Best Lure For Pressured Fish

[tmier]

I fish a private pond, maybe 6 acres with an island, and there's big bass in there. It's man made, clear water with a sandy bottom. We are between fronts and had a steady breeze. I wanted to fish the evening due to this "super moon" business but had to settle for 3 pm.

I can see my bait swim right in front of them with no reaction. I only had plastics with me but neither produced. Tried all of them and varied the presentation, just a nibble every so often. What would have nailed a fish?

[Ikaika]

4.5" skinny Roboworm on a drop shot amazes me every time with how effective it can be in the highly pressured waters here in California. For clear water I like the prizm shad and salt river craw patterns depending on what's abundant in the lake. I like the drop shot because you can keep the bait in front of the fish longer and Roboworms are so soft that the action you generate by twitching your rod is dynamite.

[PondHunter]

If you can see them, they can see you. Since you have a good idea of their location, try casting from farther away so they can't see you. Try light line, prefferably flourocarbon, and a split shot about 12" above a live minnow. Or try a very small 1/8th oz jighead tipped with a minnow.

[tmier]

I'm going to try that PondHunter. Thank god there a light bait shop just nearby. I would have tried the drop shot but I didn't have my light set up.

[aceman387]

I fish similar water.I would try a 4" senko or yum dinger in watermelon color wacky rigged.I have had good luck with the yamamoto shad shape worm in watermelon color rigged weightless on a straight shank hook Another lure Ive had good luck with in that type of water is a 3"kahlin grub in watermelon color rigged on a 1/8 oz ball jig head.Like the others have said drop shotting works well in that type of water,those shad shape worms works good on a drop shot also.I use 10# power pro braided line which is 2# diam in the moss green color so i can cast a country mile as not to spook the fish in that clear water.

[ripinthem]

I'd agree with the drop shot. When I get a pressured area, I usually either go big/small. Big topwater or small worm are always nice choices to mix things up from what they constantly see.

[rbreedi1]

Finesse worm!

[basscatcher8]

I like to tick em off with a buzz bait when they do that. There are a couple ponds around where the bass get skiddish like that until you get em good and mad with a buzzer over their heads a few times.

[tmier]

Haha a buzz bait would have been fun.

But I've never tried a drop shot from the shore, it always seemed strange to fish a vertical rig horizontally.

[smalljaw67]

If you can see the fish then chances are he can see you and there isn't a bait that will draw a strike when that happens. Overall, pressured fish respond to smaller baits most of the time, try finesse jigs in 1/8oz and 3/16oz, 5" straight tail worms and 3" stick worms like a senko.

[bassaddict75]

I had the same problem in the pond I am fishing and I tried all sorts of plastics texas and wacky with a few nibbles. Added some Gulp crawfish..nothing...maybe some Bang? Nothing...then I went to a chartreuse Booyah and reeled kinda fast....BAM! Me and the wife caught largemouth all day...and she has never caught a bass before! I threw it along the banks and I found that is where they were hiding. If ya got some weed cover...throw it in it and jerk it through them til ya hit open water. Chances are they will hit before you get out of the weeds or at the edge. Ok I'm going to the introduction section now that I have made my first post....good luck!

[herefishy42]

I regularly fish a few highly pressured pond, while the water is dirtier in one and gin clear in another and my experience has taught me this: in the murkier colored pond, you can throw just about anything "normal"...spinner, crank,topwater, worms etc and never catch a thing. Try something completly crazy and unorthodoxed and I will catch fish all day. Some examples: a spot remover stand up jig head with a blue beaver type bait, or same jig head with a red yum doozee (its like a tube, but slimmer and like 6" long. You rig these up and you think theres no way.... But sometimes it can be the ticket, something they have NEVER sen before. As for clear water, ive had the best success at night. Nobody really fishes at night at this pond but me but if u must during the day, the above posters are spot on. Small finissse worms with little or no weight is hard to beat. Just my 2 cents.

[ww2farmer]

When the bite is tough, either because of weather, or fishing pressure, it's hard to beat a small 4"-5" worm or you choice..............they all catch fish. C-rigged, t-rigged, drop shot, wacky, shakey head...they get bit any way you rig them.

[RoLo]

For the record, fishing for "pressured" fish and fishing in a "cold-front"

are not always handled the same. A sudden temperature drop typically puts bass down,

not necessarily in deeper water but directly on bottom in the current water column.

In this situation, smaller lures and slower deliveries are the best we can do.

Dealing with pressured fish though, is quite different.

I've fished much of my life in New Jersey, which is the most densely populated state in the union.

I've had my bellyfull of overpressured, overharvested waters, but here's a couple things that work:

1) Fish something different, not necessarily small or slow, but "different"

Hit the area tackle shops and ask them about the hottest lures (strike them all OFF your list)

2) Fish at night after the splashabouts are off the water.

Some Jerseyites may recall the Knee-Deep club on Lake Hopatcong, NJ.

They routinely produced remarkable stringers in midsummer by fishing after dark.

Roger

[tmier]

I'll be putting that bag of 4" senkos to work. I've never been comfortable using finesse baits. I'm going to focus more on shaky heads, floating c rigs and live bait. I can get minnows in town and will try some old fashioned worms on a few gang hooks. I will try to stay between 1/8 and 1/4 oz but need a lighter line. 6# or 8# yozuri ultra soft on my ml spinning setup?

[iceintheveins]

4" senkos are good, but I also really like robo worms and reaction innovation's flirts, and of course the old standby zoom finesse worm. I rig the senko texposed weightless and the finesse worm types as a weedless split shot rig.

[Ikaika]

Just to follow up on the comment about fishing a drop shot from the bank: the only change you have to make is to put a little more distance between your hook and your weight. Instead of fishing vertically, the line will be at an angle through the water and so the actual distance your bait is off the bottom will be decreased.

[TxBankFisherman]

I've had good luck with the small 3" powerbait minnows in bluegill...and they are cheap at 2.99 at BPS... if it gets real tough dropshot... with the lures the guys are talking about... also I like the zoom finesse worms in watermelon...

Also try this... dropshot a senko... throw it way out there on spinning gear.. but let it just sit for a minute or two .... watch the line... no hits .. then start working it back in... fancast and keep repeating.... it works and works on the big uns 2...

I had a time one day in the fall.. it was a real nice day but no luck... I was very frustrated.. couldn't catch much at all... then I start looking thru the tackle box.. found an old rapala rattlin rap in chrome blue.. started swimming it fast and it would tick the top of the grass and rip it out... wham... bam... ended up catching 30 that day.. only up to 2.5 lbs... then went to the lower end and disaster struck.... rod bowed double and the line was stripping off... had her where i thought there were no stickups and she simply dove down into the hydrilla... I had no chance on light mono... and ended up breaking the lure off...

good luck.