Where the hell are the fish! ? 2024
Ksam1234 reply :
So first time ever. Past two days I have been completely skunked .. even morning bite and sundown bite. Nothing !! Tried 3 different places and even the same place twice and nothing. Tried every lure known to man ! Just no bites at all.. wonder if the world is comming to an end ha. Anyone else having bad luck lately ?
Mike L reply :
It happens to everybody once in a while.
They're still there, just not where you're at or they don't like how or what you're useing.
Best advise I can give is just keep fishin.
Mike
hawgwash reply :
Senko! 
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 2:31 AM, Mike L said:It happens to everybody once in a while.
They're still there, just not where you're at or they don't like how or what you're useing.
Best advise I can give is just keep fishin.
Mike
Yeah it was just a bad day. Hit a deer with my truck on the way to the lake and lost 2 lures today on top of no fish
On 9/18/2017 at 2:37 AM, hawgwash said:Senko!
Tried it lol
Sword of the Lord reply :
I was feeling the same way this morning but I kept on grinding away. Nothing was working. Eventually I saw this lady swimming right in front of me. She stopped and stared me down. That's how I know she is a she. She was admiring my charming good looks. Anyways I had a Texas Rigged Senko in the water about 15 yards away from her so I reeled in real fast and let it fall in front of her. Like any good gold digger she took it.
Really nothing more than dumb luck.
Sword of the Lord reply :
Almost missed the point of my reply! So as it usually seems to be, it's a matter of finding the bass. Burning a Senko and stopping it right in front of a fish isn't good technique. I mean there's no way that bass didn't see a stick of plastic flying at her like a bullet, yet she still took it. So she found me instead of me finding her. But my bait came before a bass and I got the bite. She was shallow. I was fishing shallow, but I was fishing along a weed line that usually holds them. She was roaming completely open weed free water near the shore.
38 Super Fan reply :
It's been tough here lately too. The Summer to Fall transition is probably the hardest time of year for me. Not only do the fish scatter out, they seem to get into bad moods more often this time of year too.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 4:22 AM, 38 Super Fan said:It's been tough here lately too. The Summer to Fall transition is probably the hardest time of year for me. Not only do the fish scatter out, they seem to get into bad moods more often this time of year too.
Yeah we keep having crazy temps which is warming and cooling the water fast so they don't know what's going on.. stuck in like an invetween stage. For a couple weeks it was like 60 during the day and as low as 38 at night, now this past 7 days has been 80 and sunny lol
BuzzHudson19c reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 5:03 AM, Ksam1234 said:Yeah we keep having crazy temps which is warming and cooling the water fast so they don't know what's going on.. stuck in like an invetween stage. For a couple weeks it was like 60 during the day and as low as 38 at night, now this past 7 days has been 80 and sunny lol
Yeah, we have a little summer hanging on up here. I noticed the water temps dropped to almost 60 last week and it's back up to around 68. The fall feed isn't in full swing but if you are targeting smallies in particular go shallow. From what I have seen the smallmouth have spread out and are shallow. The deeper current areas I fished all summer were pretty vacant.
IndianaOutdoors reply :
Marked a bunch of suspended bass this weekend. They were hanging at 10-15ft in 20-25 fow. Couldn't get a bite out there so I cranked the bottom in 10-15ft. Picked up a few small fish. Picked up a few more pitching a spinnerbait to weed edges and docks. They wouldn't hit the spinner on the move unless the wind was blowing and it was pretty calm most of the time.
flg2010 reply :
Look for a brand of custom fake worm you have not used before. That got me out of my funk
Rick Howard reply :
It's September in NY. Things are changing in the water. I would find green (healthy) weeds.
Darren. reply :
When I saw "skunked" in the same paragraph as
"first time ever" I did a facepalm. Dude. I've been
skunked more times that I wish to count.
Congrats on going so long w/o one!! 
I wish my
luck was that bad, LOL.
Sword of the Lord reply :
I think that I've been skunked only a few times all year. There would be a lot more but I fish multiple bodies of water in a day.
TOXIC reply :
If they ain't eatin, you ain't catchin no matter the reason. 
Keep after em!! Sooner or later they gotta eat.
NHBull reply :
Yesterday I was on the fish. I could see them and they were good sized. Hell I could have netted a few. NOTHING worked! As a last ditched effort, the wackyrig with 4 inch senko comes out and put 1 in the boat.
Still seeing a lot of suspended fish at 15-18 ft
Catt reply :
Some days are diamonds...some days are stones...some days ya better off not leaving home!
geo g reply :
South Florida, hot, water temps 90*, high water marks, thick vegetation, makes for tough fishing almost everywhere. It will not get better until it cools, and the water levels drop. The fish are still there, but buried in thick cover, or in places you can't get to them.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 7:47 PM, NHBull said:Yesterday I was on the fish. I could see them and they were good sized. Hell I could have netted a few. NOTHING worked! As a last ditched effort, the wackyrig with 4 inch senko comes out and put 1 in the boat.
Still seeing a lot of suspended fish at 15-18 ft
Yeah I'm just
hoping for some cooler days and the weather to stay around the same so I can find the right pattern. Just a matter of time
On 9/18/2017 at 7:23 PM, TOXIC said:If they ain't eatin, you ain't catchin no matter the reason.
Keep after em!! Sooner or later they gotta eat.
So true.. just have to camp out on my canoe and wait for that
moment hah
Chaddy reply :
I've been to the lake two rivers 6 ponds early and late had one person catch one brim on a live worm and bobber. This has been in the last 3 weeks. Water temperatures is around 76-78 degrees. I had no luck and it sure isn't fun.
WRB reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 1:14 AM, Ksam1234 said:So first time ever. Past two days I have been completely skunked .. even morning bite and sundown bite. Nothing !! Tried 3 different places and even the same place twice and nothing. Tried every lure known to man ! Just no bites at all.. wonder if the world is comming to an end ha. Anyone else having bad luck lately ?
Every lure known to man? My guess is you tried lures you normally use at the location you normally fish and the result was a skunk. You make your luck. Doing the same thing everyone else does will have the same result everyone doing thing has.
Did you try a slip shot rig, a punch rig, a swimbait or a rat,top water wake bait, a twin spin, under spin, tail spin, jerk bait, Scrounger jig, hair jig, etc,etc...the answer is no you didn't along with thousands of others.
Tom
Catt reply :
"If you do what you've done...you'll get what you've always got!"
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 9:05 AM, WRB said:Every lure known to man? My guess is you tried lures you normally use at the location you normally fish and the result was a skunk. You make your luck. Doing the same thing everyone else does will have the same result everyone doing thing has.
Did you try a slip shot rig, a punch rig, a swimbait or a rat,top water wake bait, a twin spin, under spin, tail spin, jerk bait, Scrounger jig, hair jig, etc,etc...the answer is no you didn't along with thousands of others.
Tom
Actually I did try a lot. I tried , crank bait, wake bait, Texas rig baits , senkos t rigged and wacky. Spinnerbait, jigs, swimbaits , swimjigs. Buzzbait , whopper plopper, underspin, lipless crankbaits, deep diver, shaky head, .. that's all the tackle I pretty much own so.. everything at my disposal I used. Oh and jerk baits and punch rigs. Weightless and with weight... might be missing a few things but that's all I own
DINK WHISPERER reply :
On 9/18/2017 at 9:03 PM, geo g said:South Florida, hot, water temps 90*, high water marks, thick vegetation, makes for tough fishing almost everywhere. It will not get better until it cools, and the water levels drop. The fish are still there, but buried in thick cover, or in places you can't get to them.
Very true here in FL. But, they can't hide anywhere from my 8 ft punch rod! I love this time of year because heavy cover fishing is my favorite way to fish.
Sword of the Lord reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 9:44 AM, Catt said:"If you do what you've done...you'll get what you've always got!"
The ole definition of insanity adage
Catt reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 9:59 AM, Sword of the Lord said:The ole definition of insanity adage
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”
WRB reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 9:47 AM, Ksam1234 said:Actually I did try a lot. I tried , crank bait, wake bait, Texas rig baits , senkos t rigged and wacky. Spinnerbait, jigs, swimbaits , swimjigs. Buzzbait , whopper plopper, underspin, lipless crankbaits, deep diver, shaky head, .. that's all the tackle I pretty much own so.. everything at my disposal I used. Oh and jerk baits and punch rigs. Weightless and with weight... might be missing a few things but that's all I own
Lures are not the key to catching bass, location and timing is. You only need 3 or 4 different lure types to fish the entire water column, changing constantly tells me you don't have a clue where to start or what to use.
I don't know if you are a shore angler but dought that with all the different lures you tried to use. Fall the bass are moving and they are not where they were, you need to use the most important tool you have and is located between your ears. Use your sonar if you have one and look for bird feeding on bait fish with your eyes. Determine what depth the bait is at and meter that depth where the bass should be located before tying on any lure.
Tom
Sword of the Lord reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 11:27 AM, WRB said:Lures are notvthevkeybto catching bass, location and timing is. You only 3 or 4 different lure types to fish the entire water column, changing constantly tells me you don't have a clue where to start or what to use.
I don't know if you are a shore angler but dought that with all the different lures you tried to use. Fall the bass are moving and they are not where they were, you need to use the most important tool you have and is located between your ears. Use your sonar if you have one and look for bird feeding on bait fish with your eyes. Determine what depth the bait is at and meter that depth where the bass should be located before tying on any lure.
Tom
Basically. Since I bank fish and hike a lot I go out with 2 setups and 3 baits. 2 bags of Senkos, 2 Whopper Ploppers, and 2 spinnerbaits. 2's for different colors. Rarely get skunked. Rarely have over 10 bass per trip too. But I go light, cover everything, and have fun.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 11:27 AM, WRB said:Lures are notvthevkeybto catching bass, location and timing is. You only 3 or 4 different lure types to fish the entire water column, changing constantly tells me you don't have a clue where to start or what to use.
I don't know if you are a shore angler but dought that with all the different lures you tried to use. Fall the bass are moving and they are not where they were, you need to use the most important tool you have and is located between your ears. Use your sonar if you have one and look for bird feeding on bait fish with your eyes. Determine what depth the bait is at and meter that depth where the bass should be located before tying on any lure.
Tom
I fish from my canoe and I am somewhat new to bass fishing but I also do know some stuff. I did look for baitfish and birds feeding on them and went in that area. Fished the water colum, I know fall is here and bass are moving. The lake has no creeks or anything deep running into it so I tried healthy weed areas with no success. I have a portable fish finder I used and found some fish but no bites there either. I heard lots of bait fish scattering about but just couldn't get anything that day.. could have been an off day .. I didn't start off just throwing random stuff. I had a plan it just didn't work so decided to try all of what I had .. that's all
deep reply :
The fish are either in the shallows, or in the deep water, or somewhere in-between lol. Treat it as a new reservoir that you have no prior knowledge of.
geo g reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 9:54 AM, DINK WHISPERER said:Very true here in FL. But, they can't hide anywhere from my 8 ft punch rod! I love this time of year because heavy cover fishing is my favorite way to fish.
That may be true for lakes with borders. But down here with the everglades, bass are so far out in the glades feeding on all the bugs, frogs, snakes, and everything else that lives in there, you can't get to them in a bass boat, an air boat maybe! Fishing four, or five hours, in the this heat, for one or two scattered bass just isn't my cup of tea! I know guys that will do that, and I respect them for their perseverance.
DINK WHISPERER reply :
On 9/19/2017 at 11:51 PM, geo g said:That may be true for lakes with borders. But down here with the everglades, bass are so far out in the glades feeding on all the bugs, frogs, snakes, and everything else that lives in there, you can't get to them in a bass boat, an air boat maybe! Fishing four, or five hours, in the this heat, for one or two scattered bass just isn't my cup of tea! I know guys that will do that, and I respect them for their perseverance.
Sadly I am one of those guys! Haha, I'll get the push pole out in a hurry on Okeechobee or Istokpoga. Much of those lakes also don't have accessible banks. Sometimes for only a couple of bites (usually big). I'm glad cooler weather is near though.
BassB8Caster reply :
When we start changing up lures, especially once we get past 4 or 5 baits, we start to get anxious. Things start getting in our heads. Lots of times we then start speeding things up. A fast erratic retrieve may work great some days. That one day you were out may not have been that day. If you are going to fast, it doesnt matter what you throw. Some days you just chalk it up to the skunk master. If i find myself going a decent amount of time (say 2 hours) without a bite, i will force myself to slooooowwwww down. I may stop a few minutes and collect my thoughts. There will be times where we think we are going slow, when in fact we still need to slow down more.
Like it was said above, you better get used to some skunk days. it happens. But learning from these poor days may be the biggest improvement to your future success. So what did you learn?
HookRz reply :
A lot of the smaller natural lakes here in NW Pa turned over early. Almost embarrassed by the number of bass I caught a week or so ago using jigworms on the deepest, greenest, weedlines I could find. Light heads, snap it off a stalk then let it slowly fall. Everyone else was complaining. Since then the warm spell has Fish moved shallow, almost like a second Spring.
This post got me thinking. You rarely read about turnover in bass media. Probably cuz reservoir impoundments with current don't really turn over in the classic sense. Recognizing turnover and post turnover used to be 101 basic, for fishing for any species. It's the tyranny of bass pro mentality. At this time of year, they generally fish somewhere warmer, in impoundments, or on huge natural lakes that turn over late.
Gundog reply :
What?.... Nobody owns any dynamite? Shees..kids these days. Back when I was a yungun, if those bass didn't hit a purple colored worm we just blew'em up. If that didn't work then we tried a whopper plopper. 
Ksam1234 reply :
On 9/20/2017 at 7:07 AM, HookRz said:A lot of the smaller natural lakes here in NW Pa turned over early. Almost embarrassed by the number of bass I caught a week or so ago using jigworms on the deepest, greenest, weedlines I could find. Light heads, snap it off a stalk then let it slowly fall. Everyone else was complaining. Since then the warm spell has Fish moved shallow, almost like a second Spring.
This post got me thinking. You rarely read about turnover in bass media. Probably cuz reservoir impoundments with current don't really turn over in the classic sense. Recognizing turnover and post turnover used to be 101 basic, for fishing for any species. It's the tyranny of bass pro mentality. At this time of year, they generally fish somewhere warmer, in impoundments, or on huge natural lakes that turn over late.
Yeah I think the Kate turned over as well. We had a huge storm with high winds plus cold. And it's small lake so might have happene d
DogBone_384 reply :
With the luck I've had lately, I'd say they're in Plymouth, MA ....
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