RichD913 Posted February 9, 2017 Posted February 9, 2017 Preparing for tournaments, you often see or hear of guys searching out schools and marking them to return 2 or even 3 days later on the tournament days. My question is, how do you know those fish will still be in that spot? Why don't they move? How often do they move? Would they stay a whole season, or just a day? Quote
WTnPuddleJumper Posted February 9, 2017 Posted February 9, 2017 You, Sir, just asked the million dollar question. I imagine the fish will be there as long as there is something to eat. Then they will move on. If they eat their share and get full, a lot of times they will just hang out below the hump, ledge, etc. until they get hungry again, then they will move back to the top of the hump to feed. As far as what makes them return to the same spot day after day would certainly be some sort of irregularity to the ledge that attracts the forage fish which attracts the bass. Current can play a serious role in this scenario as well. 1 Quote
Super User lmbfisherman Posted February 9, 2017 Super User Posted February 9, 2017 There are wayyy too many variables. If you need specific help I think you should kind of give more details about where you are and what the body of water is..etc. Quote
RichD913 Posted February 9, 2017 Author Posted February 9, 2017 21 minutes ago, lmbfisherman said: There are wayyy too many variables. If you need specific help I think you should kind of give more details about where you are and what the body of water is..etc. Im asking generally. I don't tournament fish but I've been watching the flw tours on YouTube and am noticing guys going back to the same spots over and over and was just wondering why the bass stay there Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted February 9, 2017 Global Moderator Posted February 9, 2017 I look at it like this...if I had an endless supply of food I'd stick around and gorge as much as possible! If I ate it all or it disappeared I'd for sure move on and find another buffet to hang out by a munch all day. 3 Quote
Super User WRB Posted February 9, 2017 Super User Posted February 9, 2017 Not all bass are the same. Largemouth behave differently then Spotted bass and both behave differently then Smallmouth bass. All bass change locations and depth range seasonally. The basics, winter bass are deeper, spring divided into 3 spawning phases; pre spawn, spawn, post spawn the bass are shallower than in winter and tend to locate where they are protected from wind when nesting. Summer bass tend to roam and locate wherever a concentration of food is close by. Fall the move following the bait into deeper water. Nesting bass stay around the sites for about 10-14 days, that may be what you watched on TV. Tom 2 Quote
Super User soflabasser Posted February 10, 2017 Super User Posted February 10, 2017 Stay in one spot as long as you feel you have to stay there. Sometimes that means a couple cast, other times it means fishing a spot for several hours. Every location and day is different, so there is no perfect answer. Quote
riverbasser Posted February 10, 2017 Posted February 10, 2017 9 hours ago, RichD913 said: Im asking generally. I don't tournament fish but I've been watching the flw tours on YouTube and am noticing guys going back to the same spots over and over and was just wondering why the bass stay there They stay there because the area provides everything they need. They will stay as long as this is true. When something changes they will adjust accordingly. 1 Quote
Super User Deleted account Posted February 10, 2017 Super User Posted February 10, 2017 2 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes and 36 seconds... Seriously? Try this one. How long do people stay in one place? 1 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 10, 2017 Super User Posted February 10, 2017 What you will find is resident bass that stay within a certain distance from the shoreline, resident bass that never see a shoreline, & same that move between the two. All bass move during the spawn just not to the same locations. 4 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted February 10, 2017 Super User Posted February 10, 2017 If its good structure that is not getting pounded bass will take permanent residence there . Its hard to find those spots these days . Quote
Super User RoLo Posted February 11, 2017 Super User Posted February 11, 2017 Telemetry studies have shown that largemouth bass living in natural lakes spend their entire lives in an unthinkably small area. Given a year-round structure, even seasonal movements are simply depth changes within the same holding site Whether bass move or not, I think it's healthier to believe that they're always home. Since we mainly fish natural lakes, I put the onus on myself. I might suspect that they're not feeding or feeding very passively, but never feel that the bass have left the building. They're there alright, but sometimes I just can't catch them. Roger 6 Quote
RichD913 Posted February 11, 2017 Author Posted February 11, 2017 4 hours ago, reason said: 2 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes and 36 seconds... Seriously? Try this one. How long do people stay in one place? Congratulations on the most unintelligent response in the topic. Based on the other responses I'm getting, not such a dumb question. But thanks for the help! Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 11, 2017 Super User Posted February 11, 2017 16 hours ago, reason said: 2 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes and 36 seconds... I thought the response was clever and funny! 3 Quote
Airman4754 Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 On 2/11/2017 at 8:01 AM, roadwarrior said: I thought the response was clever and funny! Agreed. On a serious note there are spots that will have fish on them year round. You have to find them. 1 Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 12, 2017 Super User Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) I've fished some structure for 45+ yrs now Edited February 12, 2017 by Catt Operator error 2 Quote
jimf Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Not only are not all bass the same, but not all individuals within a species are the same. I remember reading something in In Fisherman last year I think where they implanted sensors on the fish and studied it for some period of time - a year maybe. What they found was some cruised all over the place, and some stayed put more or less. I can't remember the details but it struck me that individuals in the same body of water with the same conditions would behave so different. But then again, me and my brother behave differently so maybe it shouldn't be such a big surprise. Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 12, 2017 Super User Posted February 12, 2017 15 minutes ago, jimf said: Not only are not all bass the same, but not all individuals within a species are the same. I remember reading something in In Fisherman last year I think where they implanted sensors on the fish and studied it for some period of time - a year maybe. What they found was some cruised all over the place, and some stayed put more or less. I can't remember the details but it struck me that individuals in the same body of water with the same conditions would behave so different. But then again, me and my brother behave differently so maybe it shouldn't be such a big surprise. On 2/10/2017 at 4:48 PM, Catt said: What you will find is resident bass that stay within a certain distance from the shoreline, resident bass that never see a shoreline, & same that move between the two. All bass move during the spawn just not to the same locations. Huh! Go figure Quote
Super User Sam Posted February 12, 2017 Super User Posted February 12, 2017 Rich, many years ago I read a very interesting article on a " bass milk run." What is a bass "milk run?" It is a defined area where a bass will swim each day on a given schedule. In other words, a large female bass will start the morning under a dock; swim a block to a pier; go along a bank to a submerged tree; cross over the lake or river and hit a hump or shell bed; head back up the lake or river to a road bed; go about a half mile and rest at some rocks; and then cross the lake or river back to where she started. Other bass just hang out in one area, moving about a half a mile depending on the elements and water temperature, and wait for their meals to swim by. Search "bass milk run" to note if you can find anything on this Forum or the Internet. If the water temperature, wind, hot and warm cold fronts, other fishermen, the forage they are eating, and a lot more options remain the same from one day to the next, then the bass will probably stay in the same area. Those bass that like to do a "milk run" will do so no matter what the elements present. However, if any of the variables change then the bass may go deeper, swim away from where they were holding, go down the bank a mile or two, or do what they can to follow their food chain which can totally destroy a great location a day or two later. All you can do is go back to the spot and if you don't catch anything you tell your nonboater that the place was on fire the last time you were there and you have no idea why they are not hitting your baits. Then you try to figure out where they went which is the basic challenge for us all. Quote
RMax Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 9 minutes ago, Sam said: Rich, many years ago I read a very interesting article on a " bass milk run." What is a bass "milk run?" It is a defined area where a bass will swim each day on a given schedule. In other words, a large female bass will start the morning under a dock; swim a block to a pier; go along a bank to a submerged tree; cross over the lake or river and hit a hump or shell bed; head back up the lake or river to a road bed; go about a half mile and rest at some rocks; and then cross the lake or river back to where she started. Other bass just hang out in one area, moving about a half a mile depending on the elements and water temperature, and wait for their meals to swim by. Search "bass milk run" to note if you can find anything on this Forum or the Internet. If the water temperature, wind, hot and warm cold fronts, other fishermen, the forage they are eating, and a lot more options remain the same from one day to the next, then the bass will probably stay in the same area. Those bass that like to do a "milk run" will do so no matter what the elements present. However, if any of the variables change then the bass may go deeper, swim away from where they were holding, go down the bank a mile or two, or do what they can to follow their food chain which can totally destroy a great location a day or two later. All you can do is go back to the spot and if you don't catch anything you tell your nonboater that the place was on fire the last time you were there and you have no idea why they are not hitting your baits. Then you try to figure out where they went which is the basic challenge for us all. I've read about these too, and how some big bass anglers will memorize a big mama basses run so that they can catch her just before she spawns at her biggest size possible. Quote
Shadow93 Posted February 13, 2017 Posted February 13, 2017 If whatever structure holding fish is stable and consistent, even when fish are pulled from the spot - you can expect to find a different fish there shortly after. Bass are opportunistic critters. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted February 13, 2017 Super User Posted February 13, 2017 18 hours ago, Shadow93 said: If whatever structure holding fish is stable and consistent, even when fish are pulled from the spot - you can expect to find a different fish there shortly after. Bass are opportunistic critters. Exactly. It's a biological phenomenon called 'ecological recruitment'. In the ongoing battle for prime territory, 'might makes right'. That is: if you occupy my space, you’ve moved to the top of the menu Roger Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 13, 2017 Super User Posted February 13, 2017 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish! It would take a catastrophic event to change that 10%! 1 Quote
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