Rules of Your Lake

[OCdockskipper]

I believe one of the most misused phrases in the fishing industry is "A bass is a bass wherever you go".  I get the simplicity of that saying and how it implies the basics are the same no matter where you fish.  However, I believe it overlooks the differences & nuances of each body of water, differences that have a huge impact on the numbers and size of the fish you catch.  I would suggest that every body of water has its own "Rules of the Lake" and it takes some time to discover those rules.  Here are those rules for my home lake:

 

LAKE FOREST II

• Topwater presentations work about 10 days a year.  Not 10 days in a row, but sporadically throughout the spring, summer or fall, there will be about 10 days where there will be a consistent bite on top.  What 10 days those are will be dependent on weather and other conditions, sometimes seemingly random.  For the other 354 days of the year, you might get a bite or two on top, but more likely the fish will just ignore your offering;
   
• Jigs rule the bottom during winter (or what passes for a winter here), soft plastics are king the other 3 seasons;
   
• Slow presentations will out fish reaction moving baits 95% of the time.  When the bite is on reaction baits, quiet lures (no rattles or flash) will out fish loud lures;
   
• You could catch a limit of keepers every day for an entire year doing nothing but skipping a 4" Senko in Green Pumpkin under docks.  It won't always produce the most fish and it won't always produce the biggest fish, but day after day, there will always be enough fish there to fill out a limit;
   
• At least once every outing, someone in a pontoon boat will innocently do something stupid near you.

 

 

What are some rules you have discovered on the water you fish?

[Bluebasser86]

1. As soon as you think you've figured it out, you blank.

 

2. Elephants eat peanuts

 

3. The worse the weather, the better the fishing

 

4. Big fish show up when you least expect them, always be ready

 

5. Don't be afraid to fail

 

6. No such thing as too shallow

 

7. See #1

[TOXIC]

The only rule is......There are no rules.  

[N Florida Mike]

Sounds like you described my home lake. Except the jig-in-winter part.

[NHBull]

I do believe that on my lake, a wacky rig will get bit more often than anything else.

 

 

[rejesterd]

Lake Wentworth, NH

 

1. Follow the loons.. they hunt for the same baitfish as the bass.

 

2. Use anything that imitates a crawfish, yellow perch, white perch, bluegill, or baby largemouth.

 

3. Fish the northern half of the lake.

 

4. The best deep water structure is between Wiley Brook and Stamp Act island, between Turtle island and Stamp Act island, and just south of Loon island.  These rock piles are good all the time, but especially when a tournament is going on.

 

5. On windy days, fish large points that go out to deeper water (Moose Point, Hersey Point, and the sand bar entering Wiley Brook).

 

6. Mind the buoys, or you'll hit a boulder.

[lo n slo]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

1. As soon as you think you've figured it out, you blank.

 

2. Elephants eat peanuts

 

3. The worse the weather, the better the fishing

 

4. Big fish show up when you least expect them, always be ready

 

5. Don't be afraid to fail

 

6. No such thing as too shallow

 

7. See #1

this

[jiggerpole]

Yeap! Every lake is different and each day is new.

My Lake, if I choose just one, is a 40 acre pond. Lot's of forage for the bass, stocked with threadfin shad, fertilized and managed.

Full of 4 pound + bass. Not so easy to catch.

1. Topwater before daybreak. Sometimes. Mostly Spinnerbait.

2. Worm, Jig, Shaky head, Etc. Bottom bumping bait after the sun hits the water. Sometimes a crank bait. No rattles.

3. Bass bite best with the wind chopping the water and in the heat of the day. Possibly even top water.

4. Late evening the bite shuts off and gets better again after dark. Two hours or more.

[IgotWood]

1. Never fish any kind of north wind, except during winter.

2. Fish every piece of wood you see sticking out of the water.

3. Leave your crankbaits at home, except January and February.

4. The only topwater bait is a whopper plopper.

5. MOST IMPORTANT: Keep a minimum of 100yds between you and me! 

[Jar11591]

1 hour ago, IgotWood said:

 

5. MOST IMPORTANT: Keep a minimum of 100yds between you and me! 

Amen. Wish everybody would follow this rule. I could drop anchor in the middle of the lake over 90’ of water and people would still crowd me. 

[WRB]

Bass are bass, actually they are sunfish and not  a true bass.

Bass are bass, except more then 1 species that include Northern strain largemouth bass, Florida strain largemouth bass, northern strain and southern strain spotted bass, Smallmouth bass and a few other regional species all with different behavior charteristics. Florida LMB being the least aggressive and largest of the bass, northern spotted being the most aggressive and smallest of the common bass, smallmouth preferring deeper water and Nothern LMB bass, the "bass" most angler call bass are shallower water, very aggressive behavior.

4 seasons don't exist is the bass world, they have 6 distinct seasonal periods; winter or cold water, pre spawn, spawn, post spawn, summer or the warm water period and fall transition to winter. 

Bass see better above the head then underneath it.

Each lake I fish have very distinct feeding periods, Lake Casitas very short 20 minute periods and you better be dialed into them or it's a long day on the water. Lake Castaic has longer and more often feeding periods and wider depth range where bass are active. Most of the other California lakes are similar to Castaic regarding bass activity.

Soft plastics tend to rule the majority of the time with crankbaits being least dominate, but can be very effective. Trail and error to find the life zone and the preferred lures the bass will strike are the rules I live by, it's called fishing.

Tom

 

 

[papajoe222]

When targeting big fish;

Put your back to the shore as 75% of the big girls avoid the shoreline pressure.

No bait is too big, or too small.

Three mommas in a day is a good day. 

They actually eat more often than their little sisters.

The same structures produce regardless of the presence of vegetation, or other cover.

Always have some odd ball bait tied on a rod for the guys at the launch to see.

 

Hold on..............Are we talking your lake, or mine?

[HeyCoach]

Mini 4” Zoom lizards in junebug are good from spawn through the summer. 

 

Junebug anything does well. 

 

Chartreuse reaction baits work over natural, white, or sexy shad. 

 

When they drop the water level, the bite turns off. 

 

When they raise the water level, the bite turns off. 

 

A 3 pounder is considered a monster. 

[A-Jay]

 I'm leaving a float plan with a responsible adult every trip.

 My Life Jacket & kill switch lanyard always goes on before I start the Out Board.

Situational Awareness trumps everything.

Location and timing comes before what I tie on the end of my line.

My first task on every trip on every lake is to eliminate the areas that are not holding catch-able bass and target high % areas that have active bass. 

A-Jay

[mattkenzer]

16 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

My first task on every trip on every lake is to eliminate the areas that are not holding catch-able bass and target high % areas that have active bass. 

This is the part that can make my head hurt at times.

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, mattkenzer said:

This is the part that can make my head hurt at times.

This out weighs the 'catching' part by quite a margin. 

Early & late season - there's a bit more 'predictability'.

But during the dog days of summer, it really pays off for me to get the timing down.

(Night ops can help)

Otherwise the hours of fish-less casting can really add up. 

Be all kinds of awesome if all I had to do is show up, start casting & BAM - I'm whaling on them.

Rarely happens - at least for me. 

A-Jay

[.ghoti.]

My local lake has one great rule.

 

NO JETSKIS

[Tennessee Boy]

1) You catch most of your fish on the lures you fish with most.

 

2) You catch most of your fish in the places you fish most.

 

In other words,  once you start following a rule,  that rule will govern how you catch fish.

 

[Glaucus]

Spinnerbaits are useless.

No loud topwaters.

Worms have to be BIG.

Senkos have to be SMALL.

Black/Blue/Junebug colors. 

Lipless >>> Billed

Frogs are great.

 

Rarely fish the lake though. Usually river and ponds. 

[Brew City Bass]

Only one rule 

 

1 - Don't get hit by the drunk boaters. 

[Yakalong]

If one breaks your line it was at least 6 lbs 

[scaleface]

If the fishing reports say the  bass fishing is poor , its good .

[.ghoti.]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

should say if you ain't broke, buy more fishing tackle. 

[mattkenzer]

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This out weighs the 'catching' part by quite a margin. 

Early & late season - there's a bit more 'predictability'.

But during the dog days of summer, it really pays off for me to get the timing down.

(Night ops can help)

Otherwise the hours of fish-less casting can really add up. 

Be all kinds of awesome if all I had to do is show up, start casting & BAM - I'm whaling on them.

Rarely happens - at least for me. 

A-Jay

I agree totally A-Jay.

It puts a big smile on my face when I have a good day (doesn't have to be great) catching quality smallies in the heat of summer.

To me, this is the hardest part of bass fishing.

[MrPeanut]

I only bring a couple of rules with me, wherever I go:

 

1) You can't control the fish / weather / conditions; only how you react to them

2) Have fun and enjoy the moment