In need of dire help lol

[rman]

Ok, new here, couple posts under my belt
I tend to ramble, I'll try to cliff note this.

7 year old twins and I started fishing this past Easter. Have a tiny neighborhood pond with bluegill and turtles. Maybe a muskrat or nutria. beaver? Easy peasy.

Started trying other nearby ponds and lakes. Got obsessed with the gear aspect. Now have 3 spinning setups, 5 baitcasters, and 2 spincast (for the 2 younger kids).

We can't catch a bass to save our lives. Or a cat... or anything BUT a bluegill. Sometimes the bluegill even laugh at us.

Hit a new lake today, nothing. A family stopped in for 30 minutes, 10 year old caught a catfish on the first cast with an earthworm on a spincast combo, and a little girl caught a bass with an earthworm with a disney setup.

Here we are with 38 rods and 437 plano boxes just looking cool with no fish.

Even the dude with a fly setup that looked like it was made with twine, a branch, and rope on a bike sprocket was pulling in fish every second.


So what on earth are we doing wrong? I've tried wacky rigged and t-rigged senkos, topwater frogs, KVD crankbaits, rooster tail spinners.
I've cast parallel to the bank, in the weeds, through lily pads, along the dock, into the middle of the lake, slow retrieve, fast retrieve, yanking/sinking worms, etc.

Is there a better time of day? Is there some sort of cheating we can do to at least get them excited? Like a magic spell or something?

I do fear at somepoint my kids are going to get sick of the bluegill and lose interest in the hobby. Meanwhile I'm scouring ebay for wading boots, a jersey and fly vest.

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[rman]

damn, i rambled. Told y'all....

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[cortman]

Try fishing slower? Find cover and throw senkos at it. Time of day matters too, evenings and mornings are generally better about this time of year but it seems there's a time in the evening when they just shut down too.
Honestly, weightless flukes and wacky rigged senkos will catch fish if there are fish in that pond.

[rman]

been throwing the wacky rigged senkos to no avail. gonna get back out and try texas rigging exclusively...

I'm thinking maybe it's more location than anything. gonna try getting out earlier and hitting more cover, more shade.

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[Lipripper]

That's bad when even the Blue Gills shun your bait.  Keep trying it will happen.

[rman]

Well, I should be in good shape now... just won a Revo SX on ebay hahahahha

Now I just need a 28' tritoon

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[FloridaFishinFool]

Now I just need a 28' tritoon

Yeah, good luck getting one of those off ebay for cheap!   

[oldjim]

biggest minnows you can find and a bobber.
Oldjim

[analfisherman]

I'm not sure how your rigging your TX rigs but if you haven't already.....try doing it 'weightless'.

You mentioned you've witnessed others having success......use or present like they are.
( they probably have already been through the 'trial & error' stage and found what works where your fishing)

Early day and late day as mentioned are good times to fish........but the worst time for younguns....they are either worn out from the day or aren't ready to get started. 

Try cloudy days......they can be good from morning through out the day.

If you are feeling a lost of interest.......KIDS FLAT OUT LOVE TO CAST AND RETRIEVE! 
Get/use a worm like a Lake Fork Hyper Worm (my favorite for kids....but other paddle tail worms work OK too)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFjOLNhdyzk


Weightless


Weighted....in case you wish to make it easier to cast...or farther casts (I prefer weightless and casts just fine) and it shows the worm moving faster in the water too.

(side note....if the younguns prefer to reel in fast....a 'small' bullet head, not pegged will keep the worm lower/deeper in the water on retrieve....but even burning on the water top can catch fish  )

Let them simply cast them out as far or short as they want.....anywhere they want (TX rigged will go through grass, vegetation or open water)...and do what ever they want to....let it sit. let it sink, burn it back, slowly real back......do not try and coach them on how to work it....LET THEM SHOW YOU HOW TO CATCH FISH ON THEM. 

The cool thing is that no matter how little or how much action is used....that tail produces extreme action.

Side note;
started my grandson on these at age 8 and first outing using them......HE FLAT OUT, OUT FISHED BOTH MY SON AND I.....with absolutely ZERO input from either of us and it was on a small pond to boot. 

Oh........my post will help you to truly understand what the term....'rambling on' means!

[Smallie_Stalker]

So many things affect whether or not a fish takes your bait that it's hard to give a  one size fits all answer. There is no magic bait or formula or we would all be using it. 

Take a mental note of the areas you see others catching fish from. There may be some structure or cover below the surface you can't see that is holding the fish in that area. If possible fan cast every area you possibly can from as many different angles as you can. And yes, the large live shiners on a bobber may be the ticket, especially to keep the kids interested for now.

Depending on where you are located it is also possible the bass could be in a post-spawn funk or a transitional phase to or from it. This can be a tough time for any angler.

Lipripper's advice to just keep at it is spot on. When I first started actively targeting bass I think it took me about 6 or 7 months to catch the first one. 

[rman]

haha looks like I'm in good company.

Hit a lake "early" this morning (i slept in and we didn't get there until about 10)
As usual, someone shows up and catches something quickly with earthworms. Looked to be about 6-7lb channel cat.

I hit the dock from the bank, weightless senko T-rig, saw a couple jumps, got a bite but couldn't set. Another family saw it and dropped 3 lines right there from their little spin casts. I contemplated telling them to GTFO since I couldn't cast without crossing them or fearing I'd hook their daughter.

About to pack up for the day and another guy working the lake showed me a pic from 5 minutes prior, just snagged a nice 6-7lb bass.

Went to the otherside where he got it, fished for a few minutes. He came by and gave me a green Rage Tail and my first cast a big boy jumped up and spit my lure, looked me in the eyes and told me I set the hook like a girl.

Getting close(r)!
Stopped by Wally World and picked up some blue and green Rage Tails and a few other goodies.

Hopefully in a year I'll look back at this thread and laugh as I'm de-winterizing my bass boat and sporting the newest set of Shimano Angler Shoelaces and Daiwa elbow pads.

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[FloridaFishinFool]

Hit a lake "early" this morning (i slept in and we didn't get there until about 10)

Early??? The bite is often over and done with by 10am!   

First light BEFORE sunrise is usually real good!   

Now you and Princeton Man have something in common! Over sleeping! But no one else does it! 

[rman]

ha! i normally wake up at 6, but with the kids out of school I slept until about 8 this morning.

getting the kids 1)up and 2)out is going to be a challenge

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[Lipripper]

ha! i normally wake up at 6, but with the kids out of school I slept until about 8 this morning.

getting the kids 1)up and 2)out is going to be a challenge

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I can see where that would be a big task 

[islandbass]

I'd go live baits like rigglers and nightcrawlers, grubs, etc.  Minnows as already mentioned would work but they don't have those in my neck of the woods.

Most kids want results now or or they'd get bored quickly, lol.

With this strategy, you and they are bound to catch something, be it bass, or those laughing blue gill.

I don't know how much pressure the pond has on it fishing wise, but if possible use the light line you can get away with. It might help.

Also, time of day and temperature might affect the activity level of the fish.  Generally, I've noticed that early in the morning like before sunrise and late in the evening when the sun goes down seem to be decent times.

[cport]

Crickets and grass shrimp will often coax stubborn gills that have seen too many crawlers. Any carp in there? depending on local laws, you can take a can of corn and punch holes in it, tie a line to it and toss it out. After about 20 minutes, pull up the can, open it, and thread a couple kernels on a size 1 circle hook with a very light shot for casting weight. Hold on, some of those carp can get big!

[Smallie_Stalker]

I hit the dock from the bank, weightless senko T-rig, saw a couple jumps, got a bite but couldn't set.

Went to the otherside where he got it, fished for a few minutes. He came by and gave me a green Rage Tail and my first cast a big boy jumped up and spit my lure, looked me in the eyes and told me I set the hook like a girl.

Getting close(r)!

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Awesome!!! At least you are connecting with the fish.    You're almost there now. At this point it's just a matter of getting the timing of the hookset down. 

Don't want to complicate the matter any more for you but just be aware that there are different types of hooksets that work with different presentations. Setting the hook on a crankbait bite is totally different than setting the hook on a jig bite. Try doing a Google search and watch a few videos to get some ideas.

And keep us posted. 

[rman]

got bass 1 and 2 today, very small pond in a gated community across the street.
Not much room on the banks, and a good number of snakes we have yet to ID (plain belly vs cottonmouth, haven't gotten a good look at their heads).

Yesterday I grabbed a warmouth (or green sunfish, i dunno).



And of course today twin #1 gets a nice one and twin #2 gets a tiny tiny little one that slipped out of his hand into the water before we could grab a pic.

Damn "woops"s beat me. Which means either A) My first bass is going to be 10lbs or B) My first bass does not exist haha.



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[Lipripper]

got bass 1 and 2 today, very small pond in a gated community across the street.
Not much room on the banks, and a good number of snakes we have yet to ID (plain belly vs cottonmouth, haven't gotten a good look at their heads).

Yesterday I grabbed a warmouth (or green sunfish, i dunno).



And of course today twin #1 gets a nice one and twin #2 gets a tiny tiny little one that slipped out of his hand into the water before we could grab a pic.

Damn "woops"s beat me. Which means either A) My first bass is going to be 10lbs or B) My first bass does not exist haha.



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Love the look on your boys face.  Is that a box of night crawlers down there. I love fishing crawlers on my UL Ugly Stick with a small #6 or #8 size hook and a small split shot and toss it out without a bobber . Lots of fun.

[rman]

redworms, for whatever reason we've always had a lot of luck with those. The other day the same kid pulled up a bluegill with just a #12 salmon egg hook.

really glad he nabbed a bass. He's obsessed with catching catfish and gar, not knowing how different those are than bluegill... Here in the Trinity River where we have gar, they are reportedly as big as canoes lol.

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[Lipripper]

redworms, for whatever reason we've always had a lot of luck with those. The other day the same kid pulled up a bluegill with just a #12 salmon egg hook.

really glad he nabbed a bass. He's obsessed with catching catfish and gar, not knowing how different those are than bluegill... Here in the Trinity River where we have gar, they are reportedly as big as canoes lol.

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I was raised in Texas and heard about them Big Gar in the Trinity River. I've watched some fishing programs where they were fishing for them in the Trinity and they caught some monster ones. I was raised in Dallas.

[1ReelFanatik]

Well....if others are catching them on worms but you and the twins aren't on plastics, then maybe worms are the way to go.  Caught plenty of fish in my youth...many more than now....and live bait is all we used back then.  Seems like it still works. 

Got to tell you I'm about ready to go back to nightwalkers for much of my fishing.  I'm like you...looking cool with 52 rods and a trunk full of artificials, but fishless.  But what would I do with those 52 rods and trunk full of artificials? 

Have you tried any spinnerbaits yet?  Work pretty good on bass and pickerel.  Try some smaller Beetlespins if you want to catch some larger bluegills, warmouth (rock bass to me), large sunnies, crappies, etc.  Last time I was in Florida I caught a HUGE crappie on a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait.

I also have good luck with a weightless ribbontail worm.

[rman]

Well....if others are catching them on worms but you and the twins aren't on plastics, then maybe worms are the way to go.  Caught plenty of fish in my youth...many more than now....and live bait is all we used back then.  Seems like it still works. 

Got to tell you I'm about ready to go back to nightwalkers for much of my fishing.  I'm like you...looking cool with 52 rods and a trunk full of artificials, but fishless.  But what would I do with those 52 rods and trunk full of artificials? 

Have you tried any spinnerbaits yet?  Work pretty good on bass and pickerel.  Try some smaller Beetlespins if you want to catch some larger bluegills, warmouth (rock bass to me), large sunnies, crappies, etc.  Last time I was in Florida I caught a HUGE crappie on a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait.

I also have good luck with a weightless ribbontail worm.

glad someone else out there has the gear addiction as well!

we've all managed to catch bass now, but haven't figured it out quite yet. all on senkos.
in fact, i started another thread, my 2nd catch will probably be my PB for awhile


7.15lbs 24"

Our latest addiction is the local pond, throwing senkos for sunfish... It's getting expensive though... the Yum Dinkos don't have the weight and distance, also got a bag of BPS StickOs but haven't tried them yet.





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[GripRipsLips]

Good for you friend. Nothing is earned over night, congratulations I hope you break your PB NEXT FISH !

[1ReelFanatik]

glad someone else out there has the gear addiction as well!

we've all managed to catch bass now, but haven't figured it out quite yet. all on senkos.
in fact, i started another thread, my 2nd catch will probably be my PB for awhile


7.15lbs 24"

Our latest addiction is the local pond, throwing senkos for sunfish... It's getting expensive though... the Yum Dinkos don't have the weight and distance, also got a bag of BPS StickOs but haven't tried them yet.





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Verrah nice bass, my friend.