Pattern search

[snag-a-matic]

Hello, all. Been a long time but im back in a part of the country I can get back to bass fishing. Columbia SC! Been hitting up Weston Lake and haveing a heck of a time comeing up with what the bass want. Very clear water, 58-60 degree water, electronics are showing alot of fish in the inlets and secondary points mostly around alot of verticle tree stumps. These stumps keep most of the boats out so not alot of pressure in the area, but my kyak gets right back in there. Not seeing any fish moveing into shallows yet, not warm enough for that yet i guess. been experimenting with everything in the tacklebox, so far no hits on topwaters, spinnerbates, or crankbaits, caught a couple in the 1-2 lb range on watermelon and pumpkinseed colored worms and lizards, but nothing spectaculor, it definatly helped once i started tying on a lighter weight leader section and smaller baits with slower retireves. I still get the feeling like im missing the pattern. consistantly seeing the fish holding on the bottom or at close to 8 ft depth while moveing (dropshoting for this depth has been my best success so far). Any tips on isolating a pattern would be appreciated. Zooker, Reb, Lizards, good to see you guys still around the board!

[aikenyounggun]

um bein a SC guy i would try a c-rig, texas rig, or the like right now.... if you just want to catch some fish throw a shaky head.... but im not promising anything big with the shaky head...... soon they will spawn tho..... if it 60 they are really thinkin about moving up

[snag-a-matic]

thanks, allready been down the shakey head road, not impressed on this lake, course i could be just missing the color combo they looking for. headed back to the timber to try some more verticle jigging, maybe i can just drop it right on there noggin and knock-em out hehehe. gonna be tough in the wind with the kyak today...

[OrygunBasser]

At those temps, you should deffinatly have fish making beds and cruising the shallows, especially males. The females should be just out a bit deeper right now. Seems to me that you may just not be looking in the right area of the lake. Being in a Kyak makes you low to the water and you may be spooking fish by having to get in too close!

[aikenyounggun]

um yeah the fish are picky here... usually they start spawinin around 62 but if there is a little cold front (which keeps happenning) the fish move back down...... ohhh yeah throw jig or a jerkbait you will probably catch some fish... you might also want to throw a spinnerbait or rattle trap on a flat to catch cruisers

[keithdog]

I think I would try both a shallow diving and deep diving suspending jerk bait like a Rattln Rouge, or Rapala X Rap. Try retrieving the lure with slow tugs and long pauses. Or reel a few feet and then pause. Mix it up, and see what happens.

[zooker]

hey snag... nice to see the cat yanked ya up-finally-

bass are moving around right now. they can be shallow or deep depends on weather. since we have had some crappy weather the last couple weeks here they are moving shallow and biting decent in the rain. but a nice sunny day with some wind and they pull out and suspend in about 10 feet of water..


zooker

[MrPhotographer06]

i caught my PB last sunday at 7:40 on the bed. idk what the water temp was, i caught it on the bank. I'm from SC too.

[snag-a-matic]

yeah the cat (good old uncle sam) finally drug me out of cold rainy washington trout and salmon territory back down to warmer climates! And for once this warmer climate isnt Iraq so big bonus in my favor! Jigs in the timber definatley a good idea today 6 fish before the wind got to much for me to take! Still no hogs everything under 2 lbs but at least there biteing better! Never fails its the last thing you try haha. as for the kyak its a finesse boat with less disturbance and noise than any boat with trolling motor so i doubt im scareing em. not that it doesnt have its drawbacks its slow and cramped to sit in for long periods plus it'l make ya work to get back to the dock once the wind kicks up and if you think you cuss about ski boats and jet ski wakes while fishing you should see me get rilled up! I start slinging 1oz bullet weights at them bozoos, its a real pain to have to keep every piece of gear tied down and stowed when you deal with the very real possibility of rolling over, but it keeps you alert, gets you some exercise and i find i get out on the water with it alot more often than my old boat. 3-5 times a week rather than just on the weekends. I still think I have a color problem with my soft plastics, and cant believe none of the crankbaits or spinnerbaits are hitting yet! guys at work tell me this lake get pounded real hard with fishing pressure all summer, so maybe there are just some well educated bass around here. other thing i was thinking about, ive never used bait scents, any opinions on them?