What makes a good fishing spot? I never catch!

[MichaelVerdirame]

Hello Everyone,

I've been fishing for as long as I can remember, but I haven't caught anything worth remembering! =P My grandfather taught me how to fish and, as a kid I never had any fishing success. In the last few weeks, I've caught nothing but catfish. I've just bin dumping my hooked worms on the bottom and getting catfish after catfish, and I want to catch something else like a bass or pike. Yes, I'm excited to be finally catching SOMETHING, but I need to learn how to do it PROPER!

Friend and I went up to Sibbald Point this morning and we fished off of a rocky outcropping near the boat launch. There was no overhead cover, just a mild weedy bottom and open lake. We didn't catch anything, just some very small perch.

Can anything significant be caught in areas like this? Has anyone had luck just fishing off the open shore of Lake Ontario?

If not, what do I look for in determining a "good spot"? Does there have to be overhead cover to catch sport fish? Can anyone suggest a specific spot to try?

Thanks for the help!!!

Michael

 

[RedSkullz]

I cant help you out with lake ontario specifically but i can help you finding spots on any body of water in general. Weeds, weeds, weeds. Weeds hold fish especially the species you are after(bass and pike). Extremely thick weedbeds (cabbage, lily pads and milfoil ideally) hold many fish and few people fish them due to it being difficult to fish because of the weed. Artificial baits like 4.5" yum tube baits(also worms like berkley 4" finesse powerbait) rigged texas style are extremely weedless and tend to keep you away from panfish and cats and focus on target species like bass and pike. Most importantly they will catch fish once you figure out technique. Look up videos on utube for rigging properly and techniques. Fishing slowly on bottom with small hops while picking up the slack while dropping the rod tip to let it sink to the bottom has always hit bass and pike for me. Largemouth bass will often(almost always) relate to weed cover, and pike do alot. Pike this time of year tend to be on the deep edge of the weedbeds. We usually get bigger pike in the 15' deep water right off weedlines. Huge pike this time of year are usually really deep.(20-40' of water)
Pike really like shiny things...large spoons, large spinnerbaits slow rolled close to bottom with a lift and drop retrieve will get them, especially when worked on deep weedline edges. Keeping it slow and close to bottom and you'll get 'em.
Change....any change in weedbeds like a rock, stump, downed tree, drop in depth, sunken island, even a change in the type of weed usually holds fish. Fish like structure that is different than the normal structure in an area. Many time we have crushed numbers of fish on weedbeds when the weedbed changes from thick cabbage to milfoil, or when the shallower lily pads change into deeper cabbage beds. A lone rock or downed tree in the middle of a weedbed will almost always hold some fish.

Hope that info helps you out.

 

[fisher12]

I cant help you out with lake ontario specifically but i can help you finding spots on any body of water in general. Weeds, weeds, weeds. Weeds hold fish especially the species you are after(bass and pike). Extremely thick weedbeds (cabbage, lily pads and milfoil ideally) hold many fish and few people fish them due to it being difficult to fish because of the weed. Artificial baits like 4.5" yum tube baits(also worms like berkley 4" finesse powerbait) rigged texas style are extremely weedless and tend to keep you away from panfish and cats and focus on target species like bass and pike. Most importantly they will catch fish once you figure out technique. Look up videos on utube for rigging properly and techniques. Fishing slowly on bottom with small hops while picking up the slack while dropping the rod tip to let it sink to the bottom has always hit bass and pike for me. Largemouth bass will often(almost always) relate to weed cover, and pike do alot. Pike this time of year tend to be on the deep edge of the weedbeds. We usually get bigger pike in the 15' deep water right off weedlines. Huge pike this time of year are usually really deep.(20-40' of water)
Pike really like shiny things...large spoons, large spinnerbaits slow rolled close to bottom with a lift and drop retrieve will get them, especially when worked on deep weedline edges. Keeping it slow and close to bottom and you'll get 'em.
Change....any change in weedbeds like a rock, stump, downed tree, drop in depth, sunken island, even a change in the type of weed usually holds fish. Fish like structure that is different than the normal structure in an area. Many time we have crushed numbers of fish on weedbeds when the weedbed changes from thick cabbage to milfoil, or when the shallower lily pads change into deeper cabbage beds. A lone rock or downed tree in the middle of a weedbed will almost always hold some fish.

Hope that info helps you out.

If you want to fish near lake ontario shore, you can fish one of the rivers.
The credit has lots of fish in the lower and I suspect other rivers are similar.

 

[newbie099]

Try using a slip sinker and add air to the tail of your worm. This will keep it off bottom and more fish will see it - edges of weeds are ambush points. River mouths as mentioned are great magnets especially in spring and fall or after a rain.