Bank Fishermen, How Long Do You Stay In A Spot?

[Rhino68W]

I'm a land ridden fisherman who enjoys fishing all of the local ponds I can find thanks to Google Maps. One problem I encounter is the accessability of the better looking spots. I fan cast 99% of the time, so I know I am being thorough. And I change presentation and lures whenever I feel confident. I just can't shake the feeling that I am wasting way too much time in one place just hoping a LMB cruises by and wants a snack. Naturally I hit the easy ones first. But my question is:

 

How long should I stay in a single spot if I am not getting bites?

 

[einscodek]

If Im getting bites, I stay a while and work it thoroughly

otherwise I go with a plan I set previously or adjusted on the water

If I have no bites or if I'm after a big bite.. I could move after a few minutes or 30 minutes depending on the spot in the lake and the season and conditions

 

as to your question.. depends on the spot

you hate to leave a spot full of fish who arent biting just because you didnt give them exactly what they wanted

[Felix77]

Depends on how much time I have to fish.

 

Limited time (1-2 hours) - I tend to go to a place I know I have caught fish on before and work it thoroughly with as many baits as possible.  Usually start off finesse and work my way up to topwater as the sun goes down.

 

Otherwise I work the area with a few baits for 15-30 minutes and move on to the next.  At the very least 2.  Something finesse and power.  Mojo rig and spinnerbait for example.  Shakey Head and Crank is another combo I used.

[Preytorien]

I'm pretty bank restricted as well, I find a lot of success in fishing neighborhood retention ponds. The banks are usually clear, or at least not heavily brushed. I keep moving in about 10 minute segments if things aren't hot. If they're biting I'll fish until it's "panned out" so to speak.

 

Like Felix mentioned, when it's tough I work things thoroughly with finesse baits, senkos and weightless flukes being my go-to lures.

[Heron]

Its a good recommendation to to stay relatively mobile, rather than spending too much time at one location - if its available for you to do so.

 

My game plan tends to vary from one day to the next.  Some days I'll be mobile, other days I'll junk fish.  But I think a good rule of thumb, is to relocate about every 10-15 minutes, and stay no longer than 30 minutes in one spot.  However, if youre catching fish, stay until the bite goes dead, then move on.  Usually all of my fish are caught within the first 15 minutes of arriving at a location. 

 

That being said...Its been my experience so far,  that nothing good has ever come from fishing from one location too long IF there is nothing biting.   Sometimes our minds may trick us into thinking that if we stay in that one spot, some great fish just might coming swimming our way shortly.    

 

Dont listen to that. 

[deep]

I don't fish just about anywhere. I fish certain spots- points, ridges, flats, feeder creek channels. Why hike all around the reservoir if you know where fish can be located when they're feeding. Locate a few spots depending on the seasonal pattern, your experiences, and what you observe in the water and do a milk run. Fish the bottom and the middle (and maybe the top too if you feel like it) each with a couple different presentations and move on to your next spot if you're the restless type. Me, I got tons of patience. I'll wait until the fish are ready to come up to their kitchen and eat my bait. Till then, I can wait. Besides, if they're biting, they're biting everywhere, and I'm in a good location anyway. Did I mention I hate hiking?

 

There was this one local res- well it's still there, but closed right now- where I'll fish a point all evening and catch tons of fish. One every three or four casts. When they'd stop biting a senko, I'd tie on a small jig and start catching them again. 15-20 fish in about a couple of hours, almost everyday. Sometimes they'd be on the edges, sometimes on the point itself, sometimes they wanted a fast bait, sometimes a slow one, but they'd relate to that main lake point all summer and early fall.

[nascar2428]

No set time limit for me. As others have stated, working the area thoroughly is the key. Once I've done that I move to the next spot. I will say that most of the time I will make sure that I go to each spot at least twice if time permits. Often times the second time around with a different bait and or technique will catch fish. 

[guitarglynn1]

Its a good recommendation to to stay relatively mobile, rather than spending too much time at one location - if its available for you to do so.

 

My game plan tends to vary from one day to the next.  Some days I'll be mobile, other days I'll junk fish.  But I think a good rule of thumb, is to relocate about every 10-15 minutes, and stay no longer than 30 minutes in one spot.  However, if youre catching fish, stay until the bite goes dead, then move on.  Usually all of my fish are caught within the first 15 minutes of arriving at a location. 

 

That being said...Its been my experience so far,  that nothing good has ever come from fishing from one location too long IF there is nothing biting.   Sometimes our minds may trick us into thinking that if we stay in that one spot, some great fish just might coming swimming our way shortly.    

 

Dont listen to that. 

 

Kind of my experience as well. I don't sit at one spot too long if nothing is happening, and often I will just rotate a few locations back and fourth the whole time I fish. Some times it feels almost like the fish in a spot become desensitized to what I am doing and I move over to another spot and bam I get a fish within the first handful of casts and when the action stops I can move right back to the original spot and I catch a fish. I think my ADHD is also a factor in constantly moving back and fourth from spot to spot.lol 

[EmersonFish]

Depends on how many "spots" I have to fish. If I'm working an area where there are plenty of good spots for me to get some casts in, I don't spend any more time bank fishing a spot than I would on a boat. If it's an area where there are only a few good spots to fish, I may work each area rather quickly the first time though, depending on how much effort it takes to get to each spot, and then go back and work more slowly if none of those areas really produced well with whatever my original gameplan was. I tend to pack lightly when I bank fish, so I really work the few options I have with me thoroughly.

[Hattrick7]

Depends. If I'm familiar with the spot and I know what to throw and they're not biting I usually don't stay for too long. Maybe 15 minutes tops.

IMO it's really about casting accuracy. This one spot has a bunch of tree branches sticking out. I threw a couple times to the right if it, right through the middle and and then left of it. No bites. But the left side wasn't tight the trunk so I cast it fairly tight to the trunk and bam right on the fall. Did those 5-6 casts in those other spots sorta get the bass attention? Not sure but as soon as I landed the cast exactly where I wanted it to land it was fish on.

If it's a new spot I'll work an area where I think bass are holding longer maybe up to 30-40 minutes throwing different baits in different colors.

Bob Lusk was saying that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. I think messing with fish for over three decades he knows what he's talking about.