Under Pressure

[RMax]

This topic doesn't actually have to do with the song, Under Pressure.  My friend discovered a pond early this summer that was full of large bass.  He has pulled out multiple bass over 5 pounds, which is huge because most lakes in our area have only seen 1 or 2 fish over 5 pounds.  The best part is that its within walking distance of his house.  Almost all of the big fish in the pond stack up near the d**n in all of the weeds and he fishes the same weeds everyday.  These weeds are only thin enough to be fished with senko's and lightweight tubes.  It also seems like these are the only lures the fish will bite.  But the past few weeks, the fish haven't been biting at all.  I've only been able to go fish the lake a couple times this summer but I also noticed a decrease in bites.  Is it possible that he put too much pressure on the pond, as he almost always brought 1 or 2 people with him each day.  Are there any other lures that should be tried to change the presentation the bass are seeing?

[MichaelCopeland]

You might try some Zoom Ol' Monster 10.5" worms Texas rigged weightless and weedless. Also try a chatter bait or maybe a spinnerbait. Also if you've been fishing pretty fast slow it down a bit or even a lot. If you've been fishing real slow speed it up some or a lot. Just keep trying different things and let the fish tell you what they want. Something will work eventually. 

[everythingthatswims]

That's a whole lot of pressure for what you have described! If I wanted to catch those fish, I would go early or late and fish a topwater. If he has been using tubes and senkos, use something big and bulky/noisy as they won't be used to it.

 

With that much pressure, fish, especially big ones, wise-up quickly.

 

 

[slonezp]

53 minutes ago, RMax said:

as he almost always brought 1 or 2 people with him each day.  

Here is the first problem.

[WRB]

He "pulled out" is the real issue.

Tom

[thebillsman]

Slow roll a chartreuse squarebill through there for 15 minutes. 

[Bluebasser86]

Fish don't have to eat every day, especially big fish that are probably eating bigger meals. If a majority of them have been caught before, which is likely when they're getting that much pressure, they may just shut down when they sense something is up, like the vibrations of someone walking the shoreline. 

[papajoe222]

If he isn't practicing catch and release, your problem is the fish aren't in the pond anymore.  If he has, The fish are either refusing to come up for the light weight presentations, or they've moved off those weeds to an area where they feel more secure, or followed the baitfish.

Try a heavy swim jig or punch rig with a tube, or beaver as a trailer.  It'll get to the bottom through the weeds and will come through them without bogging down too much.  Let it fall to the bottom and rip it up and let it fall again.

If they've moved, you need to go find them.  As fall approaches, the deeper weeds won't hold the fish like they do during the summer.  The baitfish will have moved to shallower weeds and the bass will follow.

[RMax]

On 8/31/2017 at 9:45 PM, WRB said:

He "pulled out" is the real issue.

Tom

 

On 9/1/2017 at 10:33 AM, papajoe222 said:

If he isn't practicing catch and release, your problem is the fish aren't in the pond anymore.  If he has, The fish are either refusing to come up for the light weight presentations, or they've moved off those weeds to an area where they feel more secure, or followed the baitfish.

Try a heavy swim jig or punch rig with a tube, or beaver as a trailer.  It'll get to the bottom through the weeds and will come through them without bogging down too much.  Let it fall to the bottom and rip it up and let it fall again.

If they've moved, you need to go find them.  As fall approaches, the deeper weeds won't hold the fish like they do during the summer.  The baitfish will have moved to shallower weeds and the bass will follow.

He put all the fish back, but I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a few dead ones.  He isn't one of those "learned from my parent and then what I could read online" and instead is one of those, "if a youtuber does it like this, so will I." type people.