No luck in local waters - what's wrong?

[Birdman]

I hope this isn't too redundant of a thread. I've been trying a lot of local ponds and reservoirs lately and can't seem to attract any interest. I tried fishing the Richmond Hill Mill pond and the smaller pond north of it yesterday but nothing. Several of the storm water reservoirs in the area have had the same results.

I'm just getting into fishing this year so my selection of rigs is limited, but I did try live worms on a jig head, crankbaits, a top-water jiggerbug, spinners, a homemade hair rig (for carp), all without luck. I usually fish for small mouth bass in Muskoka and usually manage to catch something (my record was a 16 incher), and I caught a few small perch in Orangeville reservoir last weekend.

I figure I must be doing something wrong in the local waters - are there any other rigs or techniques you can suggest I try?

Thanks in advance.

 

[usernamehere]

When in doubt, wacky rig.

 

[rich_ace_G]

what size spinners did you use? try live worm on hook (not jig) on fluoro leader. #0 - #2 spinners will work better. what's your line test? 2lb - 6lb on small ponds like this is ideal. anything bigger than that will cause your spinners not to spin.

 

[getin]

Worms are indicators so if you are not getting bites on them then perhaps there is few or zero fish there. and don't be disappointing. Even of there were fish there and you find it hard to get them to bite, it is part of the learning curve..

 

[Icehut]

Weird weather.

I dunno how mobile you are but it helps.

Waders in rivers and a cheap inflatable for lakes will let you find fish that aren't being pounded all day. Think like a fish that is seeing a lot of lures every day; he might decide to move away or change his eating habits.

Of course, to truly think like a fish, one must drink like a fish, and then one hardly cares, or even notices, if any fish are caught.

The Russians have the right attitude; they call fishing drinking near water.

 

[Giuga10]

All about technique and where you're fishing. Choose one body of water for a day, choose a target species and stick to that species, bring a few lures and learn how to work them well and where to work them, or bait. Put all your effort in one thing instead of multiple and you'll see results.

For Carp don't just sit your bait with a hair rig without anything around it, Carp don't often pick up a single piece of Corn out of no where, get a chum mix going, simple as oats and creme corn and toss it in the area you're fishing. Tossing corn doesn't work as well because the scent doesn't travel as well IMO, you want something that will break down in the water and release a scent.

If all else fails worms.. worms.. worms...

It's like how I learned fly fishing, I started off horribly because I would bring my spinning rod and switch up if things weren't working, one day I left the spinning outfit at home and really worked the fly rod, and I did it again, and again, and I can now say that I'm a pretty decent fly angler and a hell of a lot better one than I was, don't give up when things aren't working keep trying them, work the lure a little slower or faster higher or lower, change the directions, bump into weeds and rocks. Work the lure until there's nothing else to do with it, then do all that with something else.

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Good luck.

 

[Birdman]

Thanks for the responses. I tried another reservoir in my area last night and was finally able to pull in some fish. Four panfish and a little perch - nothing like the bass fishing up north but it's sure nice being able to catch something 10 minutes away from home!

Guiga10 I'll definitely try focussing on one rig and species, seems like a good idea. Thanks for the carp suggestions too.

what size spinners did you use? try live worm on hook (not jig) on fluoro leader. #0 - #2 spinners will work better. what's your line test? 2lb - 6lb on small ponds like this is ideal. anything bigger than that will cause your spinners not to spin.

The spinner I got was from Bass Pro and is 1/8 oz. It doesn't say any other size info on the package, but it isn't a big as most of the ones I've seen. My rod is a spinner rig with 30lb Power Pro braid (equivalent to 8lb mono). In retrospect I know that line is way overkill for what I'm fishing, but it is what the sales guy recommended so I bought it. You think it could be messing with my spinners?

 

[instapump416]

Thanks for the advice.
I always have this problem of being impatient and moving onto something diiferent.

 

[Drop_Shot]

I find lots of the Storm ponds in York Region hold fish... Just a matter of picking a few, and trying them out... If you don't get anything within an hour, then move on to the next pond... Another thing to notice is look at the flora around the pond... If you see good aquatic vegetation, most likely the pond is more established and will hold fish... I tried a large Storm pond by me which looked promising from the road, but the water was very stained, and only had cattails on the shore in terms of vegetation. Tried a worm for 30 mins w/o a hit, so I didn't waste anymore time and moved on to the next pond, catching about 50 fish on worm, and tube jigs within a couple hours...

Just have fun with it, and explore explore explore!


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