I need your help!

[Bass_Chick]

I'm a newbie, so bear with me.

Just this past year I have really gotten into fishing. There is a pond up the road that is in a 'secret' location that I like to fish at. There's some decent size bass, a good handful that are 16-18 inches, and some nice bluegill - some almost 2 ponds! I don't have any problems catching the bluegill; they'll go for just about anything. But, the bass have slowed down a lot - or maybe I'm just not using the right lures.

From late June, to about the 3rd week of July, the bass went crazy for the coffee-scented Ragebate, especially the frogs that you just skim over the moss. They've also went for a moss mouse and a Rapala yellow jointed lure.

But now the bass will sometimes go for the mouse or the jointed lures, but they don't strike as often. I think part of it is that I need to work on slowing down when I crank in the bait.

So, what I'm trying to figure out is what lure I should try next (or perhaps what live bait?). I've used spinners (no luck), spoons (no luck), poppers (no luck), jigs (no luck - but jigs are probably my least favorite lures), and a few other things. It's been very hot for a least a month or two straight, so I'm thinking that the bass have gone deeper? I've used some deep divers, but those get tangled up in the moss. The pond is probably about 25 feet at it's deepest.

What should I try?
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[tomegun]

Poppers and topwater in low light conditions. Unweighted Senkos and jigs are good alternatives. It seems that the fish are holding tight to cover. Throw your baits at any tree, stickup, or piece of structure that produces shade.

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[CptHook]

I would try any and all large soft plastics. Its best if you can buy them one at a time, until you find what works where.
A good example would be something like a five inch worm with a curly tail With the Texas rig method.
The Texas rig is best made with a offset hook and a bullet weight, insert the hook in the head and push it in 1/2 an inch and bring it out the side, pull the hook to its eye, rotate 180 degrees and push it through the worm until the points almost exposed, it should hang straight. This will make it weed proof. Also try a split shot 12 inches up instead of the bullet weight, if you don't get your desired results. You have to experiment with retrieval.
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[cubby1313]

[fishin]I would use a 6 to 10 inch zoom or yum dark colored worm. with no weight this causes a slower fall. cast out as far as you can then wait 10 to 15 seconds then bump it or jig it. if this doesnt work try hooking it through the middle. now if this doesnt work then try a crankbait,spinnerbait,jerkbait.
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[rhodysrods]

use a finesse worm with no weight a let it sink slowly or get a light slider jig head and us it anything with a slow falling presentation should work for you also wacky style works great in colder weather this is a picture of a wacky rig
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[Bass-master-23]

try weightless sinko or salt stick it sounds like you need to switch to soft plastics your top water and crank baits dont give you the option of finesse
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[BassFishingGuru]

The regular baits for bass include crayfish, leeches, worms and fathead minnows. Plastic worms are another top bait.

Spinners and spoons are also good choices.

However, one thing to remember is that all these baits are also popular with other fish species. And, since bass are greedy fish trying to get the biggest bait and ignoring smaller ones, right size your bait for the bigger fish.
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[albinotrout]

With cooler water temps you definately want to slow your baits down and start finesseing them Use the plastics such as the plastic worms mentioned. I also like to use 3" plastic grubs on a jig head bounced slowly off the bottom. A lot of times this will trigger a strike where the cranks, spinnerbaits and other fast baits won't do anything.
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