre local lake that is crazy tough.

Most people call it "lake no fish" or "the dead sea" because it's so challenging.

I'll give you some encouragement and say I live up north where the Bass don't get giant and I caught an 8-14 as well as several 6's and 7's there.

Just keep trying and use a jig. :-)

LWD reply :

I have a lake like this in my area. I fished there for 3 months with nothing to show for it. One day I was relaxing in my kayak deadsticking a senko, then it hit. I still get skunked plenty times going to that lake. But once in a blue moon they bite, and when they do its not uncommon to catch more than one. And the fish coming out of it are much bigger than the stocked lake fish nearby.

Big-O reply :

I like this thread as well And I too am reminded of a lake I fished when I was much younger and my Dad was still living. He had fished it with me the first couple of times and we seemed to struggle to find a dependable pattern during those outings... I told him that I was disappointed and didn't like fishing it as much as other more productive waters we regularly visited.

He chuckled and said that if I just wanted to be a fish catcher, we could go to those other lakes and leave that one alone. But if I wanted to be a fish finder, I should continue my efforts on that particular lake... As it turned out, that lake had many off shore changes with good numbers of hungry fish and it helped me to understand mid lake fishing much better than the other lakes where the close to shoreline fishing was much easier. I caught a few bigger than average fish there as well but the biggest plus on that lake turned out to be the mid summer night bite, it was GREAT.

If you decide to try it a few more times, the warmer water should help things alot and from your description of it, chances are the shorelines are pressured more so that mid lake areas and the christmas tree sets are possibly good targets for you seek out. But don't just look for those, search out other changes both natural and/or man made that aren't as obvious to the masses... Electronics would be a must, a topo map or google map could be a big asset as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide and the main thing is Have FUN or Don't do it

Felix77 reply :

If you know there is fish in there then take it as a challenge. I have a lake very close to home which gets a ton of pressure. It's less than 10 minutes from home so it's convenient to run over there and get a good hour or 2 of fishing when I want after work. When I walk out of there having caught fish I feel like a champ! When I get skunked I make sure and learn something to apply the next time.

MARSH MASTER reply :

Go to the other lakes catch those fish and release them in that lake closest to you. eventualy you will catch those fish again.

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

Two hours from Elizabethtown to the dam at KY/Barkley.

No brainer for weekends or when it's more than just to wet a line. As for the ponds, I typically go BIG in places like that mostly because very few, if any, other people do it.

Bass Junkie reply :

Ike said it best

Silas reply :

What did Einstein say......Crazy is doing the same thing time after time expecting different results. I don't think it is "failure" on your part to "give up" on a certain body of water.

Simply choose another body of water.....life is too short to beat the dead horse. Don't let your pride get in the way of success.

Bassguytom reply :

If you have thrown a senko all around the lake and have not caught anything give up there are no bass in there. You could also try getting off the bank with a kayak or canoe. Good luck.

DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only reply :

Study your depth finder looking for fish. Sit in a promising looking spot, park the boat and look for bass activity. Look for the fish food ( are there frogs,Cray fish, shinners, shad, bluegilld ECT.) When all else doesn't fails drive around and talk to other boaters. Drive around and see what the other fishermen are doing. Don't steal their spot but try to imitate it in a similar spot.

My 0.02

Jay-

Nashua Nev reply :

find the structure (ambush spot) , find the bait fish (food) , find the oxygen (green growing anything) you find the bass and other predator fish. Pickerel etc...

Nitrofreak reply :

There is a level of success here that does not include fish, the question is though, did you learn anything from not catching any fish?

High pressured bodies of water with no cover to speak of other than a brush pile or two, usually equates to a very slow day, if you know there are fish in there for sure, then you need to slow way down, high pressured waters are nothing more than a mindset in my opinion, you have to approach these waters very differently, fish spook really easily, so stealth may be a factor, slow moving baits with a more natural look like jigs may be what you need, small baits may be in order here, it really depends on the forage this lake has to offer, you should take a step back and talk to the local game and fisheries and see if any kind of bait fish are stocked and if so decide your colors and size based on some of that info, figure out the bait fish habits and concentrate on that pattern, generally hard to fish or high pressured waters are great learning curves for days on your favorite lakes when the fish that often bite for some reason or another do not bite on a given day.

If you are looking to be successful, be successful by learning the lake, the fish will be an added bonus.

senile1 reply :

Quote

Big O Stated:

He chuckled and said that if I just wanted to be a fish catcher, we could go to those other lakes and leave that one alone. But if I wanted to be a fish finder, I should continue my efforts on that particular lake... As it turned out, that lake had many off shore changes with good numbers of hungry fish and it helped me to understand mid lake fishing much better than the other lakes where the close to shoreline fishing was much easier.

Your Dad was a very wise man, Big O.

South FLA reply :

I fished small waters almost exclusively as a kid and into college. In all the ponds, my best fish came fishing offshore not nearshore spots. Nevertheless, if you can talk to your local wildlife officer sometimes they will electroshock local park ponds and they can relay the results. What most of them find, at least from my experience, is lots of small fish with SOME HAWGS sprinkled in.

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