Well - it finally happened. I got a good boater, we went to spots that had very big fish, but after quickly catching 3 smallmouth for 11 lbs, the fish just shut off. It was 85 degrees, blue bird skies, no waves, no wind, no drift. My boater settled in on a ledge like shoal which held fish. They wouldn't bite anything moving. Every once in a while my boater would land a nice fish, like once an hour. He was dead sticking a tube. A he was very good at moving the boat a little, not moving his tip. I kept breaking off in the zebra mussels. He turned the boats, and cast away from the shoal, get a sheep head, or a bite. I tried everything with a tube, drop shot, digging a crank, jerkbait, top water, bottom water, swim bait, argghh !!! ... and it was hard to not stay with the tube as he got his bites. So I used a tube and did my best dead sticking, but nothing went after it but a sheephead. And that was it. I got 3 bites all day.
So - I need help. What do you do when this happens to you ? I thought the following: shaky head, spoon. carolina rig a wooly hog tail. senko no weight.... What have you done in the past that worked ?
I have heard a lot of people rant over spy baits. I haven't had any luck with them but they would be good for open water. Also, it sounds like they wanted the bait slow. Maybe a weightless senko like you said or one of those weightless jigs I have seen in magazines. They sink at rates of 1' every 3-5 seconds or something like that.
May have wanted to stay with the drop shot and tried different dropper lengths and baits. Would have kept you above the Zebra's. Looking at his weight and what you had for 3 you were in the right area.
Remember if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
Agree with Dartag. I was once in a situation where my boater was getting bites slowly dragging a tube. I could not get bit on the tube or a drop-shot. Calm day no wind. I finally realized they wanted it on the bottom so I adjusted the leader on my d-shot to about 3 inches off the bottom. That did the trick, finnished a limit and culled a couple times.
Remember The " D " for my middle name is not D'Artagnan it's for Drop Shot. Just don't tell my mommy that.
Patience is a challenge for some of us. But it is absolutely required on days like this. Though I will still shake things up with a crankbait, a creature bait, something fast once in awhile because there are small windows of activity always though it's easy to miss them. Other great tips above.
Also, try a heavy-weighted tube to keep it on the bottom in one spot. Try snap-jigging once in awhile very aggressively to see if you can get their attention or a reaction bite. Do exactly what the boater was doing. It was working. Copy it exactly if at all possible. And let it work (that's the hard part).