Help with fishing strategy

[Inglorious Bass]

Hey all!

Newbie fisherman here. I went out to a spot that I have caught fish at in the past (between Lac Leamy and the Ottawa River) but apart from landing a very small perch I had barely a bite all day.

I looked for cover and structure and started with a hula popper to see if any fish were interested, nope!

Then I went to spinners, tubes, jigs and finally a drop shot type rig. Not a great deal of success.

Every time I changed tactic I worried that maybe I hadn't given it enough time and changing tactics so often was a bit random. However the longer I stayed with a tactic I felt maybe I was just wasting time that I could be using to see what the fish wanted. A bit of a catch 22 I guess. I moved around a bit but in the end I ran out of time and headed home.

As I was crossing the bridge I took one last look at the water and I saw four 12-15 inch LMB in the weeds at a spot that was just out of reach from me all day, I could almost hear them laughing as I trudged back to the car.

My question is, how do you decide what tactics to use and how long to use them for before changing, are there any tactics you use when fish are this uninterested? What else could I have done?

[StarTzar]

Wow, that's a loaded question.

If you can't get to where the fish are, that is a whole different problem?
How long were you out there?
Did you try searching for similar spots elsewhere?
If you think that you are going to find fish at every outing on the same spots, it's not going to happen.

If I'm on a spot where I think there might be some "uninterested Bass", I'll slow down the presentation and keep at it until the bait falls in front of their face and I get a hit. In one tournament, this year, we stayed in the same area (the size of a two football fields) for approximately 6 hours using wacky rigged senkos. We got our limit; and considering that this was our second time on that lake, we figured that our day had been good.

[Inglorious Bass]

Wow, that's a loaded question.

Yeah sorry, I guess I am asking a very difficult question.

How long were you out there?

about 5 hours

Did you try searching for similar spots elsewhere?

Yes I worked along both banks

If you think that you are going to find fish at every outing on the same spots, it's not going to happen.

Thanks. I realize this, but added it to emphasize that I wasn't fishing in some barren stretch with no fish.

If I'm on a spot where I think there might be some "uninterested Bass", I'll slow down the presentation and keep at it until the bait falls in front of their face and I get a hit. In one tournament, this year, we stayed in the same area (the size of a two football fields) for approximately 6 hours using wacky rigged senkos. We got our limit; and considering that this was our second time on that lake, we figured that our day had been good.

Thanks for the advice. I forgot my pack of sencos so that was the only thing I didn't try. Would slowing down mean to let it sit on the bottom and just give it a twitch now and then?

I appreciate your help as I am very new to this but am learning a lot from folks such as yourself.

[StarTzar]

Yes, that is what I mean by slowing down. I call it "Slow Stitching".
It takes what seems like an eternity to get it back to the boat.

I also will bottom bounce a spinner baits. Cast out and let it drop to the bottom.
When it contacts bottom or heavy weeds, I'll jerk/rip it back up a few feet and let it drop down again.
I'll repeat the drop and jerk/rip all the way back to the boat. I usually get hits on the drop.
When using this technique, the use of spinner baits that have Colorado blades is somewhat better as the blades will slow down the drop.

You mention that you saw some fish in an area that you could not get to.
Are you limited by the boat you have or do you not have the proper gear to get the lures to those areas?

Lots of information can be had on Thursday night visits to Paddletales in Winchester.
Sometimes it is easier to get information and questions answered when you meet with someone face to face.

[Inglorious Bass]

You mention that you saw some fish in an area that you could not get to.
Are you limited by the boat you have or do you not have the proper gear to get the lures to those areas?

I was shore fishing and the particular spot was beyond my casting ability (and thick with weeds).

Thanks again for all the great tips. Looking forward to trying some slow presentation.

[bostonwhaler]

one of the things I have noticed is2 people can fish the exact same bait in the same boat and 1 catch fish and 1 not ( I am usually the not guy, lol ) except when it comes to trolling. you really have to find what works for you. the other pain in the butt is that spring summer and fall fishing is all very different ( i think) so what worked great for you at the start of the season wont work the hole way thru

[tbone1088]

Sounds like the fish moved on from your location. Fishing is alot about confidence, if you think fish are there then they probably are and I would stick it out for a little bit to try and catch them. If you still get nothing, then move around till you find some active fish that will actually hit your bait. Most people stay too long in one small stretch of water hoping the fish will come to them because they did another day... FISH KNOW HOW TO SWIM!! One other thing, I would downsize your baits a little bit too, we have had some colder weather and that makes bass lethargic and sometimes unwilling to hit bigger lures.

[Bassassins]

The guys above have give some great tips to help you narrow things down.

I do however want to give it a different perspective - confidence is key when fishing ANY tactic (could go back to the two guys in a boat fishing the same lure - one catching the other not mentioned above) you must have confidence in throwing what you have on, confidence in each cast you make will have a fish under it and confident that your retreive will get a hit. When you remove confidence from your approach you take away from the natural presentation of the lure by either reeling to fast, not giving baits enough time to sit, not pausing enough between twitches, short casting... The list could go on and on and on. When I arrive on the water, especially new water, I always have a "plan" based on the area/structure I will be fishing and I bring the 2 maybe 3 tactics that I am confidenct will work and I throw those all day long, no matter what, with confidence. You may have been casting to the right spots and using the right bait but if you didn't have confidenc or lost it in your approach maybe that was the lacking key. Just something to think about for next time... Find your go to baits and stick with them... If you want to try something different bring that and your 1 go to bait but fish the sh@t out of the new one to see if its worth additing to your arsenal.

Sorry if this does not answer your question directly but sometimes a lot of questions can be answer by a simple answer - believing in your abilities and work the plan.

Smooth

[tbone1088]

Another thing is that your confidence and ability to fish your lures properly will increase when you are at a place where you have caught fish, or know a spot is good. If I find myself getting bored or losing focus, its time to move on, try another spot. Even if you think there are still fish where you are, your not going to fish properly if your not paying attention. Also I wait to get to the spot before making judgements on tactics. Its nice to start out tactics your comfortable with, but the situation should determine what you throw. People get too hung up on what lure selection, the overwhelming majority of the time your just not where the fish are. I like to use lures that give me instant feedback on fish location, topwaters, spinners, lipless crankbaits, shallow running crankbaits. Hopefully you will get some fish with these baits, or you will get follows and bites. If you get follows then switch up your bait, if not MOVE! Musky fisherman have the best mentality, there goal is to RAISE fish (Find one then work at getting him to strike. If you think this way for other species your catch rate will go up for sure. It's not easy to do from shore, alot of walking involved, but thats the price to pay for catching fish and not just fishing

[scarkner]

Sometimes, it's just a bad day.

Can be all kinds of conditions from a full-moon the night before allowing the fish to feed all night, to a loud boat that passed by, wind blowing a different direction... whatever!

If i caught the same amount of fish at the same spot everytime, fishing would get pretty boring

I think your tactics to change things up is good, it's the best way to find out what works and doesn't. Sometimes you think you are getting pretty good results, only to find there is something even better (or vice versa). but like I said at the start, sometimes it's just a bad day, nothing works.

A friend of mine fished the rideau for 3 hours last week... nothing. Went out this week, same spot, same setup, said he practically had to beat the fish away from the boat with a stick (which for him means he caught a couple...