Fishing Pressured Lakes

[jbsoonerfan]

Do you have a different strategy if you are fishing a lake that sees a lot of traffic?

 

I fish a lake that is only 1,300 acres. There are on average 3 tourneys a week on it and I would say an average of 50 boats a day on the weekends (which is the only time I have been) I have found some good spots and some fairly productive baits, but I think I could be catching more. Is there a technique you use to try to catch more fish? I have read things like slow down, down size, etc....but I am wondering if there are different approaches. My buddy thinks we need to find something that the fish don't see on a daily basis. I am not sure they recognize baits, but I suppose it is possible.

[WRB]

1,500 acres is about the average size lake in SoCal with year around fishing pressure. Finesse fishing tactics were developed to cope with this type of fishing pressure we call freeway fishing do to the very high traffic.

LMB can be very selective when they are not actively feeding, add fishing pressure and they get tough to catch.

I have referenced Don Iovino's book several times because he is a expert finesse angler and his book Finesse fishing and the Sonar connection is a good read.

Tom

[gulfcaptain]

As WRM stated SoCal is very pressured.  If weekends are the only time, you may try fishing at night and would follow Tom's advice. 

[fish365]

Fishing deeper strucure with football jig and/or drop shot

[DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only]

Sometimes you can get away with fishing the same old baits but try fishing your bait differently than everyone else. For example if most people are fishing a spinnerbaits fast and covering a lot of water quickly, try slow rolling it, or a yoyo presentation. If swimbaits are the ticket try fishing it on a Carolina rig, or weightless. If it's bouncing a jig on the bottom is what everyone is doing try a swim jig ECT.

Little changes can make a huge difference. It will work to catch the fish everyone else are missing and showing the fish something that looks natural in a way that haven't seen before.

For what it's worth.

J-

[tatertester]

I would fish the outside weedline and deep water humps or rises with rocks ,wood or weeds. Jigs, crankbaits ,slow moving swimbaits.Nite fishing likely would do the trick.

[WRB]

Your lake is popular with local derbies which means you are sharing the water with experienced bass anglers.

If 50 boats are fishing maybe 25 good spots, there are very few unknown spots. So assume those others anglers are fishing the well known lures and colors. For example black-blue jigs and watermelon red flake worms and Senko's. If you are fishing the same colors and presentation as the other anglers, why do you believe you will out fish them? The answer isn't how smart the bass are, it's how smart you are that will determine success.

The old saying 10% of the bass anglers catch 90% of the bass is as true today as it was 50 years ago!

Separate yourself from the anglers by using techniques and lures the other are not using.

Hint; 95% of bass anglers fish within 20 yards of the bank, look over your shoulder and discover un pressured bass.

Tom

[Bankbeater]

I fish a couple of lakes that see very high pressure.  I like to try and find a bait that not everyone else is using.  I see a lot of people throwing senkos and crankbaits, so I usually throw a jig.

[Nitrofreak]

Pressure is a mindset of patience , take the time to learn what others are doing and do it differently , I agree with WRB , find the water that no one else is using , take the time to scout if needed , if the fish are where everyone else is fishing , get to know and be comfortable using finesse and super finesse techniques and tactics , no matter the pressure a body of water see's , always remain open minded and adapt to changes and keep in mind , the pressure is on you , not the fish .

 

Good luck and be safe !!!

[AQUA VELVA]

I will usually night fish lakes in my area that see a lot of daytime activity. On some occasions I've been on lakes that see very little day activity and the fishing is poor during the day anyway. Come back at night and that same lake explodes. Go figgure.

[basscatcher8]

Just remember that over the years a lot of anglers have been here and a lot of other forums being told they need to get smaller and finesse the fish out. Over the years that has been the common thinking so fishing something small you might just be back to where you were before and fishing what everybody else is cause the finesse approach has been pushed so much over many years now. Might want to try something bigger or different reaction baits to try to get instinct strikes from fish that have seen every finesse presentation already. Just my thought.

[WRB]

Finesse isn't always smaller lures, it is precise presentations and attention details.

Tom

[basscatcher8]

Finesse isn't always smaller lures, it is precise presentations and attention details.

Tom

 

I agree WRB, I'm just saying I've heard "go small" pushed alot when this discussion comes up over the years.

[RoLo]

Your lake is popular with local derbies which means you are sharing the water with experienced bass anglers.

If 50 boats are fishing maybe 25 good spots, there are very few unknown spots. So assume those others anglers are fishing the well known lures and colors. For example black-blue jigs and watermelon red flake worms and Senko's. If you are fishing the same colors and presentation as the other anglers, why do you believe you will out fish them? The answer isn't how smart the bass are, it's how smart you are that will determine success.

The old saying 10% of the bass anglers catch 90% of the bass is as true today as it was 50 years ago!

Separate yourself from the anglers by using techniques and lures the other are not using.

Hint; 95% of bass anglers fish within 20 yards of the bank, look over your shoulder and discover un pressured bass.

Tom

 

I would hesitate to advise an angler to head offshore, without first knowing whether he's fishing a Natural lake or Artificial lake.

When I used to chase tuna & sharks, we spent most of our day in 100 to 200 ft of water. In freshwater reservoirs, we're often

fishing in water only 10 to 18 ft deep, and in natural lakes (Florida to Ontario) most of our time is generally spent in 2 to 10 ft of water. 

 

The 10-ft contour line in one lake might reach a mile offshore, but in another lake it might only be 5 ft from shore.

Bass aren't interested in the whereabouts of the shoreline and neither should the fisherman.

Moving offshore just for the sake of distancing yourself from the shoreline is not always a savvy tactic.

 

Roger

[WRB]

You have a point Roger, Oklahoma may have a few natural lakes, very few. My guess is this lake is man made impoundment and the small lakes shoreline is hammered every weekend by some good bass anglers.

Even on a natural lake there are often structures like humps or reefs 100 feet or a 100 yards, in the right depth for this lake, off the shoreline that most bass anglers don't think to fish because they fish a casting distance from the bank. That is what I met by looking over your shoulder.

How about adding your advice where and how this angler should fish.

Tom

[RoLo]

How about adding your advice where and how this angler should fish.

Tom

 

After reading the responses Tom, I felt it was well covered.

IMO, night-fishing would be the most effective option, though I personally don't enjoy it. 

 

Roger

[Catt]

Night during the week!

[WRB]

After reading the responses Tom, I felt it was well covered.

IMO, night-fishing would be the most effective option, though I personally don't enjoy it. 

 

Roger

Love to night fish in the summer months, few bugs in SoCal makes it pleasant.

I can fish week days and avoid the weekend traffic most of the year and that helps a lot.

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

Fished today and counted 64 trailers on one of the three ramps. We finished 9th out of 25 teams. Caught 17 fish and just couldn't find any good ones. I did think outside the box a little bit. I caught 4 keepers on a Megastrike shakey head with a 7" green pumpkin power worm on 50lb braid. Not idea in most peoples mind, but it worked. We also caught them on lipless cranks.

[WRB]

Do you want to post a map of this lake?

Tom

[jhoffman]

I dont know about your lake but my local lake is changing every year recently. The DCNR has a surplus of money to build structure on this lake and every winter its been something new. Last winter they redid a popular cove when the lake was down with giant bolders. This year they went into an unpopular area, put in posts and rock piles about every 25-50 yards with boards sticking out. There was also talk of trees being dropped which hasnt happened yet.

 

This lake is about the same size, sees a tournament every day from begin of summer till end, sometimes 2-3 seperate tournaments a day. Everyone is out there drop shotting and throwing a shakey head, its like they dont believe its possible to catch a fish any other way anymore.

 

I catch my big fish on some things people wouldnt even consider fishing at certain times. Last year I caught a really nice one mid summer on a 1/16oz hair jig in 20ft of water.

[smallieking]

I fish a lot of small lakes that gets ton of tournament and fishing pressure. I know everyone says slow down, fish more finesse techniques and all that which works great. But everyone fishing the lake is doin that as well with the tough bite. Two things I do that separate me from the rest and 95 percent of the time land me in the money is :

     1. cheat. look at what everyone is using has lined up on there boats. on the lakes around here for whatever reason every guy has the same baits tied on as everyone else. its shocking really. so I dig in my tackle and find something way different something the bass don't see and they eat it. I find the baits that have different vibration then what the fish are used to is the key

     2. what makes kvd so good, Be super erratic in your retrieves. make those fish bite. Triggering bass into striking is by far the best way I win tournaments on lakes that get a ton of pressure.

[RatCog]

I agree with the others who say deep structure. A couple of weekends ago I was fishing a lake with a buddy that is really pressured. We pulled up the fish finder and saw some good ones hanging out in the middle of the channel and started fishing. Within 10 minutes four boats flew buy us power fishing the banks and logs. Sure enough a 6 pounder went for my DT10 crankbait and the other 4 boaters were just gawking from the banks as we took pictures and released.