Gangly

Ok guys, I'm getting a little frustrated with one of the lakes that I have been fishing lately. The lake is rectangular shapped, about 3-4 acres long, with some lilly pads lining the edge, but thats it. Its about200-300 feet across, and about 3-4 feet deep all the way across. The lake is man made via a dam, and is located above an older creek. Where the creek is at is approximately 5-6 feet deep and about 3-4 feet across. So basically, i have a 3-4 foot deep lake that is about 200-300 feet wide, and has avery narrow strip in the middle that is 5-6 feet deep and 3-4 feet wide. There is NO structure in the lake, the water is dirty (maybe 6 inches of visibility), and the bottom is silt.

Early on, I caught a decent Bowfin out of the lake on a Horny Toad, but since then, I have come up empty. I have tried 4 types of frogs, Senkos, various rapalas including X-Raps, Jigs, Swimming Jigs, Crawdads, Rattle-Traps, etc., and have come up emtpy with everything. I have fished it from top to bottom with various lures, but nothing works. The only lure i have gotten a hit on was a silver rattle trap with a blue back, but it didnt amount to much unfortunately. I have fished this lake past dark with not a single bite, and I have fished this lake from 5am to 8 am without a single bite. The entire time that I am out on the water though, I will see and hear fishing breaking the water surface all across the lake. Some of the surface eruptions are HUGE, but I cant seem to catch a darn thing. I have literally had only 1 bite in over a month on this lake since catching the bowfin. Finally, I went out and bought some live minnows hoping that would work, and allow me to check the stomaches to see what they are eating.I put the minnowsin my live bucket and dumped it over the side of the john boat. I got my boy's rod ready, reached into the bucket, and every single minnow was dead. I put my hands in the water and the water was HOT, well above 90 degrees. I guess the minnows couldnt handle it. We have gone almost a month with no rain and temps above 100.

Anyways, I need yalls help, I am FRUSTRATED! What do you think I should do, what baits or presentations shouldI try? I'm ready to give up on this lake but I know the fish are there, I just cant get them to take a lure.

What are ya'lls suggestions?

buckhunter14

I would try live bait. If you are seeing fish break the surface they are after minnows or bugs. You have to fish like what you are seeing. If small baitfish are breaking the water, I would imitate that by using a small rapala running 1-2' under the water.

If you see a lot of larger baitfish (bream, perch, crappie, etc.) I would get a chub/shiner minnow about 4 foot under ther water with a float and fish it in a deeper hole.

My guess would be that the main river bottom (old creek bed) would be the coolest part of the water. If you have low water and high air temperatures the fish find the coolest water possible.

Another option could be crickets on top of the water? This can be imitated with dry-flies or poppersand a fly fishing approach.



Lastly, when I can't get fish to hit top water, I have a go-to lure.

Storm Rattlin' Chug Bug

Gangly

I havent tried any pop or chug lures so that might be the ticket.

When i started looking closely, i didn't notice any shad or minnows anywhere in the lake, so Im not sure what the fish are after. They are hitting the surface so maybe the baitfish are there and im just not seeing them. I've run rapalas right up the creek to no effect, and I've run rapalas in the top half of the water with no effect.

Maybe Ill go pick up a grasshopper hard plastic and twitch it on the top, and get one of the storm lures you mentioned above. Something has to work, i just have to find the right ticket that allows me to play the game.

Thanx for the information Buckhunter, I appreciate it

Gangly

Which of those lures shown above do you recommend Buckhunter14?

Chuck7

Gangly...
Are you sure the fish jumping are bass? ..Reason I'm asking we have a few different kinds of fishdown here that bust the water
Gar
Tilapia
Suckermouthed catfish /armored catfish

IF they are bass for sure..than they should be able to be caught..

4 foot deep... Horny Toad should work for sure..

After a month of striking out..I'd be tempted to move to another location..Can you get access to a boat or are you fishing from the shore?
Also..aer you keeping your minnows in a cooler till you reach your spot? I put my shiners in a big cooler 1/3 full or they would not live for 5 minutes..There are also 2 types of minnows..If a shop sells Missouri Minnows I buy them..If they sell Bull Minnows.. I leave them alone..All the Bull Minnows I buy die instantly..They are a fatter minnow.The Missuri Minnow are the long skinny ones..

Gangly

These are long skinny minnows. I keep them for a few hours in an oxygen rich pressurized bag and they are perfectly healthy when i transfer them to the holding bucket. I've never had them die on me before, but then again, I dont think i have ever fished them in water this hot.

I'm fairly certain that they are bass. I can see the large mouth when they come up, and I can see the black stripe down the side onquite a fewof them. I could be mistaken though, I dont profess to be an expert on the matter so who knows .

Ive fished this lake hard with the horny toad and got nothing other than that initial bowfin. Ive fished it with the Horny Toad, the Stanley's Ribbit and the Scumfrog Bigfoot and have gotten zero bites.Maybe I am incorrectabout thelake holding bass, I know earlier this year that was a large quantity of fish that showed up dead on the banks (Hundreds)and so maybe the fish population has dwindled. However, one of thedead fish that hadnt been completely consumed was a 2-3 lb large mouth floatingalong the bank, so I know thatthere shouldbe some more bass in there.

I picked up a Storm Rattlin Chug Bug in the Gizzard Shad color configuration on lunch today and will give it a try soon enough. I looked for the Heedon that youhad pictured in the other post, but I couldnt remember what it looked like and didnt see any others that resembled what I thought it looked like.

Jeez, my wife isgonna kill me whenI tell her I picked up another lure, lol.

Gangly

fishing from a john boat

Chuck7

Gangly,
Don't waste your money on a Heddon..I'd feel bad if you dind't catch one..If you can't get one bite off a Horny Toad..in a month ..then I'd forget topwater..at least on this lake..I mean not one bite in a month..that is not good ..something is wrong..I'd say if there was bass in there ,there can't be very many..The fish kill doesn't sound good. Personally ..I'd move on to better waters..Your fishing place sounds like my deer hunting place.[&o]

OK ..I'll tell ya what I do when it's that bad...and if this won;t work..I'd quit..On a nice breesy day..I'd rig 2 rods up..Texas Rig..6 inch worms..I'd start at one end of the lake and drift..holding onto both rods..I'd fish the entire lake..If you don';t get a bite somethings up..Best worm...black, purple or red shad..BB shot for the weight..

Chuck7

Gangly,
torpedo Heddons are about 5.00 a piece.I have an extra one ..used but like NEW ...no marks on it and shiny..can send pics..I'll trade ya forone 5 piece bag of bullfrog colored Horny Toads..a 3.57 value
I'm not saying the Heddon will work but at least you will haev one?

marlin30/30_drabe

if your gonna try topwater use them on an overcast day or at dawn or dusk