how to catch bass consistently?
i first started fishing this pond about a week ago. caught 9 bass in under 2 hours. now i fish once every day and i have only caught like 2. i have been using powerbait storm wildeye live sunfish. it has been a little colder recently. please help
Comments
You need to take a couple days off and give the bass in the pond a break. They're getting wise to your lure presentations...
Bass are cold blooded animals. When the temperature drops so does their activity.
They also don't always feed everyday, especially the larger ones.
Heavy pressure can stress them out and they will become more cautious. Don't fish it everyday. Give them a break. I'd suggest three days a week, two days in a row max.
Walk quietly some distance from the edge of the pond and approach the bank slowly so that you don't make vibrations in the ground. The lateral line on a bass is made for picking up vibrations and this will put them on alert and cut your chances at some good reaction strikes. When you want to go to a different spot back away from the bank and repeat the process.
Dress according to the background. If there are trees and tall grass behind you wear green. If the sky is behind you wear blue or white. Fish see in color and because they are in a pond they become familiar with the horizon and will pick up on a big bright red object on the bank.
Try some different lures, I like soft plastics weightless or with minimal weights. Five inch watermelon with red and black flake Senkos are my go to bait when I don't have prior knowledge of where I'm fishing. Rat'L Traps are another favorite, usually a blue chrome shad color. You can cover a lot of area and pick up a few reaction strikes quick with a Rat'l Trap. White spinner baits work well.
Just try different things and you'll learn what they are looking for.
If people caught fish every time they would call it Catchin'.
Good Luck.
I know this is a rather broad answer, but it's true: to catch them consistently, you have to understand them and their patterns. Bass fishing isn't something that you can go out each and every day and use the same exact thing, like you can for bluegills, for example. Their patterns can change on a day to day basis and even an hour to hour basis; you need to do some studying. Read up online on bass and watch some videos showing how to fish certain things. Also, if possible, get you a subscription in In-Fisherman or Bassmaster magazine. Both of them are awesome as far as giving tips. AND one more thing that I highly recommend: Kevin Vandam's book. If you're not familiar with him, he is the most successful professional bass angler around. His book is full of awesome material.
However, there are a few tried and true lures out there that do tend to get hit in many conditions. Some of these are Rattle Traps, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and spinnerbaits. All of those are very straight forward lures to fish. Simply cast them out and reel them in at a steady pace. The only thing that you may want to hold off on a bit are the buzzbaits. When the top water bite is on, they will work great, but the top water bite isn't an all year or even all day kind of thing. When you see fish on top, try them. If you don't, use something different.
As GMB mentioned (thumbs), give the pond and bass a break. What could very well be happinin', is that your over fishin' it (keep in mind that it's a pond and not a lake or reservoir). Fish are somewhat like humans ie., when fishin' a pond they see the same things coming their way and they'll tend ta' turn their heads mainly because of the over exposures. Give it a couple of days and am sure you'll see a change <);-3
Note: Don't do bass anymore but, might suggest a' spinnerbait say maybe chartreuse in color or how bout' good 'ol Mr. Nightcrawler or worm ...
Chartreuse Spinnerbait picked at random
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CTOYAS/ref=asc_df_B00...