Fishing Slump

[slimshad09]

Try the tried and true "worm". Put a black 6 inch power worm on with a 1/8 oz tungsten weight and fish. Let it sit on the bottom and drag it as slow as you can. I don't do it enough, but it seems to get that monkey off your back.....

[zimmy]

Agree.....evertime i get in a "slump" with all my fancy new lures and techniques i put on a 6" black/blue fleck power worm and guess what.....catch fish. Maybe not limits but the good ol' worm will get on on the end of my rod most every time.

[slobslayer]

Agree.....evertime i get in a "slump" with all my fancy new lures and techniques i put on a 6" black/blue fleck power worm and guess what.....catch fish. Maybe not limits but the good ol' worm will get on on the end of my rod most every time.

Heeey, what's the big idea of telling the whole world how good that black/blue fleck power worm is? No seriously, that's the exact worm I tie on before every trip because it will catch fish most of the time.

[first2fish]

I have been there too. My problem this year is time on the water. But lately i have 2 go to lures that have been paying off under most conditions. Zoom speed craw..speed had nothing to do with it. Compact craw plastic with great action from the claws. Watermelon/red is my favorite color. Also berkley chigger craw {with crazy legs } has great action too. Black/blue and watermelon seed. I think it is the compact design of these plactic craws that is the attraction. Good luck and i hope your fishing improves. And when i have been in your situation i have always been told to slow down--way down and concentrate !

[fishhound]

i also have had my share of slumps sometimes ill jst stop fishing get in to something else i like to do (playing music) for awhile it seems to help me the mind plays a big part in all.

[kygorski]

My cure for a bass slump, is start fishing gills, or crappie, used to be trout but thats screwed up now. I'm not tied down to bass fishing only. In fact for about 5 years I never even fished for them, salmon was my choice followed by steel head.Dont need to cast artificials all day long, my boat is also set up troll, planer boards, down riggers, or what ever it takes. Its all fishing, and its all for MY enjoyment.

[walkeraviator]

See thats just it. I find zero enjoyment in falling asleep on a boat while a minnow dangles at the end of my rod...

[offdtop]

What methods have you been fishing? ie crankin, jigs, wormin etc.., the more specific you can be about the baits/color/sizes you are using the better because guys can give you tips they use - using the exact same baits. If you want to narrow it down this will definately help......

[walkeraviator]

This last trip with the water up at Taylorsville I was flipping a Texas Rig (1/2 oz lead bullet weight, EWG Hook. Tried 7inch Black Neon Ribbontail worm and Black Blue CrawBug) I also flipped some Jigs. one was black and blue 1/2 oz arky head, the other was a 3/8 oz PB&J Poison Spider Jig. Both using Paca Craw trailers. I tried a 1/2oz Craw colored Rat-L-Trap, and FireTiger Wiggle Wart, A White/Chartreuse Chatterbait, A White Spinner with a Willow/Colorado setup, Tried Dead Sticking a weightess Yum Dinger 5" in watermellonseed.

The Jig Fishing and Flipping in general is fairly new to me... these are the things I have confidence in as i have caught fish in teh past this way.

Kentucky Lake in the Spring...Slow rolling Crawdad Color Shad Raps, Fire Tiger Wiggle Warts, and Clown Colored X-Raps.

Everywhere else, it is Tennessee Shad Shadraps, Sexy Shad Series 3&5, Firetiger Wiggle Wart (my go to in case you missed that), White or Chartreuse Spinners, White and Chartreuse Buzz Baits, T-Rig 4 or 7 inch powerworms in Motor Oil, Black, Watermelon Red Flake, Green Pumpkin.

Night fishing...Black Spinner, Black BuzzBait, Black Painted Shadrap, or T-Rig with 4-7" Powerworms in Black, Black Neon, or Firetail if the moon is full.


I really am thinkin it may be more bad luck on picking the right weekends than anything. When at Kentucky we went early in teh spring bite for a normal year, but because of the super cold winter the water was still too cold for them to start coming up the main lake points. Then at Barren, the two times I went, there were tourneys going on that took relatively low weights to win, and I am pretty sure that at Taylorsville the fish were freaked at the high current from dropping the lake 1.5 feet per day.

I know that my confidence can be restored by hitting Barren in Sept-Oct with a Buzzbait. I would just like to catch something before then.. ya know?

[offdtop]

Sounds like finesse time!!! if you've read any other posts I've turned dozens of people onto shakey head. Don't get this confused it catches big fish and is the leading way the FLW Co-Anglers catch fish (and they're in the back of the boat). Elwood hit it on the head "dip the tails in chartreuse" - number one way to increase bites!! play the odds more bites more keepers. Try finesse jigs Col Forbin on here can point you in the right direction as to how to fish them, and go with all natural colors ie.. greens, I say this because you have been throwing the blacks with little success so, try to change it up.

On your chatterbait try the silver colored with a yamamoto twin tail blue glimmer trailer, the twin tail will increase bites as well (this is when you have stained to clear water). Even with the chart/white use a twin tailed white trailer.

Rattle traps, have you thrown black/chrome or blue/chrome? Have you tried downsizing to 1/4 oz? Pay attention to what you should use during low-light and bright sunny days - it will make all the difference in the world. Try the sexy shad colors as well my all time favorite is the xcalibur xr50 or xr75 in "foxy shad". No bites.... try adding a red hook to the front or using a dye pen add a chartreuse strip down the side.

Crankbaits... you may want to try the bomber fat free fingerling this is an awesome bait and will build confidence quick, my favorite is sexy shad or citruese shad.

There is a time to throw ribbon tail and a time to throw straight tailed worms, I find when the fish are more active the ribbon tail worms are best, this is for big worms and small worms alike, and when you shakey head fish you can go as big as 5/8 oz (xcite) or as small as 1/8 oz, I prefer the 3/16 for bank/shallow fishing and when I hit the ledges I go to the 5/8 xcite or crock-o-gator 3/4 oz shakey football style.

Last but not least "Dip all your green baits in chartreuse dye!!!!" in the words of Dave Stewart "it doesn't effect the largemouth but if there's a smallie there it will hack him off"

This last trip with the water up at Taylorsville I was flipping a Texas Rig (1/2 oz lead bullet weight, EWG Hook. Tried 7inch Black Neon Ribbontail worm and Black Blue CrawBug) I also flipped some Jigs. one was black and blue 1/2 oz arky head, the other was a 3/8 oz PB&J Poison Spider Jig. Both using Paca Craw trailers. I tried a 1/2oz Craw colored Rat-L-Trap, and FireTiger Wiggle Wart, A White/Chartreuse Chatterbait, A White Spinner with a Willow/Colorado setup, Tried Dead Sticking a weightess Yum Dinger 5" in watermellonseed.

The Jig Fishing and Flipping in general is fairly new to me... these are the things I have confidence in as i have caught fish in teh past this way.

Kentucky Lake in the Spring...Slow rolling Crawdad Color Shad Raps, Fire Tiger Wiggle Warts, and Clown Colored X-Raps.

Everywhere else, it is Tennessee Shad Shadraps, Sexy Shad Series 3&5, Firetiger Wiggle Wart (my go to in case you missed that), White or Chartreuse Spinners, White and Chartreuse Buzz Baits, T-Rig 4 or 7 inch powerworms in Motor Oil, Black, Watermelon Red Flake, Green Pumpkin.

Night fishing...Black Spinner, Black BuzzBait, Black Painted Shadrap, or T-Rig with 4-7" Powerworms in Black, Black Neon, or Firetail if the moon is full.


I really am thinkin it may be more bad luck on picking the right weekends than anything. When at Kentucky we went early in teh spring bite for a normal year, but because of the super cold winter the water was still too cold for them to start coming up the main lake points. Then at Barren, the two times I went, there were tourneys going on that took relatively low weights to win, and I am pretty sure that at Taylorsville the fish were freaked at the high current from dropping the lake 1.5 feet per day.

I know that my confidence can be restored by hitting Barren in Sept-Oct with a Buzzbait. I would just like to catch something before then.. ya know?

[walkeraviator]

I have attempted the shakey head a few times. I havent caught anything on it yet and therefore have low confidence with one. I have unpainted lead round and some painted footballs of different weights (although i have no idea just lookin at em how heavy they are). I have Berkley Powerbait Shaky worms in 5" lengths in Black, Watermelon Red Flake, and June Bug. I also have a few Sweet beavers in Watermelon Red Flake. I also have a pack of Yum crawbugs in Green Pumpkin I believe. Have tried them all and not caught anything yet...

Will the hit on a shaky head feel like a T-Rig thump or more like a jig feels when you pick it up??? Maybe my shaky technique is all wrong...

I know one limitation i have is that I am limited on Rod/Reel combos. I dont own a single spinning rod (and have no money to buy one this year...). I use my 6'6" MH rod with a baitcaster and 12 lb mono as that is what i have on everything. I know that what i want is a 7' ML-M spinning rod with 6-8lb flouro for finesse fishing, but is what i have gonna cause me issues???

[offdtop]

The best way to fish it is don't think of it as "shakey" think of it as if you are T-Rigging, drop your line down to 10lb and be sure to use flurocarbon, if money is tight get the seaguar red label and spool 1/2 the reel with whatever mono then finish off the spool with the fluro (you can get a couple refils this way with one spool).

My sugestion is use a "Spot remover" by buckeye lures shakey head jig heads, try the 1/4oz with your set up. As far as ideal set up - all I can tell you is mine and my preference - everybody is different. Mine is a Drop-shot MH Carrot stick, 7'2" with a shimano symetre 2500, and I exclusively use seaguar invizx 10lb, sometimes I drop to 8lb but mostly the 10lb.

Baits: you can rig it with sucess with any of the following: Zoom trick worms, NetBaits T-Mac's, Yum Dingers (4" or 5"), Yamamoto senko's. These are all finesse style worms/baits, you also can use 7" powerworms but remember the bigger the worm the longer the drop time depending on your weight of jig. I am being kind of specific to help you catch numbers here, increase numbers is the name of the game in a slump.

Again fish it like a t-rig and when you pull up on a rock or brush jiggle it without moving for a few seconds and get ready to set the hook. And the biggest thing I can tell you while fishing a worm is SLOW DOWN!!!!! ..... "I do go slow".... GO SLOWER!!! Patients is the name of the game and feel is a part of it, you have to feel your bait.