Fishing same location vs trying new spots

[RyanDR]

How often do you stick with your favorite body of water vs. switching it up. Obviously if you have a really big body of water it would be a little different. But I find myself fishing this same reservoir which is about 325 acres, over and over again, because it is very low pressure and I know every rock and piece of structure in the lake. I do about 70% of my fishing here, because it has been a very long time since I have gotten skunked here because I know it so well. 

Do you like to switch up your spots or stick to your bread and butter? How much do you stuck to one lake and how big is that lake? 

[blckshirt98]

I'll rotate around because fishing the same spot can get monotonous.  If the bite is really hot though I'll keep hitting a spot, but once it slows down I'll mix it up a bit and try a different spot or maybe explore a completely new area altogether.  Better to have a few options because you never know when something might happen to your go-to spot.

[Catt]

I routinely fish a diverse variety from bayou-rivers, ponds-reservoirs, & marshes-swamps.

They range in size from 100 acre ponds to 190,000 acre Toledo Bend.

[jdw174]

When you have Kentucky Lake practically in your back yard and Barkley not much farther away, you seldom run out of places to try.  

["hamma"]

I fish them all, consistently moving to different waters. Of course when I dont have all day I will fish a local pond, with several around me I can change up on them as well.

But,..when I first started fishing bass exclusively I was just under driving age, and was stuck to a couple options by bicycle. Once I got my drivers license, I was off to anywhere.  Then I found a old basshatchery several towns away, and fished that exclusively for a couple years, then I got bored with it and decided to never pound one body of water only again. And havent since

It was and is nice to know every inch of a place, it "almost" allows you a successful outing every time. But you get into a rut of fishing the same spots, the same way, and you'll find that it gets monotinous. Diversity is key to being a "consistent" angler, and you will seek new techniques after a while. I can still go to that hatchery and not need a lcr, or more than a few lures, and a couple rods, and pound them.

 But the diversity of waters around here is too much to not fish. I have texas like shallow waters with tons of stumps and laydowns, small to large rivers, Bogs, small to large weedy ponds, small to large rocky lakes, sandy lakes and ponds, a mix of all bottom consistencies, Giant rocky smallie loaded lakes, reseviors, swamps, cranberry bogs, and then theres Maine!

[crypt]

being in central FL, I get to go all over the state and try a little bit of everything.

[riverbasser]

I live about 10 mins from the Chattahoochee river and about 30 mins from lake eufaula which is an impoundment of the chattahoochee. Its about 45,000 acres. I exclusively fish these 2 mainly because there so close. 

But I also live about an hour from lake Seminole in FL which is a great bass lake that holds classic events almost every year and I've been dying to fish it but I don't want to just go down for the day knowing I wont be able to learn much. Been planning a camping trip there so I can atleast spend a few days.

[OCdockskipper]

I do over 95% of my fishing on my home lake, with an occasional trip to waters out of state when visiting family or on vacation.  Part of that is because I live on the lake & it is so convenient and part of that is because there are so few waters here in Orange County, heck even in all of Southern California.  I find these other local in-state waters to often be crowded with folks who have no issue cutting you off or moving in on a spot that you are currently fishing.  I guess that comes with over 20 million people in an area about the size of West Virginia..

I have found that doing most of my fishing on one lake allowed me to get better at various techniques and finding fish.  Knowing a body of water so well allows you to experiment and get instant feedback as to what you are trying to learn.  If I didn't know the lake so well, it would be tough to know if the lack of success with a particular lure or method is because of what I am doing or because I am not near fish.  I can eliminate variables and gain confidence.  This has made me a better fisherman when going out of state, for if I only have a few hours for a day or two to fish an unfamiliar body of water, I now have confidence in a multitude of ways to catch 'em.