So you've combed over the whole lake and have fished for a good few hours hitting docks, pads, and any other notable cover/struc

[bassmaster2008]

So you've combed over the whole lake and have fished for a good few hours hitting docks, pads, and any other notable cover/structure and not a bite! You're tired, feeling let down, but the day isn't over. What are you thinking and how do you adjust your strategy to catch fish?

[99explorer]

Leave the lake. Try coming back a little before dark, making as little noise as possible and fish from the shore or dark.

[John Bent]

Keep fishing your spots change-up your bait's try something you would not think of throwing in that area. It works for me sometimes.

[jhjimbo]

Follow 99's advice, especially if the water is on the clear side. Don't scare the fish.

[canvasbackhunter]

I understand why 99 says leave the lake, nut sometimes you can't. I am not sure if you are fishing tournaments, but I ran into a similar situation a week ago fishing one. If you are fishing docks and pads i am assuming you are fishing shallow. Try Carolina rigging deep.

[tleichty1989]

Sometimes if the lake is over fished the fish have seen all the lures and are less apt to take em. Try using different looking lures. Or physically change the lure. (ie. instead of rubber skirts on your jig try using a feather.) Try a scent. garlics my fave

[santa]

Studying the fish and their habits is always a good place to start. So ask yourself what the fish are eating on in that lake. Without a fish to examine the stomach contents, I would use a small bait trap to catch an example of the bait that they are actually feeding on. Then try to duplicate in some manor the food that the fish are normally eating. Each individual bass normally only feeds about every other day and seldom do all the bass feed on the same schedule so some should be able to be enticed in this manor. But if all the bass in are on the same feeding schedule, you have to catch them protecting their territory using their natural instinct to attack anything that poses a threat. By the way, most bass are caught in this mode. On a clear day with clear water I love to fish lily pads with a 3/8 oz black and yellow skirt, gold blade Snagless Sally with a pork frog trailer. I cast the spinner bait up on a pad and wait a few seconds to let the pad settle down from the disturbance of catching the lure, then I slowly ease the spinner bait off the pad into the water and retrieve. I try different speeds for the retrieve until I find one that works. The Snagless Sally kinda fills the place of a top water lure when cranked and "worked" on the surface, the place of a spinner bait when cranked just under the surface, and a deep diving lure when cranked slow and interrupted. Of course always try a black worm worked extremely slow and deep if nothing else seems to work. Finally remember that even pros that fish everyday for a living have bad days where they get skunked.

[DakotaMan]

At that time of day, I'm thinking of trying something different. Often, I go down deeper to the cool water. If it is bass, I'll be hitting 15 to 25 foot depths, dragging a plastic worm or jig slowly across the bottom. I may also be thinking of hitting shallow reefs or sand bars out in the middle of nowhere with cranks. I may also troll the shores with cranks... something different to find where and how they are feeding. Most fishing is better in the early AM and late PM but lots of fish are caught all day long... just in different places.

[Gary Devine]

Try a live shiner on a hook anytime of the day. You can't go wrong. Not a minnow they are too small.
Good Luck!