How's the fishing been for everyone this year?

Personally I've been having a rather slow and difficult time. My best bass of the 2014 calendar year were all caught through the ice haha. The best I've manager on a rod and reel weighed just under 5lbs (4.14).

I've spoken to a few other guys I know who fish very often and they've all said the same thing, that the fishing has been slow and quality fish are a rarity.

Just curious as to how y'all have been doing this year and maybe get a few tips on what's been the "hot lure".

watermellon senkos with a red offset hook rigged weedless along weed beds for me, almost every time, seems to be the only thing working. definitely been slow, although my average bass size has been up, catching a lot more in the 2-3 range.

I've been catching tons of fish but haven't been getting the big girls. However, the guy I fish with all the time, samf, has been catching 5 pounders like crazy.

lots of 3 lb fish this year but nothing over 5. most fish on jigs, beavers and creatures. I haven't caught a fish on a senko in over 5 years but I don't use them, I like some other worms better.

As far as bass below average year for me as well. Top bass 4.12 caught late april. Agree on the senkos fish seem less interested in them this yr. That's a good thing though forcing me to be more diverse.

Quality over quantity for me this year and won't complain one bit. Mostly Texas rig and jig. Some good ones on the frog too.

Three over 5 lbs so far this year including a 6 pounder, all on jigs, and I have also noticed the senko bite has been off, which suits me cause those damn things are expensive!

horrible! last year i killed it! tons of big bass last year

this year i have one over 5. 5.14 caught at a new pond last week

4.10 caught in march

4.15 ice fishing on a little panfish jigs

i dont remember catching a 3lbser this season!!!!

DINK CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Been a tough year for me. Though I blame my new boat. Haha. Being able to bring 15 poles with me, as opposed to three or four like I do with my kayak, has had me doing way too much junk fishing, even when I've figured out a pattern. I need to discipline myself a bit and stop, for instance, throwing 27 baits at one laydown. Haha. Especially now that I'm doing more tournaments.

I've also been trying some new things, like drop-shotting, which I've never done before, so that all kind of adds up to a tough year so far.

Or maybe I just suck.

I've been catching tons of fish but haven't been getting the big girls. However, the guy I fish with all the time, samf, has been catching 5 pounders like crazy.

this year started off slowly but i was catching quality over quantity. but the past few weeks have been pretty good with 3 or 4 over 5 pounds and a few just under 6. a ton of fish in the 4 pound range this week too. i'm working on figuring out where they are and the right pattern instead of fishing all over and tossing a million different things to pick them up here and there.

This year has been f'ing spectacular for me. First with my own boat though.

Creature baits during the spawn, senkos now... Spinners and cranks have done alright for me, but I haven't been fishing them in places that accommodating to them.

Personally, last year was off the HOOK, so many nice large fish.

This year, I have yet to crack maybe 4lbs (largest was right around there) and it's killing me.

I have also been around to my usual spots and water levels have been down since spring compared to last year, about 1-2' lower.

Combine that with the longish winter and crazy weather we had in the spring, that could explain the sporadic fishing I have experienced.

Now, I always thought that it was all about how much you fish and how you did it. I do a lot of bank fishing, and take the canoe out every other weekend when I have time, so when it gets warmer, the fish just move out deeper and it gets harder to catch quality fish during the summer heat. Having access to a decent boat would certainly help me catch more fish, and so would a fish finder, motor, multiple rod setups with different lures, etc., etc.

And you have to put in time. I would go on streaks where people would ask "Damn man, how do you catch fish all the time?" The answer was...I wasn't, I was just fishing WAY more than they were. There were days when I would get nothing for HOURS, everyone else would have already packed it in. But regardless if you catch fish or not, if you put in the time, it will eventually pay off.

I guess my ramblings boil down to....there are so many factors that affect you catching fish, that it's incredibly hard to correlate anything from that myriad of data to produce a solid reason "Why," we're not having a good year. The only thing that has worked for me is changing it up, keep on the move looking for fish, and try new baits/lures/approaches and you hopefully will locate active fish.

There are always exceptions/outliers like all data sets; for example, SamF, Stratos, Sinista, khaskins, shawneramoe just to name just a few over the years have seemed to consistently produced DAMN good quality fish (haha seriously, almost makes me want to just give up you guys ), but they put in the days to get it done, have done their homework oh the fish/lakes/weather, and I am guessing can quickly adapt to a variety of different conditions that they encounter.

The Zen of bassfishing....adapt and become the fish, become the outdoors, that way you get a relaxing time even if you don't find any bad larrys lurking the waters. Like everything else in life, there are ups and downs, you just have to manage them.

/mic drop

ejoy, not only was that beautiful, but it was spot on. Very nice.

A nice size hole that i haven't fixed yet and no troller motor= CRAP!

Might manage to fish august, but besides that its gonna be the fall time for me

ejoy you nailed it. it's all about putting in the time and constantly trying to learn new things and figure the pattern out.

some days will always be better than others and days where you can capitalize better on certain techniques but if you keep changing it up and try to figure the pattern out, you will always get better. it's pretty rewarding when you finally figure it out after struggling and you'll have knowledge to apply for the next time you're out.

keep it up. you definitely have the right mindset and attitude. you'll definitely catch some big ones this year. no doubt. i haven't had much time this year due to work and fishing, but i'll try to post some of my latest trips detailing how i tried to figure a pattern out and the techniques i was using. i always found these trips and sort of information the best part of this site.