One Fish Spots

[Deleted account]

Just now, Mobasser said:

What might be going on is if you catch a good bass on a one fish spot, catching him could spook other bass holding there. They won't hit, so you move on. A decent size fish hooked and thrashing around while you play him, could easily spook other fish holding in the same area.

Could be, but in that case, you come back and hit it later, then you will know for sure. I'm on them now like that, I can only catch one or 2, but I come back to them and get a couple more more times than not, and it keeps happening, so I know there are bunched up there, just finicky.

[E-rude dude]

4 hours ago, BassWhole! said:

So the best "pattern" is to find where the fish are at?  There may be hope for bass guys yet.

Whether a spot (we call them drops) holds one, some, several, or a boatload of fish, You ain't gonna catch any until you find them. I don't think knowing where there are fish is an unfair advantage.

I think what the OP means is the spot will consistently hold a fish. Catch one today and next week there is another in it’s place. 
 

I have so many waypoints marked for this exact pattern. Especially mid to late summer docks. One and done, run and gun on to the next.

[Deleted account]

Just now, E-rude dude said:

I have so many weight points marked for this exact pattern.

LOL

[E-rude dude]

2 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

LOL

d**n it spell check. I thought I fixed it fast enough????

[Mobasser]

26 minutes ago, Catt said:

@Mobasser or fire em up ?

Agree Catt, it can go both ways

[WRB]

I think the majority of bass anglers believe in 1 fish spots as a primary concept about bass behavior.

What has changed bass fishing is the knowledge bass are often outside structure located in lieu of shoreline target fish.

How many times in the same day or night have multiple bass been caught 1 at a time by different anglers off that 1 bass spot? Answer is several unless a angler camps out on that 1 bass spot catching several bass during the day.

It’s referred incorrectly the bass are “reloading” on that spot when in reality they were always there or spooked off and returned.

Patterns to me refer to something that repeatable like clay to rock transition with stick ups, specific cover, structure breakline etc.

Been making milk runs for decades successfully.

I rarely catch only 1 bass off a spot unless it’s a bed fish. Bass usually group up be size or year class, true loners are not the norm imo.

Tom

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

but when he backed off & cast to her with a Texas Rig she spooked.

 

   Now you know another reason I overcast my target.                          jj

[Catt]

Radio telemetry & Livescope both have verified these 1 fish spot to indeed be a single bass on a single piece over cover.

 

Studies have shown for years there's a resident population that stays within a certain distance from the shoreline year round. It also shows a resident population that stays offshore year round. And there's a population that moves farther than the other two.

[E-rude dude]

21 minutes ago, Catt said:

Radio telemetry & Livescope both have verified these 1 fish spot to indeed be a single bass on a single piece over cover.

 

Studies have shown for years there's a resident population that stays within a certain distance from the shoreline year round. It also shows a resident population that stays offshore year round. And there's a population that moves farther than the other two.

My experience here in WI makes me believe this is in fact the case. 
Shallow water structure/cover, 2’ and less, tends to hold single fish. Not including spawn. I can catch single fish every year off the same spots like clockwork. In gin clear water it’s pretty easy to verify one fish.

Medium water structure, 4-12’ tends to hold smaller groups of fish mostly panfish. Which is the main forage up here for bass.

Deep water structure, over 12’ tends to hold larger schools of varying types of fish. 
Do these fish move in and out of these different environments, very possible but I have no factual knowledge to say either way.

[RDB]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Radio telemetry & Livescope both have verified these 1 fish spot to indeed be a single bass on a single piece over cover.

 

Studies have shown for years there's a resident population that stays within a certain distance from the shoreline year round. It also shows a resident population that stays offshore year round. And there's a population that moves farther than the other two.

I agree that there are times when a spot can hold only one fish.  I also believe a spot often holds multiple fish.  The overall use of Livescope is still small and telemetry even smaller.  In my opinion, when you hear about fishing 1 bass spots, it typically refers to a place that you have a high chance of picking off at least 1 fish...not necessarily that there is 1 fish there.  It’s just semantics.

As far as resident fish, I think what has been going on at O.H. Ivie is making some rethink what they consider fishable water.  If you have read the news or seen the videos, Millikan and Zark were catching monsters in 40-60’ of water suspended in wood in February (during our terrible storm).  I think their 5 fish bag for the day was 60ish pounds with a 16.4 and 2, 12’s.  I believe it is quite likely that some of those fish spend the majority (if not all) of the year in these areas and probably rarely see a lure.

[RDB]

2 hours ago, E-rude dude said:

My experience here in WI makes me believe this is in fact the case. 
Shallow water structure/cover, 2’ and less, tends to hold single fish. Not including spawn. I can catch single fish every year off the same spots like clockwork. In gin clear water it’s pretty easy to verify one fish.

Medium water structure, 4-12’ tends to hold smaller groups of fish mostly panfish. Which is the main forage up here for bass.

Deep water structure, over 12’ tends to hold larger schools of varying types of fish. 
Do these fish move in and out of these different environments, very possible but I have no factual knowledge to say either way.

My experience is that as soon as you start applying rules to a creature that doesn’t follow rules, you limit yourself.  I have seen shallow water cover hold many fish, just like I have seen it hold 1 fish.  Remember, if you can see a bass, a bass can see you.  As far as mid depth, this past Friday I fished a clear, highly vegetated lake and found the fish relating to rock/gravel spots the size of a car surrounded by weeds in 7-10’ of water.  I could toss a drop shot to the bare spots and catch anywhere from 1 to 10 fish off a single spot.  I probably caught 40 bass running that pattern.  I often find groups of bass in 4-12’ of water.

 

And yes, the majority of bass move in and out of these environments.  While every lake likely has a population of “resident” fish, the majority of fish in a reasonably sized body will transition throughout the year in a wider range than would be considered resident.

[Catt]

55 minutes ago, RDB said:

I think what has been going on at O.H. Ivie is making some rethink what they consider fishable water.

 

What took place on O.H. Ivie was the extreme cold water concentrated large bass in the only suitable water.

 

@RDB What radio telemetry is showing is some bass have a home range of 100 yrs radius while others will travel miles with no apparent home range.

[RDB]

18 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

What took place on O.H. Ivie was the extreme cold water concentrated large bass in the only suitable water.

 

@RDB What radio telemetry is showing is some bass have a home range of 100 yrs radius while others will travel miles with no apparent home range.

As far as Ivie, I think that is your assumption. These guys have been catching giants using this type of deeper approach for some time...Ben is a Livescope master.  What they did at Ivie is not new, it just went viral and got people talking.  I saw them shortly after doing the same thing at Joe Pool.  A lot of the talk has been around a population of fish that spend the majority/all of their time in these deeper water locations that are often overlooked.

 

As for the second part, I think we are agreeing.  I have had some involvement in several telemetry studies in the past and that’s why I suggest that a one size fits all approach is the wrong approach.  Some bass are resident, some migrate in a small range, others in a much wider range, some bass seem to have more of a loner nature, others seem to travel in wolf packs.  Can a spot hold one fish...absolutely.  Can a spot hold 50 fish...absolutely.  Can you be sure without some sort of live imaging (which a small percentage of anglers have)...not very reliably.  Even telemetry will not tell you if other fish are present.

 

 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, RDB said:

As far as Ivie, I think that is your assumption

 

That's the assumption of Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist. These fish have never experienced frozen water in their lives and probably never will again. The warmest water in the lake was the deepest water in the lake. 

 

1 hour ago, RDB said:

Can you be sure without some sort of live imaging (which a small percentage of anglers have)...not very reliably.  Even telemetry will not tell you if other fish are present.

 

Todd Driscoll is using radio telemetry along with Livescope which absolutely verifies there is only one fish present. The same research is being conducted on Lake Fork & it shows the same results. The research was also performed on Sam Rayburn, which showed the same results.

 

The batteries in the radio transmitters are good for two years & they have only been used for 6 months so plenty more data forthcoming.

[WRB]

I will agree big bass will have a home spot while inactive and when active tend to join up in small groups to hunt it’s more effective. 

My goal is to locate and catch bass. More interested finding bass in the kitchen looking for food then in the den resting.

Tom

[RDB]

44 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

That's the assumption of Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist. These fish have never experienced frozen water in their lives and probably never will again. The warmest water in the lake was the deepest water in the lake. 

 

 

Todd Driscoll is using radio telemetry along with Livescope which absolutely verifies there is only one fish present. The same research is being conducted on Lake Fork & it shows the same results. The research was also performed on Sam Rayburn, which showed the same results.

 

The batteries in the radio transmitters are good for two years & they have only been used for 6 months so plenty more data forthcoming.

For some strange reason we seem to be going in circles.  I AGREE with you.  I have said multiple times that I agree one fish may be present.  I have also said that the majority of anglers do not have the equipment that these researchers have and typically do not know the numbers of fish present.  I’m not talking about researchers/studies.  For what it’s worth, just because there is one fish present today when I look at Livescope doesn’t mean there won’t be more tomorrow.  Frankly I’m surprised they need new studies to verify that one fish may be present at any given time...it’s not controversial.  Good to know my fishing license purchase is going to such worthy studies ?.

 

As far as Ivie, the fish were not caught 40-60 feet deep...they were caught mostly on Alabama rigs suspended in specific spots much higher in wood and it is not known what the water temp was at whatever depth they were holding (though probably not the warmest).  And that was not the deepest water in the lake...that lake reaches depths of over 100 feet .  And the water wasn’t frozen.  I know a number of TPWD folks and I have not heard that the weather was the determining factor as to why the fish were in those spots.  As a matter of fact, I have had discussions with a number of folks much smarter than I who are thinking that these fish may spend the majority of their lives in these deeper water areas.  I am one of those that thinks that is a possibility.

[DitchPanda]

Btw I fished a bunch of my 1 fish spots today...but they turned out to be zero fish spots.

[Deleted account]

I'm pretty sure that the majority of LMB spending the majority of their time over deep water or "offshore" isn't breaking news.  

[the reel ess]

11 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   And is it not true that these "resident bass" tend to be bigger?  IOW, doesn't prime real estate go to the dominant fish?             Jim

And big fish tend to be loners. 

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

Btw I fished a bunch of my 1 fish spots today...but they turned out to be zero fish spots.

Same. But I caught one on a no-fish spot.

[RDB]

39 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

I'm pretty sure that the majority of LMB spending the majority of their time over deep water or "offshore" isn't breaking news.  

Thanks...and that literally has nothing to do with the discussion we are having about O.H. Ivie.
 

We are talking about deep as in 40-60-80’ water deep...depths that typically are not frequented by Texas fishermen.  Depths that would be below a stratification level during summer months.  Yet there is some discussion that instead of these bass leaving these areas, some may just adjust depths but stay in the same areas year round...and we are talking big bass.  New York may be different but I can guarantee you that in Texas, you won’t find many boats camped out in 60 feet of water looking for LMB.  In many ways, Livescope is challenging many of the traditional beliefs.

[WRB]

My heaviest 5 bass limit was caught in 1991 at Lake Casitas on a no fish spot, I named the “Old Folks Home”.

I took a local pro angler out to learn how to fish jigs for DD bass. The Pro had won a new fully rigged Ranger bass boat but never caught a 10 lb+ bass in his lifetime. We were having lunch with our group when someone mentioned Danna should learn to jig fish and I was the appointed instructor...jokes on me. I like Danna so agreed and we had a dare in his new boat. Spent some time showing how a jig looks in the water at the ramp and my retrieve technique so he could watch in the clear water. 

We headed to the Old Foljs Home and a boat was already working the area. I just waiting my turn as the anglers boat set on top of the bass casting to the shore and moved on catching nothing. I knew this spot held big bass and high % of catching a big bass.

I told Danna to cast where the other boat was a few minutes ago. He said you got to be kidding there isn’t any bass here.

Danna made the cast and I watched his line move and said set the hook...11.7 lbs his 1st DD bass.  Danna said he never felt anything. That was a 1 bass spot that morning.

Tom

PS, this fish story lasted for years with the lunch gang.

[Catt]

@RDB The folks from TP&W I talked to firmly believe those fish where there because of the extreme temperatures. I've also heard the were areas of the lake that were frozen. 

 

I know members here on bassresource who have photos & videos of frozen coves on Toledo Bend, Rayburn, Fork, Palestine, & other Texas lakes with coves completely covered with ice.

 

The research being done on Toledo is to understand where the been bass moved to after the loss of grass. 

 

Research has shown for years that bass located out on the main lake of Toledo Bend has never been hooked.

[RDB]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

@RDB The folks from TP&W I talked to firmly believe those fish where there because of the extreme temperatures. I've also heard the were areas of the lake that were frozen. 

 

I know members here on bassresource who have photos & videos of frozen coves on Toledo Bend, Rayburn, Fork, Palestine, & other Texas lakes with coves completely covered with ice.

 

The research being done on Toledo is to understand where the been bass moved to after the loss of grass. 

 

Research has shown for years that bass located out on the main lake of Toledo Bend has never been hooked.

I don’t dispute that it could be entirely weather...if I remember right, Ben said he thought the fish were there due to the weather in the video.  There have also been discussions following the story around was it weather, were some resident fish, or was it a combination.  I believe that because of the crazy number of big fish v. smalls, some of these bigger fish likely remain in the area (but I acknowledge that I might be wrong).  I also don’t dispute that there were frozen sections...the whole thing was caught on video so you can see the water conditions yourself.  Just Google 5 Biggest Bass Limit Ever if you haven’t seen it.  I actually thought I was agreeing with your previous statement regarding resident fish being located throughout the lake by sharing an example that I believe may support your statement.

[Catt]

@RDB in my opinion It's hard to say if it solely weather related because there's nothing to compare it to. 

 

Since that weather event Texas has exploded with huge bass everywhere. I'm sure you're aware of the 15.47 that won the Bass Champs Big Bass Tournament on Rayburn last weekend.

[RDB]

18 minutes ago, Catt said:

@RDB in my opinion It's hard to say if it solely weather related because there's nothing to compare it to. 

 

Since that weather event Texas has exploded with huge bass everywhere. I'm sure you're aware of the 15.47 that won the Bass Champs Big Bass Tournament on Rayburn last weekend.

Here is an interview from Josh Jones discussing his experiences. It is an excellent article.

 

https://www.lunkerlore.com/single-post/the-holy-grail-of-big-bass-fishing