Pressure lake

[Hanansong]

Hey guys. I

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for heavy pressured lakes.thanks for the info

Hanan

[Throwafrog]

Silent baits. Probably soft plastics. Either fish very erratic for a reaction bite or very slow. Super fluke ftw

[Hanansong]

23 minutes ago, Throwafrog said:

Silent baits. Probably soft plastics. Either fish very erratic for a reaction bite or very slow. Super fluke ftw

Do you think size matters for the super flukes??

 

[Bird]

I fish a very high pressured lake occasionally, it's clear. 

 

Drop-shot, flukes and brush hogs is only way I get bit.

 

 

[WRB]

You need to post your questions to the Western bass forum.

Puddingston for example isn't a highly pressures lake for example, no local weekly bass turnamanrts or water contact sports. 

Castiac on the other hand is highly pressured with weekly bass club and regional tournaments plus water contact sports.

Both lakes are nearly the same size. The difference is age, Puddingston is older and shallower with primarily northern bass population, bluegill, threadfin shad and catfish populations. Castaic is younger, deeper and was a world class bass fishery because it has a higher population of bass per acre. Both are tough fisheries. Puddingston because of low populations and Castaic because of extreme fishing pressure.

Tom

[Ogandrews]

I know this is going to sound like an obvious response but it can pay huge dividends to fish differently than the people around you. Majority of the fisheries around me are highly pressured for Minnesota standards so I have had to make changes to my fishing to be successful. Pay attention to what people around you are throwing and make sure to have your presentation be different. It could be as simple as a different color or a completely different class of lure. Another thing I like to do is throw more subtle lures than other people. If you see a lot of people chucking chatterbaits and spinnerbaits, throw a swim jig. If you see people throwing a lot of bright swimbaits, throw a natural color one with a more natural action. Loud lipless, throw a silent one or a blade bait. Switch to a finesse jig instead of a full sized one. In my experience doing this can make a huge difference in a pressured fishery.

[Hammer 4]

Google pudingstone fishing 2020..There are some vids, and good info that may help you.

[Throwafrog]

12 hours ago, Hanansong said:

Do you think size matters for the super flukes??

I think the normal size is super fluke is the best its small eneough and it still casts well. I just got some of the smaller superflukes this season instead of the tiny flukes with not hook slot. So im not sure how those are yet, but I'm pretty sure they are good.

[primetime]

Try throwing an old school Rapala floating Minnow or a split shot rig with a 4-6" curly tail worm.....Both seem to always catch fish when struggling.

[plawren53202]

The place I fish most often, my HOA pond, is highly highly pressured, and clear to boot. From my experience, lots of good suggestions already. I can't emphasize enough the downsizing advice.

 

Bitsy Bug with a Tiny Paca Chunk trailer has been working great for me this year (black and blue, or okechobee craw). Zoom Super Fluke fished t-rigged weightless works well for me. This season I have had some success on lipless crankbaits, but small (like the 1/4 oz. Cotton Cordell spot) in colors I think they don't see often, like red craw or chrome sexy shad. A Booyah Pond Magic spinnerbait (single Colorado blade, and considerably smaller than a regular spinnerbait) has worked on a couple of occasions, right at dusk as it is getting dark or very overcast day. 

 

Judging by what I see a lot of other people throwing, I think the fish in this pond see a lot of buzzbaits, full-size spinnerbaits, and curly tail worms. I try to fish different and smaller than these.

 

Also don't skip over the fact that downsizing also includes line size. When I find extra line laying on the ground around the pond, which unfortunately is not infrequently, it looks like rope. I fish 6 lb. on my spinning rod and 12 lb. on my baitcaster. I feel a lot better about the 6 lb. when the presentation allows. 

 

Finally, don't know if you're in a boat or on the bank, but if on the bank, don't underestimate the importance of stealth. I see so many people just march right up to the water's edge and start casting (straight out into the pond). On this pond, there is very little cover or structure so the bass often hug right up against the bank in mere inches of water. In the clear water, they can see people coming from quite a ways, and I think they have conditioned to be very spooky.

[CrankFate]

I don’t believe in “pressured” fisheries, unless people are taking fish home with them. If people are actually removing fish from the water, it makes it harder and harder to catch fish. Mainly because there are less of them. Otherwise, I do not believe in “pressured” lakes. More often than not, “pressured” probably means tons of people fish there and they’re not catching because they don’t know how to. I believe what some articles say about bass fishing. The professional bass fishermen on TV make bass fisheries look much stronger than they are. Because they are so much better than the average fisherman. The pros literally outfish everyone else (me included) 10 to 1 and 3lbs to 1. They make it look easier than it really is. 

[Hanansong]

2 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I don’t believe in “pressured” fisheries, unless people are taking fish home with them. If people are actually removing fish from the water, it makes it harder and harder to catch fish. Mainly because there are less of them. Otherwise, I do not believe in “pressured” lakes. More often than not, “pressured” probably means tons of people fish there and they’re not catching because they don’t know how to. I believe what some articles say about bass fishing. The professional bass fishermen on TV make bass fisheries look much stronger than they are. Because they are so much better than the average fisherman. The pros literally outfish everyone else (me included) 10 to 1 and 3lbs to 1. They make it look easier than it really is. 

Yeah,the lake I fish some people take the bass unfortunately.

[Shimano_1]

I would have a two prong approach and both have already been suggested.  Finesse presentations like ned rig, drop shot and shakey heads will catch some heavily pressured fish. Also i would try to fish something not everyone throws.  Bigger swimbaits for example are something i rarely see people around here throwing but they work great at a local lake with a big bass population that gets hammered to death. 

[king fisher]

7 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I don’t believe in “pressured” fisheries, unless people are taking fish home with them. If people are actually removing fish from the water, it makes it harder and harder to catch fish. Mainly because there are less of them. Otherwise, I do not believe in “pressured” lakes. More often than not, “pressured” probably means tons of people fish there and they’re not catching because they don’t know how to. I believe what some articles say about bass fishing. The professional bass fishermen on TV make bass fisheries look much stronger than they are. Because they are so much better than the average fisherman. The pros literally outfish everyone else (me included) 10 to 1 and 3lbs to 1. They make it look easier than it really is. 

I believe pressure has a big effect on fish.

      12 years ago I fished a river almost every day one summer that had a small population of small mouth bass.  The river was heavily populated with suckers, northern pike minnows, and carp.  There were not many bass but the ones that survived to adult hood were large and well fed.

     The river got extremely low, making it very easy to find the bass.  There were only a few holes that were deep enough for the bass to live.  Because of limited space to live there were few bass.  The visibility was poor, but  the best feeding and resting spots were easy to spot.  All the land around the river was private, and I was fortunate to have access to most of it.  Basically I was the only pressure these fish had.  Most people didn't even know there were bass there. Even the land owners were surprised when I would tell them I caught bass.

      It would take me a few hours to work a section of river fishing from shore. Each section would have three to four fish-able holes. I would always catch 2 to 3 bass from 2 to 6 lbs. each, plus one or two small fish in each section.  It was incredible fishing.  Some days they preferred one lure over another, but because it was so obvious where the fish would hold, I would eventually find a lure and presentation that worked.  If they didn't want one lure I would leave for awhile then come back and try another.  If I didn't rest the spot, chances were slim that a different lure was going to work.  If I gave it an hours rest, and made a good presentation on the first cast, I would usually get bit.

     After completely working a section of river over in a day, that section was shot.  I would have to rest a hole for at least three days or longer in order to get bit. I tried many times going back after only a day or two, even using completely different lures.  No luck. I was the only pressure, but that was enough to shut the fish off due to the limited number of fish and the confines of the water.  Luckily I had access to many miles of river so it was easy to rotate the best spots.  I wouldn't fish a place more than twice a weak.

     I can't say what pressure does to fish in other places, but I can say for sure that It had significant effect on the fish in that river in low water conditions.  Best lures were inline spinners ( #3 Mepps or Vibrax), floating rapalas, Rebel craw dad, and buck tail jigs.  Presentation was more important than what lure.  Because of the current and depth, , inline spinners were the most versatile lure for making the best presentation.  Inline spinners are good lures for pressured fish, but only good if the fish are just a few feet deep, and work best with current. Buck tail jigs work for me on pressured fish at any depth.  As others have said, something different than what the fish have seen can make a big difference.  Also matching the hatch is a great place to start.  Fish something roughly the same size, shape, and color, with  a presentation that imitates what the fish are eating.  If that doesn't work try something that you are sure the fish have never seen.  Many times something way larger, or way smaller than what others are fishing can work.  I would try and fish a pressured pond at night, very early in the morning, or any time when it gets the least amount of pressure.  

     

[Bankbeater]

Like others have said, fish with smaller and different baits than everyone else.  You might also try fishing with baits that are no longer being produced.  Chances are the bass have not seen those baits in quite some time.

[CrankFate]

9 hours ago, Hanansong said:

Yeah,the lake I fish some people take the bass unfortunately.

That stinks. Because it will become impossible to catch them, because they will literally farm baitfish so they rarely get hungry enough to reaction strike. Farming bait is a long process that takes patience. Once they develop the patience to keep large stocks of silver dollar sized bluegills, the fishing dies. Except for catching few extremely large fish. The smaller the lake the worse this becomes.