Fishing on holiday weekends?

[WRB]

Memorial Day weekend isn’t safe on any body of public water that allows water contact sports...too may  unskilled boaters and accidents always occur.

Castiac is the most mismanaged lake in our state.

Every 10 years the Castiac dam is inspected for earthquake safety, this is the year. We are in a drought so MWD buys water from up north to fill Castiac, then starts draining it to work on the scheduled dam during the spawning cycle! They will lower the lake 150 vertical feet of water. Reducing the size of the lake a peak summer use.

If anyone fishes Castaic on this weekend be careful!

Tom

[Goldstar225]

Nope.  Since I'm retired I get to fish when I want, weather permitting.  I avoid weekends and go during the weekdays.

[Skunkmaster-k]

Oh yeah ! Last weekend on the dock I got to see a fight between an ol boy and his girlfriend. She kept bauling at him until he shoved her little cart in the water that had her purse and phone in it . Then she screamed at him until the park po-po showed up and made them pour out their beers. I can only hope that this weekend will be half as entertaining. Fingers crossed !

[BayouSlide]

4 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

I sense your joking, but could there be something to this!?  Best fishing on thursdays!

 

I actually read somewhere that it's better to deer hunt on heavily pressured public lands on Tuesday through Thursday. The heavy pressure during weekends makes the deer avoid detection by staying in secure cover, triggered by their innate instinct for self preservation.

 

Why would bass be different? The constant parade of boats and lures on lakes that get heavily pressured on the weekends would make them more wary, while after a day or two it's back to business as usual, when the instinct to feed takes precedence.

 

That's my theory and I'm sticking with it ?.

 

[NavyVet1204]

This is why I opt for week days off from work when possible and my current job has me working every single weekend with three days off during the week. I’d rather work when everyone else is on the water and the fish when everyone else is at work.

[Deleted account]

No weekends, Holiday or otherwise. 

[Mobasser]

Get out there at first light in the morning. Just about the time your ready to go home, most of the holiday weekend party crowd will just be getting up.

[throttleplate]

One of the lakes i fish on the people who own homes around the lake have installed big cable guard rails where fisherman used to stop on the road and put in their kayaks, canoes and even small aluminum boats. This lake has no boat ramp.

 

I have talked to the guys who used to fish by dropping off their boats there and they tell me the owners would try to stop them by first placing big boulders on the shoreline and in the water and the guys would just move down a bit and then the owners put up the guard rails.

 

I dont know who paid for this as these are professionally done cable concrete anchored rails about 20 yards long.

 

 This is a great bass lake but also many home owners with high school kids jet skiing all day and loud music from ski boats and wakeboarding can drive a guy nuts so in the summer we dont start fishing this lake untill 6:30 pm from the bank.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

I dont know who paid for this as these are professionally done cable concrete anchored rails about 20 yards long.

Did they get permission from the state to do that? I know in MN that if any water touches public land, the entire body is considered public water. Putting something like that up that prevents public access to the water without clearing it with the state is a big No-No.

[GreenPig]

I don't fish any PUBLIC waters on warm holidays. I'll be edging & pressure washing my driveway & the in law's. I consider staying away from the 3 - I's a personal challenge. Inbreed, Ignorant,  and Inebriated. 

[Michigander]

If I go, I'm off the water by 10am. Too many casuals and jetskis out there for me. I can push it to noon if it's a no wake lake.

[throttleplate]

4 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Did they get permission from the state to do that? I know in MN that if any water touches public land, the entire body is considered public water. Putting something like that up that prevents public access to the water without clearing it with the state is a big No-No.

it must have been cleared by the state as it is a well traveled road and heavilly fished from the bank and the owners dont like us bank fisherman.

 

The home owners must not like some of their neighbors because the lake gets torn up in the summer by the kids on the jet skis, ya know the kids that were at one time nice and little and now high school maniacs and the loud party music and again i state that there is no boat access to the lake.

 

Fisherman just want to fish but we arnt welcome on their lake, its not a private lake they want to act as though it is.

[einscodek]

Fishing holidays usually only in bad weather or other conditions where most people prefer to stay home.  Chatty obnoxious people scare the fish.

[river-rat]

I'm retired and able to fish during the week when crowds aren't so much of a problem.

 

However, from mid-May until October, most of my fishing will be at night when very few people are out there. I was able to go this past Tuesday night and didn't see another boat.

[E-rude dude]

Amateurs launch their boats 3 days a year. Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

 

My suggestion is if you have to go to the lake, leave the boat at home. Pack lawn chairs and a cooler of beer. Enjoy the cluster show. For added entertainment bring your buddies and bet on who can back up and who can’t.?

[gim]

16 hours ago, throttleplate said:

it must have been cleared by the state as it is a well traveled road and heavilly fished from the bank and the owners dont like us bank fisherman.

That is what I initially thought when you posted that a barrier guard rail was installed. If it’s right on a busy road, it was likely done by MNDot for safety purposes so cars don’t fly into the lake. As a side effect, the barrier has impeded the ability of people trying to fish there now too.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve driven all along chickamauga today, one of the most famous bass lakes in the country, and it was fairly deserted. I think the fishing pressure might’ve finally started making people go elsewhere 

[Scott F]

As I type this, it’s the Saturday before Memorial Day just past 4 in the afternoon. I’m sitting on the deck of the cabin I’ve been renting for the last week watching the endless parade of boats moving back and forth between the lake I’m on and the connecting lakes. We fished from 8 this morning until 1. Morning traffic on other parts of the lake where the best fishing is isn’t bad at all. After lunch at the end of the lake where my cabin is, it’s too hard to find places to fish without boats, jet skies, or skiers. Lake is pretty churned up now. Tomorrow morning will be a good time to fish again.

[lo n slo]

On 5/28/2021 at 3:03 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Random question that may turn into a PM later. You fish Harris Lake?

 

edit: just looked up mooresville. Wee bit far from Harris. Shearon Harris is full name. Anyone that does fish it, feel free to PM

only fished Harris once, and that was about a month ago. we caught 8 fish, nothing over 3 lbs. but it’s a bonified big bass factory.

[galyonj]

The lady and I took advantage of a sky that looked a lot worse than it ever turned out to be to motor around and have a look at some new spots, but got a lazy start.

 

Got to the ramp about 9:30 to find a ghost town.

 

Super slow day on the water for us.

 

By the time we got back at close to 4, the weather had cleared up and there was a bit more traffic, but nothing close to what I feared.

[Bubba 460]

I avoid crowds like the plague. Fortunately I can fish when I want. Some of you guys are talking about wake boats, jets boats, party boats, irate lake front home owners, long lines and mayhem at the boat ramp etc. I would not touch a lake like that with a ten foot rod. I don't want to hear anyone's music or a bunch of  hoopin' and hollering. Then you have boats speeding all over the place, too many people with to much booze and a lack of brains. I've said it before, (generally speaking) show me 20 people and I'll show you 10 idiots in those kind of sittings ~ No thanks. I like to fish the gnarliest lakes and rivers I can where you'll seldom even see a bass boat much less a wake boat. Stumps are my friends. Fish all winter too when most people are sitting home or hunting.

[Michigander]

22 minutes ago, Bubba 460 said:

I avoid crowds like the plague. Fortunately I can fish when I want. Some of you guys are talking about wake boats, jets boats, party boats, irate lake front home owners, long lines and mayhem at the boat ramp etc. I would not touch a lake like that with a ten foot rod. I don't want to hear anyone's music or a bunch of  hoopin' and hollering. Then you have boats speeding all over the place, too many people with to much booze and an a lack of brains. I've said it before, (generally speaking) show me 20 people and show you10 idiots in those kind of sittings ~ No thanks. I like to fish the gnarliest lakes and rivers I can where you'll seldom even see a bass boat much less a wake boat. Stumps are my friends. Fish all winter too when most people are sitting home or hunting.

I wish I had something treacherous like that around here!

[Bubba 460]

21 minutes ago, Michigander said:

I wish I had something treacherous like that around here!

 "Wherever the jetskis aren't." ~ I like it.

[Harold Scoggins]

On 5/28/2021 at 11:00 AM, DitchPanda said:

So I'm a die hard and will go anytime but I've never been a fan of fishing during the holidays. Ramps are jammed, shore spots always have groups of people and there is always an abundance of pleasure boating,drinking, littering and just general stupidity and buffoonery. Anybody else feel this way? Maybe its just the crabby old man in me...a combo of hating people and a little get off my lawn!

I hear ya. Even before I was retired I stayed off the water on Memorial Day weekend, too much drama for me. Now that I'm retired I can let the working stiffs have the weekends. Today I'll probably just sit in my truck and talk with that girl on OnStar.

[TOXIC]

When I was guiding more frequently, I didn’t have an option.  I knew where to go to get away from most of the boat traffic but my biggest concern was always safety.  Now that I am retired, I have options?.  I was invited to a one owner 200 acre private lake for tomorrow but I have a repair scheduled for my addition Hvac heat pump.