Most frustrating day ever

[BucketHunter]

Fished a small reservoir near me today, gin clear water and hot sun with blue skies. I have had this place on lock for years, knowing where to be, and what to throw. The fish are post, post spawn, and usually set up deep on the many logs and weedlines that surround the banks that drop off very quickly into 15-30ft of water, less than half a cast from shore. They stay pretty stable all summer, and are sometimes hard to move until fall gets them up and chasing crankbaits around.
Topwater mornings and evenings, frogs in the slop at back of creeks, jigs and T-rigs around the cover fished deep and if all else fails, senko and dropshot to fight for bites on the impossibly hot and clear days.
Well, today I rushed out, with the gear in my car from my last outing in a different lake and presto, no DS or finesse gear at all on board. Topwater near shore, and skipped under trees on the banks netted a couple of dinks. Cranking, from painfully slow, to blazing fast at all depth and cover types didn't even yield a follow. Chuck out my vision 110 and start working it quick...schools, SCHOOLS of Largemouth, I am taking from 30-50 fish at one time following the bait. Coming straight up from 30ft of water and just swimming and pausing with my cadence. I consider myself a great jerkbait fisherman. I can play cat and mouse with any smallie I have ever met and get her to bite. Today, with LM? Not one. I must have seen thousands of fish from 2-5lbs come to the boat and swim away. Colour changes. Bait changes. Cadence changes. Depth changes. Fished so fast I couldn't think. Fished so slow it was painful. Every cast, schools of LM with not one taker. I turned around and fish every conceivable pattern and colour I had in the boat in the same areas. Not one looker. Tie on the 110 and here they come.
What were they doing? I have never seen them school like that in the summer and not have the feed bag on.

[GOOD YEAR 71]

The condition you describe if perfect to add some lead to that 110. Stick a SuspenDot under the bill and on the belly, you probably would have plastered them on the fall. Good luck.

[africanbass]

I had the same experience this past season
Loads of fish around the lure with no action
Tried everything with no joy
I'm sure this happens plenty, you just can't see them when the water is clouded.

[IAY]

Sounds like fishing the clear reservoirs in Japan There is a reason they have their finesse spinning gear with 4-5 lb fluorocarbon.

[goldrod]

Sounds like a good day to me.

Just being out there is rewarding in itself.
But I do understand that how you felt. I would say take a break and just enjoy the moment.

[Real Pudd legend]

If the fish were following and coming up from a good depth to do so I would fish light line and try to get the bite away from the surface as much as possible . Try an underspin with a trailer to match the hath with what you see as in bait fish or baby bass. Double rig them as well to see if they are interested . Try spybaiting with a g fix and crank in slowly on 6 lb Fluorocarbon. Not sure if this helps but that's what I would try . Seeing them follow you one after another is super frustrating , I have had days like that and those techniques I mentioned always work for me . If all else fails light a stick of dynamite and toss it over board . That always work

[BucketHunter]

yep, spybaits would probably have been the ticket. Have a charity tourney this weekend there, plan on doing just that.

[Pen3]

Sounds like fishing the clear reservoirs in Japan There is a reason they have their finesse spinning gear with 4-5 lb fluorocarbon.

Never mind that. I saw a Japanese video where the guy had 3, 3.5 and 4lb line on his reels for those situations and even tossing nosed hook soft plastic with no weight to get bites.