What am I doing wrong?

[An00bis Maximus]

Okay, I am a bank fisherman, so maybe the rules are a little different for me, if so please say so.

I use topwater floaters that i jerk and swim and let float, I use all kinds of spinners, I recently began to use 10" worms, and I use swimmer/divers. For hours I stand on the bank, and these monster bass are literally leaping fully out of the water all around me! But nothing bites, maybe once a week I'll get a fish. Sure it's beautiful out there, but I get frustrated sometimes. I try all kinds of returns and presentations, straight and fast return, jig a li'l bit sometimes, hell, everything I can think of. They just jump out of the water and laugh at me. Am I catching nothing because I am fishing from the bank? I know I'm there at the right times of dawn and dusk, so it must be the bank fishing huh?

[bassthumb32]

try fishing at night and tie on a topwater such as a jitterbut or a popper. good luck

[ROBZILLA]

No way bank fishing can be quite rewarding you just got to be on your game a bit better. Look around and you'll see the sings all around you. Is there cover, am I fishing the cover right? What are they jumping after, can I mimic what they are feeding on?Have I tried live bait? Is my presentation too slow or too fast? Am I sneaking up on them good enough? Try at night when the water cools down, head for deeper water. don't stay in one area too long move around cover lots of ground. Fish without casting a shadow in the water fish a little back from the bank. fish have good eye sight and can see out of water. These are some of the things to consider when fishing from shore



I got these guys from shore ,so it can be done.You just got to use your noodle and out smart them.

Robby.

[ironman]

that's some proof.

[ROBZILLA]

And more still.

[mack]

as others said, topwater is the way to go..i suggest a black jitterbug or buzzbait at night...

[Fishie1]

dude get a drop shot going with a robo worm and 6lb line....throw that baby out there and shake it on the bottom.....throw it to the fish that are jumping in the morning.....tie yourself a senko up and a popper and go to work on those feeding bass.....I really have started to like the rico poppers for early morning action.......two pops and let it rest has been working for me.....jsut concentrate on making good presentations and not scaring them off with shadows or bad casts...

[Fishie1]

also don't have your drag tight as can be....on the dropshot.....losen it up a bit......my heart has been broken before from the bank because of this with the rig....

[ILfishinman]

i thought dropshot is a vertical presentation, be kinda hard to do that from shore wouldnt it?

[Fishie1]

no....it works pretty well from the shore...you can fish it like a t rig and it hangs up less in some instances......depending on your targeted zone you are going to want to make the leader longer cause you got a smaller angle. like if you are throwing the rig out as far as you possibly can and you are fishing like 25 feet of water make your leader about 18 inches cause the angle will be small but if you are throwing the thing around cover by the bank...7 or 8 inches is substantial.....

[Vabass22]

I had the same problemn for the past few months, except for when I went on vacation to wv, and caught some nicew ones. Finally, I found an old farm pond, and I catch fish there all the time, with baits, and presentations I got skunked with before. The #1 reason, imo, that bank fisherman dont catch fish, is that they are'nt on them. If the fish are jumping, they won't always bite. Plus those fish, could be another species of fish. One more thing, stand back from the shore, so that the fish can't see you.

[An00bis Maximus]

WOW! Great stuff guys, I even used one of those pencil things to write these things down on that paper stuff!

I'll keep all ya up on things from time to time!

[skeeter944]

about the dropshot from shore thing,if you use a long leader and a 4'' crawfish,it looks like the crawfish is digging down,or you can use a fluke and it looks like it is eating stuff on the bottom. just shaking and the pull,slack technique WILL work on pressured fish

[Vabass22]

Good idea, will try it when a texas rig, or my go-to rig isn't working(almost never).