Tips for me to get my PB this summer?

[ElijahH]

So I mainly fish a very heavily pressured lake and just want some tips and tricks to catch a nice fish on a pressured area. It won't take much, my PB is only

3 3/4 Which is really embarrassing considering how much I fish.... Thanks!!  

[scaleface]

Go at night .

 

[Catt]

3 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Go at night .

 

 

Done!  ?

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Well, this one's done. Nice work guys ?

[WRB]

What are the biggest bass caught in the lakes you fish recently?

While I agree fishing night in high pressured lakes increase your odds if the lakes have big bass and the water clarity should descent.

I would put away everything except bigger worms and jigs focusing on areas with deep water access like major points and near the dam, swim beaches and docks with lighting like marinas.

Tom

[GreenPig]

29 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Go at night .

 

 

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

What are the biggest bass caught in the lakes you fish recently?

While I agree fishing night in high pressured lakes increase your odds if the lakes have big bass and the water clarity should descent.

I would put away everything except bigger worms and jigs focusing on areas with deep water access like major points and near the dam, swim beaches and docks with lighting like marinas.

Tom

Agree with the above. But I would also fish a large topwater and hudd gill. 

[IgotWood]

On one of my local lakes, I see more pressure on one side of the lake than the other. I hate fishing near other anglers. I choose to fish the other side, and I catch just as many fish as the rest. I also caught my PB on this less pressured side. Get intimate with your water. Learn to fish where others don’t. Look for likely spots away from where the crowds fish. 

 

Once summer rolls around, I tend to catch more fish, and bigger fish, just before daybreak. Once the sun is up, it seems the bigger fish disappear and the smaller school fish move in. If the water is warm on your lake, try getting there an hour before sunrise. It should still be dark enough so that you can’t really see where you’re casting. Try something big and slow. I like a big 10” ribbontail on a very lightly weighted Texas rig. 

[A-Jay]

Fish as early and late into your legal open water bass fishing season as your state's regulations allow.  Both offer excellent opportunities to land some of the heaftiest bass of the year.  

Good Luck

A-Jay 

[I'm Blue]

depends on area,,, look at local conditions. In m area the tourny guys pound snot out of the waters.  They seem to always be prefishing a tourny,,, so launch at dawn and are gone by 1 or 2,,, 
I used to launch at 2 fish till dark did way better.
That or you can do what I did.. Drive to FL Rodman reservoir and hire a guide

[soflabasser]

3 hours ago, ElijahH said:

So I mainly fish a very heavily pressured lake and just want some tips and tricks to catch a nice fish on a pressured area. It won't take much, my PB is only

3 3/4 Which is really embarrassing considering how much I fish.... Thanks!!  

1. Put in your time on the water

2. Fish at night with topwaters such as buzz baits, wake baits, hollow belly frogs, etc.

3. Live bait

4. Finesse techniques 

5. Big swimbaits

6. Have the mindset that you are targeting the top 10% biggest bass of where you fish and that you might not get many bites but when you do it will be a bass worth your time.

[WRB]

For what it's worth I have never caught big bass at night (darkness) on top water lures or swimbaits, dusk and dawn yes dark no. If the lakes are shallow and off color noisy top water lures may work in darkness, they don't where fish.

Tom

[CroakHunter]

Another point tonhit on is to fish the moat uncomfortable times of the year. For instance, super hot or very rainy may run fair weather fishermen and women off where you could have the whole place to yourself. 

[soflabasser]

Pat Cullen is one of the best trophy bass fishermen that has ever lived and he caught +1,100 bass over 10 pounds on buzz baits during the night. He fished in Georgia but his techniques will work well during the summer in shallow lakes. Swimbaits work well during the night but you need lots of patience to fish with these lures. Be patient, fish hard, and eventually you will catch a new personal best bass.

[Armtx77]

Fish at night, slow down and increase lure size...all have been said.

 

I fish several, highly pressured, lakes/lagoons. Here in the NOLA Metro.

 

The guys who regularly catch big fish 6-8lbs, are constantly moving from spot to spot. They are pitching Senko's on MH gear, into pockets of grass and putting lures into ugly looking spots.

 

Personally, I have been having real good luck with 5" black w/blue flake Senko's. With a 5/0 offset and 3/8 bullet weight...Texas Rigged, attached to 15lbs Sufix832.

 

Slow down...big bass in heavily pressured waters, are educated beasts.

[Hower08]

Not sure of your location but here in Ohio it gets so hot around august that oxygen levels start to diminish and the big fish in our lakes will push to super super shallow water at the hottest part of the day. My biggest bass last year was 5.75# on a day in august hot enough to choke you with water temps pushing 90°. So I guess any advice I could give you is fish big worms on weed edges and big jigs in the nastiest cover you can find. 

 

I started fishing magnum worms 2 years ago and the average size fish I catch now has probably increased by close to a pound but the numbers have not dropped by a noticeable amount. You will still get a number of small bites so your not only catching one or two a day like happens with giant jigs sometimes. Also if you throw a buzzbait or frog at high noon that can also produce some giant hot water fish. Good luck in your hawg hunting. Think outside the box sometimes and the big ones will come

[Basseditor]

Not wanting to be a jerk, but the best way to catch a PB, is to go to big fish lakes.

[813basstard]

No finesse. Go big. Swim bait, Frog, 1oz jig etc..weedless senko is good but...

[GreenPig]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

Pat Cullen is one of the best trophy bass fishermen that has ever lived and he caught +1,100 bass over 10 pounds on buzz baits during the night. He fished in Georgia but his techniques will work well during the summer in shallow lakes. Swimbaits work well during the night but you need lots of patience to fish with these lures. Be patient, fish hard, and eventually you will catch a new personal best bass.

Mr. Cullen's big bass was 18 lbs I believe.  He had a little different scenario he as fishing private waters with little to no pressure. 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

I'm about an hour drive from Cullen. Private farm ponds play into the scenario big time. As I have fished around some of those ponds. 

 

But his methods do work. 

[j bab]

Throw an 8" Hudd and reel it slow on offshore structure. That's how I caught both of my PBs, the 11lber was this time of year too (at night)  

[Bluebasser86]

37 minutes ago, basseditor said:

Not wanting to be a jerk, but the best way to catch a PB, is to go to big fish lakes.

Not being a jerk at all. It may sound like a serious DUH! statement, but you can't catch them where they don't live. I have local guys ask me how I catch big fish as I'm fishing known big fish lakes, while they never leave the lakes that have very few bigger fish. 

 

I think a lot of these suggestions are good, but you're not shooting for an overly large fish here (no offense). If I needed to pick 2 baits that I was going to fish all summer to catch a 4lb bass, I'd be fishing a bladed jig and a flipping jig. Fish them around high percentage areas (points, boat ramps, docks near drop offs, weedlines), you'll run into her eventually. 

[Russ E]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Not being a jerk at all. It may sound like a serious DUH! statement, but you can't catch them where they don't live. I have local guys ask me how I catch big fish as I'm fishing known big fish lakes, while they never leave the lakes that have very few bigger fish. 

 

I think a lot of these suggestions are good, but you're not shooting for an overly large fish here (no offense). If I needed to pick 2 baits that I was going to fish all summer to catch a 4lb bass, I'd be fishing a bladed jig and a flipping jig. Fish them around high percentage areas (points, boat ramps, docks near drop offs, weedlines), you'll run into her eventually. 

This is probably the best advice here.

Most states do sample shockings  to paint a picture of the bass population and average size in each lake. this is usually published on the state local game and fish website.

Here in Kansas the wildlife department publishes an annual bass forecast for nearly every lake in the state, with the results from the survey.

it shows the bass density and more importantly how many big fish came up in the survey.

 

It is no big surprise that my favorite lake is always number 1 or 2 in the state. For overall population and size.  

Most bodies of water have a few quality fish. My pb Smallmouth came from a lake that is known for being stingy on giving up quality fish.

My 5 largest Largemouth bass from Kansas, came from one of the highest ranked lakes in the state.

 

[ElijahH]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

What are the biggest bass caught in the lakes you fish recently?

While I agree fishing night in high pressured lakes increase your odds if the lakes have big bass and the water clarity should descent.

I would put away everything except bigger worms and jigs focusing on areas with deep water access like major points and near the dam, swim beaches and docks with lighting like marinas.

Tom

There has been a 8 pounder this month and I was on a boat with a friend who landed a 5 1/2 right in front of me, throwing the same worm I was..... 

[Choporoz]

I don't keep stats, but I would bet that 80+% of my bass over five pounds have been pulled off of/out of wood.  If you have laydowns, and/or timber on the bottom, spend a lot of time picking it all apart meticulously.    The other 20% is such a mixed bag of everything else, it'd be hard to draw specific conclusions, other than some sort of vegetation was nearly always close.  

[EWREX]

why only this summer? i fish for my PB every time my line is in the water ?