I'm going on vacation to virginia to my grandmothers house.

She lives in a house on a man made lake (lots of other houses on it)

It is relitively clear and supposedly really deep in the center.

There are lots of catfish and whiteperch that I have caught, but cant catch a bass!!!!!!

i need your help, i dont know what to do

the body of water is like a big pond, not a lake, and there are no docks for shade

There is some trees on the opposite side where there are no houses that provide shade, but it is shallow there.

about 2/3rds of the lake has town houses (all identical)

where the houses are, there are rocky banks(building rocks).

there is a drop off that goes from 2 feet to about 5 feet......located where the rocky banks are about 4 feet out into the lake

if i'm not mistaken there are also underwater grass located in some parts of the lake

I'm really killing myself that I have not caught a bass, because they are there (people have caught some)

my gameplan is to use a jerkbait with spinning outfit (like KVDlol)
and plastic worm (slip sinker, texas rigged) to cover water

please help me out...i'm soo anxious to conquer that stinking oversized pond

hope this wasnt too confusing

BEN

What is the water clarity?

Maybe its time to learn how to dropshot in a little deeper water (I assume you have a tube or boat).

umm last year the water clarity was pretty clear

i guess you guys would call it stained its probably about 4 feet clarity

Truthfully i've never caught a dropshot bass...definatly something i need to learn

does it work well on grass?

yes.....paddle boat.....i'm hopefully brining my 30# thrust minn kota

thanks

BEN

Run a long leader at first on your drop shot to put your bait above the grass. You can always shorten the leader easier than extending it. I would start out with a 12-18" leader between your weight and the hook. And use 4" Roboworm in Aarons magic to start with. It should be good for at least one!

The other thing is you didnt mention what types of weeds. Hard weeds with nice defined edges, weeds with clean holes, slimy weeds, weeds that grow 4 feet off the bottom, etc.

If they are non-slimy and hard with well defined edges and clean holes, fish both the breaks and holes with a texas rigged drop shot, I use a size 1 gamakatsu g-lock hook paired with a straight tail roboworm (3/8 oz weight is standard), pick your favorite color it probably doesnt matter much. You can pitch the dropshot into holes with this get up. Also, on the wedge edges, you will without a doubt hit weed clumps, and this get up will come through nicely. I usely get bit right next to the clumps. Keep messing with the leader length until you find something that works, I usually start at 4 inches, then move up. With weeds that grow off the bottom 3 or 4 feet, well, make a 4 or 5 foot leader. I dont know how deep your lake is but dont be afraid to fish deep, you just have to get it in your head that the fish are well off the bank. Just cast out (this isnt a vertical only thing), and slowly drag the weight back to the boat keeping weight on bottom. Dont be afraid to just let the rig sit for extended periods, the fish will come right up and eat it.

This time of year, there is no reason you shouldnt be able to catch fish with a drop shot, you just gotta give the technique time, and give yourself time to figure out the subtleties and gain confidence in it. Let us know how it works out for you.

I also say drop shotting would be the best bet, and if still no luck catfish and white perch sound better than skunk.:7

thanks guys

ok, so drop shotting sounds like it will be my plan

i truthfully do not remember what type of grass it is, i just know it was grass....lol

if i had a depth finder i might be able to find the deeper stuff, but i'll look
i'm gunna pick up some supplies at basspro today...we are leaving at 8 tonight

i hope i wont get skunked, man this lake has done it to me before though!
yeah, i'll use the small roboworm, because a bass of any size would eat it

phillipians 4:13 is one of my favorite verses too!!

what model of roboworms were you talking about?

ok: went to basspro today during my lunch break and picked up some:
2-kvd wild shiner suspending
red wide gap treble hooks(replace stock hooks"
red split rings
lots of various g lock gammie worm hooks
i could not find roboworms so instead got 4.5 inch ringworms for dropshotting purposes, and picked up some bass pro shop handpoured drop shot minnows
and of course..some more drop shot weights

i think i'll be all set, i'll hopefully be fishing tomorrow at the lake


ANY other techniques for dropshotting???, u california guys are great with dropshots


thanks


BEN

yeah, there's plenty of ways to use a drop shot. While most guys out your way think of dropshotting only as a deep-water technique, you can use it just about anywhere as long as the water is somewhat clear & the cover is not too heavy. Sure, it was developed for small, clear reversiors w/ lots of fishing pressure. But that doesn't matter to the fish! Try a drop shot in shallow water or during the spawn. When nothing else works when you see bass shallow, the drop shot works very well. And during the spawn, you can get the bait to hover over the nest right in front of the bass' nose to show 'em something they likely haven't ever seen before. It's a great rig for docks, too. Just experiment with the sinker weight & dropper lengths for each condition(As a note, 20" has been a good length for me in many situations). Out there in Minnesota many bass have probably never seen a drop shot, so chances are you'll do great with it. :7

One note on sinker size; shalow fishing demands a lighter weight(1/8th or 3/16 oz.) where deeper fishing demands is vice versa(1/4 or 3/8ths oz.) Experiment with your baits' size to; you can fish a 6" bait on a drop shot just as well as a 3 or 4" bait on a drop shot, so don't be afraid of the small bait syndrome so many Eastern guys seem to talk about. Good luck & tight lines!

well i caught some!!!!!!
i got 7 bass , 5 of which were over 12 inches...., i got a few on topwater early on, then i got a couple on dropshot in the shallows, and a few on my KVD jerkbait

The curse is broken, and there are tons of bass fry, so trhat means the lake is healthy


BEN

thanks

Back out of the shallows and use the dropshot, I bet you get some better fish.

but i have no means of finding anything for the fish to relate to, i should just do it in deeper water?

BEn

....using clues you can see. Remember, the shape of the shoreline will tell you what is under the surface, land features almost always extend out into the water. Points are a perfect example. Can you see weedbeds? Well if you can, move out deep until you cant see them anymore, then use the dropshot to feel your way along the bottom until you can figure out where the weeds end (and where bass will be!), and try like heck to fish that weedline. Or, position your boat where you would cast to the shoreline or docks, then just turn around and cast towards the middle of the lake and slowly drag the dropshot back.

Like I said, you just have to have confidence that the fish are out in deeper water, even though you cant see anything they are relating to.

gotcha

well this year there seems to be no weeds of any kind

the lake was manmade, so the points really dont add an contour to the bottom,

no docks either x(

the bass were some sort of smallmouth/ largemouth mix it seemed, and some looked to be a whole separate species from another

i think i might sink some trees the next time i'm down there to give the bottom something other than sand

BEN

I wish I had a grandma like that!!!

They might be rock bass or warmouth? Could be spotted bass too?

Well, if that lake is in Virginia, there is a possibility that the fish are inbred- you never know what you'll get- }(