Need some advice

I've been doing a lot of bank fishing at lake Naconiche lately and its a beautiful lake, but I spend more time rigging my line than I do actual fishing. The spot im currently fishing has a TON of potential but it has even more pitfalls.. meaning downed trees, logs floating around, lots of undergrowth, etc... anything I can do to help my chances of getting back to fishing instead of training to be a professional pole rigger. (I've been throwing frogs, Texas rigged worms, top waters, hook and worm..) Still seem to get hung up.

1) Accurate casting. A frog shouldn't get hung up unless it gets wrapped around something. For other lures you don't have to have a bait 6 inches in front of a bass, your popper doesn't need to be 3 inches from a root wad to get that fish there to hit.
2) Visualize what's happening. what would the senko look like going through this tree if I had a camera on it? I changed how I fished rip rap from shore because of this; weightless senkos and jigs were being lost all the time bringing it straight back up the rocks. Realized they were getting snagged in holes and where rocks came together and bringing it up the slope would wedge it in, so changed to parallel to shore and much better.
3) If you can't seem to fish a part of piece of cover without losing a lure every other cast then stop. Fish it from a different angle, or only one part of the tree, etc. There are lots of fish not just the ones in that 5 foot area.

Eric

yeah I agree with you on the accurate casting. I need to work on that a little. The problem im having though is there's a lot of overgrowth on the bank as well with low hanging trees so im having to adjust the normal motion of my cast which equates to an inaccurate cast. I chose this spot though on purpose because I figured there are fish in there that don't get fished much because of all the junk in the way lol. I guess I just expected a little better out of the lures im using.

That's also a good idea fishing parallel from where I am.. I may try that this weekend if I can manage the terrain. thanks for the advice though!

Get a worm with no weight and learn how to dance it across the topwater life a frog.
Very successful.

2nd the worm with no weight. KILLER

Get a kayak. You will still lose some lures, but not nearly as many as fishing from the bank, and you will even find a few courtesy of the bank anglers!

Practice both side-arm casting and under-arm casting.
Under-arm is great for shorter distances; hard to get more than 30 or 40 feet, but if you notice the bass pros, they do this a lot for accuracy and stealth. I think this is called flipping?
Side-arm will take you farther, and is also commonly used by pros ("pitching").
Also, in heavy cover, use heavy line; 50# braid, 20# fluoro, etc....

ok so an update.. I did try the weightless worm and had bites. once I set the hook however I ran into more problems. because of all the trees laid over the fish would get hung up under something and more times than not I would lose the fish and my lure do to breaking the line... I also tried to fish parallel to the area I was fishing and couldn't really navigate the terrain. ultimately though, I did end up with a nice little 3 pounder after a few hours.

Good job! Recommend good gear to power fish out of stuff. Nothing under 5 pounds at least should be taking line.

Eric

Switch to a spinning rod.. the push button reels are good for people that don't have hair on their arms like you. Unless you are a hairy child. Kidding obviously, but the push button reel is probably half your issue here.

Nice fish!
I also agree that the gear you are using will limit what you can do. As an example, I was recently fishing a private lake and pulling in lots of fish between 2 and 4 lbs. The place we were at had some thick plants in the water along the edge that we had to drag the fish through to get to the bank. I didn't lose a single fish to a broken line whereas my brother lost several fish and had a very hard time reeling in the ones he didn't lose.
The difference was the equipment. He was using a push button reel like yours, with whatever line it came with whereas I was using a spinning reel/rod with 20lb braid. I'm assuming you also have the standard line it came with and it's probably low-grade mono.
If you're going to be fishing deep cover like this, then I suggest a spinning reel with 20 or 30 lb braided line. I would also get a nice Medium-Heavy rod to go with it. You would probably have to buy all three (rod/reel/line) separately. Just having the braided line will make it extremely hard for any fish to break it. Also set the drag pretty high on the reel so the fish can't take line and drag you under logs & other cover (unless they are huge).

Like stated by GigTheFish, braided line is good in these circumstances. The weightless lures were mentioned...good way to go. If you feel a need to weight it down push a small nail into it. Fish superflukes weightless or with an inserted nail and have the hook tip just barely poking out making it pretty much weedless. My best solution for overhanging limbs and the like is a limb lopper or saw. I used to take a cane blade from tractor supply with me till it got stolen. I'm talking about just trimming the real nuasance limbs. not clearcutting the bank of course. Now keep in mind you are subject to state local and federal laws regarding this. But I don't think anybody's gonna say anything to a little minor trimming. Oh I would....I'd say "Thank you sir." For limbs and such in the water like was mentioned a kayak or it's much cheaper little brother the float tube.

Braid is good line but a word of advice is never try to use on the enclosed push button spinning reels. Ask me how I know... lol
When I first started back fishing I used the Spin cast reel (enclosed style) for about a year and once I bought and learned to use an open face spinning reel there was absolutely no looking back. No comparison to me in quality or ease of use. I always had issues with my spin cast reels for some reason. If I was lucky my zebco would make it though one summer before it was worn out. I still have them for my kids to use cause they are simple for them but for bass fishing and all of the techniques involved you will do better with the open face reels. They can handle the thousands of casts better and also usually have a better drag system.

Good luck man!

I've had the same experiences with them, although I caught many a nice fish with them in the past. I use mostly open face baitcasters now. I am however going to purchase Zebco's new Bullet reel. Check it out and read the reviews. Only problem with them is you can't find them in the stores cause they sell out as soon as they get them in.

alright, alright.... Without it sounding too much like a "fishing" story.. The rod and reel shown in the pic wasn't the actual set up I used to catch the fish. I use the zebco for my iBobber. I decided to use that because its plain and simple and I can cast it very accurately without losing my 100 dollar toy, or getting wet to go get it. Honest truth! lol I actually use an abu Garcia black max LP with 10lb mono(not shown in pic), and I have an abu pro max spinning set up with 10lb fluoro to. However, it sounds like I may need to switch over to braided line though.

side note.. im thinking about getting a lews mach I speed spool... any thoughts on this reel? coupled with a duckett ghost rod?

I used to work at an outdoor shop, and I've seen a lot of Duckett rods come back so I honestly can't recommend them. They yellow out or are extremely fragile; they also have a so-so warranty. You can find a Dobyn's Fury for around 70 or 80 used if you look around. I've not used the Mach Speed Spool, but I've heard good things about them. I'd like to recommend for you to look into the Daiwa Fuego and the $100-range Shimanos.

Wow... well that sucks. I had heard a lot of good things about them. Maybe i'll look into another rod then. I did see a shimano I liked. I believe it was the curado(sp).. A buddy of mine said he own one and really likes it. Ive never owned a Daiwa, but ive heard nothing that says they're not good reels.

I replaced my Abu Garcia Vendetta rods with Duckett Ghost rods. I have had the Duckett rods for over two years and they have been awesome. I have heard great things about Dobyns, but have never owned any. Just my .2 cents.

Well I found a pretty good deal on a Lews combo. I ended up spending right at 220 bucks for the combo, a new line spooler, and some 12lb seaguar... Not bad all in all. Havent got the stick in the mail yet but pretty excited about it!