Any Thoughts & Ideas On These Catch Rates?

[OCdockskipper]

13 hours ago, Dorado said:

What type of retrieval worked the best for your ned rigs?

Most days, a hop, shake and stop produces the most on my lake, but I have had days where a slow, shaking constant retrieve was more productive and others where they wanted a lift & glide.  It is easy to fall into a routine of always using the same retrieve, so I keep a small note outlining all of the retrieves in with my baits as a constant reminder to mix it up.

[OCdockskipper]

End of April Update

 

With a 1/3 of the year wrapping up, 2018 is looking to be much more like 2015 & 2016 versus last year.  Specifically, for the first four months of the year I have caught 554 bass on 17 trips.  9 of those trips produced 30+ fish, with the most being 52 (every trip in March produced 40 plus fish).  Even better, the larger fish have returned, with a 5-2 and a 6-2 already being caught.  For this lake, late summer and early fall produces a big majority of the larger fish, so to get a pair over 5 lbs early may be a good sign.

 

The lures that are producing has returned to previous form as well.  I have had multiple occasions where I work an area with a crankbait or other moving bait without a sniff only to switch over to a Ned rig or other slower moving bait and catch multiple fish. 

 

While the fishing pressure has increased (3 folks have purchased pond boats like mine since January), the skill level of those who are now fishing it as well is not so high.  From what I have seen, two of the guys are always using moving baits and I have yet to ever see them hook up while they are in eyesight.  The third is a guy I have gotten to know and he likes fishing senkos.  He only knows how to fish around the docks, not under them or out deeper, so he is catching a few during the early hours or on low-light days.  However, he does pay attention to what I do and after watching me skip a bait under a dock in his cove and catch a fish midday on a bright, sunny day, he came out on his dock and asked me a few questions on how to do it.  I gave him some tips, he is a good guy and is interested in keeping the lake healthy.  Since he likes fishing Senko's, I also showed him the trick on how to remove the hook from a gut hooked fish, which he seemed to appreciate.

 

As DaveCon and a few others suggested, it may have been a 1 year aberration.  Maybe a class a few years back that had lower numbers of fry survive, which resulted in lower numbers making it to keeper size last year and less competition for food for the larger fish.  We'll see how the rest of the year goes and it will be interesting if the increased fishing pressure continues (or if they give up) and if it does, how that affects the techniques that produce.