Can't Catch Anything

This is my first post and also a mild cry for help,

It has been nearly a 3 month dry spell since the last time I caught a bass. August 26th was the last time I caught one to be exact. I am still new to the sport, I have only been fishing for about 8 months. I had a lot of luck in the beginning but the bite completely died in the summer basically. I have watched tons of tutorials on YouTube, been on bass resource, etc... nothing seems to work. Obviously, I am doing something wrong and it is driving me crazy.

You could say I am desperate...

I am looking for advice on what to use and where to go. I am in DFW and I do have a cheap kayak so I am somewhat able to do more than just bank fish. I am planning on fishing all day Saturday and Sunday, and also using live bait in addition to lures. I am really hoping to break the curse this weekend so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

I would find a river to get into with that kayak and fish finesse worms slow , shaky head or whacky. That way you aren't having to cover a lot of water with search baits since you aren't real mobile.

I was thinking about trying Denton Creek on the North end of lake Grapevine or maybe the river between Ray Roberts and Lewisville.

Buddy, we have all been there but we need some more info. Where do you live? Where have you been fishing? What are you throwing?

DFW Fort Worth Specifically. Local ponds, Marine Creek Lake, Grapevine, and Trinity River. I have tried: spinnerbaits, senkos, ned rigs, chatterbaits, texas rigs, carolina rig, underspins, buzzbait, football jig, jerk bait, drop shot, neko rig, and live worms.

Please don't take this wrong but in a whole 8 months of fishing, there is no way you can master all the techniques you mentioned. You may be causing yourself to over think/over technique things.

Everyone goes through tough times. Keep chunking and sooner or later it will turn for you.

I would say I definitely haven't mastered [censored] at this point and that I have over complicated this . I've been trying different things out of desperation/seasonal changes. There doesn't really seem to be a logical progression as far as what to learn first/when to learn it it based on the seasons. What should I work on and when? I would be perfectly happy to work on only 1 or 2 presentation I just wan't to get better.

Why don't you give James Biggs a call and hire him for a trip. He isn't a guide but an instructional fisherman. He will teach you how to break down the water, eliminate areas, techniques for the season that you are in, etc. You will get instruction at the ramp before you ever get into the boat and then he'll show you how to do it on the water. It isn't that expensive for a few hours and will save you months of aggravation and zeros. I was blanked for a few months and called him. The next trip I was catching 15 or more in short trips to the lake.

You can find him on this forum. Fishing has been slow the last few months anyway with the crazy weather that we had gotten.

Stick with one lure type for a few trips and fish where the fish are. Rattle baits and cranks would be good to help you find and catch fish. Don’t ignore trolling. I troll from my kayak and my boat. I started trolling for walleye over 30 years ago in Wyoming and it works on bass down here I discovered when I relocated over a decade ago. Very few people down here troll because tournaments doesn’t allow it...because it’s so effective. Give it a shot to help you find bass, eliminate unproductive water, and gain some confidence back. Swimbaits and soft plastics can be trolled too very effectively.

if your going to hit Grapevine I would suggest the Dam first, left or right of the spill way tower, crank the rocks early, i like to throw Medium to Deep Divers, SK, Spro and or Bandits. You should be able to pick a couple up there. If they’re not cooperating back off about 15 yards and hop a jig or TRig in about 10 to 15 feet. Big worm, Berkley 10” power worm in Blue Fleck is my go to dragging bait on every lake in Texas first thing in the morning. There are big smallies in Grapevine especially on the Dam. Once the light gets better go back and crank the dam again. Try shad colors, i like the white black back myself, or chuck and wind a trap in chrome blue or Rayburn red. Don't give up on it, the Dam always produces fish. As my last go to i drag a Crig with 20 lb main line and 12 lb mono Tag end with a 1/2 oz or 3/4 oz weight with a clacker bead or two. When i drag its also the power worm or a craw in green pumpkin something. Good luck and keep swinging.

Grapevine, I love slow rolling Ring Frys over the rocks at Murrell Park this time of the year. Always one fatty camping out there, just waiting.

Go to Squaw creek and get some confidence. Tx rig blue fleck power work, drop shot and a square bill. Go catch some fish.

Don't over engineer the issue. Apply the KISS system. I have a friend that started throwing nothing but wacky rigs on a Zebco rod and reel. He has become a very good fisherman today by learning the simple stuff first and then moving up to another technique.

Fishing this time of year can be really tough. Especially when you first start. On most lakes the bait and fish are literally scattered from the backs of creeks to 30ft points on the main river channel.
Without a boat to cover water, it can be really hard to catch alot of fish this time of yr through winter. Even with a boat we are sneaking up on that time of year that you are, in reality, fishing all day for 5-10 bites. When you first start its hard to get in that mindset. The absolute best thing you can do is fish with other people who are more experience than you. Get a guide, join a club, or just find some guys that kayak fish and ask to go with them. Fishing with someone better than you is the best way to learn and gain confidence.

I would suggest fishing in several different water depths. As the weather changes the fish will move deeper. If you are not catching them shallow try between 15 to 25 feet.

This time of year I'm not picky. Was fishing Tues and saw maybe 150 birds and like [censored], I'll go take down some white bass. Probably caught 40 in a little over an hour and they were nice sized as they are bigger by fall. Then bass fished late in the day and picked up a few bass. This time of year I just want to catch fish. Bass are going to be slow and what was working a month ago is zeroing now. Very frustrating, but unless you have a lake with grass, I'd fish plastics deeper, or square bills by rocks with slower retrieve. If you can find grass, swim baits or traps over the top of the grass.

^^^^^^^ This! And Squaw is a small lake that would fish well from a kayak.

Fished Hall's Bayou today. Beautiful weather, tide going steadily out, DIRTY water, and some wind. 2.0 crank, 1.5 crank, lipless crank, swimming fluke, spinner bait and shallow-diving crank. Fished 3.5 hours and NEVER got a bite.

It happens! Next time could be a killer, killer day. In the last three trips on different waters, I have caught 8, 1 and nada.

Oh well; that's fishing!

Get a spinner bait, a medium to shallow crankbait and a 3/16-5/8 oz Texas rig and go fishing.

White spinner bait, shad colored crank bait and green pumpkin stick bait or baby brush hog.

You'll catch fish.

I will have to look into Squaw Creek, I hadn't considered it yet.

When I was playing golf I thought I would never break 100. I had a friend tell me to do exactly what he tells me and I will break 100 the first time. he asked what club I was most comfortable with. Then he told me to take that club and a putter and play my next round. I did and broke 100. So, my advise is to take your go to bait and leave the rest at home and you will catch fish....especially if it is a worm.

First, I say this as a fisherman who fished morning, noon and night in farm ponds and creeks growing up un Ohio. I was obsessed with fishing. When I moved to Texas at 19, I was into other things that took me away from fishing. When I finally got back into it, similar to you, I felt I was doing more fishing than catching and I had never caught a bass larger than 2-3lbs. A friend gave me the book Advanced Bass Fishing by John Weiss. It was written in the 70's but goes into detail about seasonal patterns and how to find fish in most scenarios.
I've caught well over 500 bass over 5lbs since reading that book. That being said, learning how bass feed, what they do at different times of the year and how they procreate is waaaaaaaaaaaay more important than learning how to throw a rattletrap in my opinion. By the way, not discounting the advise above. This may be the least expensive and time consuming.

Throw a shakey head or wacky rig and fish slow. Good luck.