Bank fisherman question

[Luke Barnes]

Is there anyone who solely fishes the bank that fishes 3 or more days a week? If so do you drive farther and farther to go to new spots or hit the same spots every few days? If you hit the same couple of spots do you still catch fish most of the time? I have two ponds I really like but sometimes I think I go to them too much and either way over think it and skunk or I fished it too much and the fish are more wary. Like I fish for the same fish over and over that they may be wise to me. If the fish are truly on to me should I just pick new spots out of my comfort zone or change up lures to something completely different? I think it may be a mental thing that my mind assumes I'm pressuring the fish the more I fish the pond, even if once a week, that they aren't going to bite as good. Its crazy how so much of bass fishing is confidence. Either in ponds, lakes, or rivers or confidence in lures or colors. 

[QED]

I have a small lake within a few minutes of my home that I started fishing this year.  The fishing is really tough right now due to the drought and summer heat.  Places that produced earlier in the year are above water now.  Water was clear but now full of algae.  Stick to fundamentals and fish the structure, shade, weed lines, etc., with stuff you know works, like senkos.  Then if that fails, cover a lot of water using a spinnerbait or your favorite fast mover.  Just applied statistics.

[David 7]

I don’t think that one person alone can pressure a pond, I wouldn’t worry about it. Fishing new waters is always exciting but I’m of the train of thought that you are better off knowing two or three ponds very well and just sticking with them. It’s also the dog days of summer right now, things should pick up in the fall.

[Tatsu Dave]

I don't think one fisherman overpressures a given water as much as they introduce the bass to their technique's and favorite lures. Change up the routine and most important try different lures...

[DitchPanda]

I'm 100% bank bound for Bass. I've got buddies that have boats but we always target pan fish or walleye when I go with them. My local water body is actually 2 connected ponds...1 is decent size 1 is small. Anyhow I fish 2-4 times a week I'd guess and I havent been skunked since April. I have a few other bodies of water I hit but I'd say 90% of my fishing is done in these ponds and they almost always produce at least a few.

 

[Koz]

When I was in SC I loved the bank fishing and going from lagoon to lagoon. Over time, you realize that each lagoon has their own seasonal rhythm. So you learn at one time of year under certain conditions the bass may be out of reach because they spend most of their time where you can't cast to them, but you can get to them in another lagoon.

 

Pressuring the bass are not your issue - it's finding where they are staging and feeding at any given time of year under different water temperatures and weather conditions.

 

The good news is that in many lagoons and ponds you can figure that out and find the bass. I'm finding that's much harder to do in a big lake.

[Luke Barnes]

2 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

I'm 100% bank bound for Bass. I've got buddies that have boats but we always target pan fish or walleye when I go with them. My local water body is actually 2 connected ponds...1 is decent size 1 is small. Anyhow I fish 2-4 times a week I'd guess and I havent been skunked since April. I have a few other bodies of water I hit but I'd say 90% of my fishing is done in these ponds and they almost always produce at least a few.

 

Do you completely change it up to keep it fresh or stick to what works? 

[jimmyjoe]

   I'm a bank fisherman. I fish rivers and lakes but very few ponds, and very rarely. I have found the ponds to be less predictable in the daytime than the lakes and rivers. The smaller body of water heats up more, and I think that stresses the bass more during the daylight hours.

   If I absolutely have to fish ponds in daylight, I use a slip bobber-and-jig setup.

 

   I have found night-time fishing on ponds to be the ticket.       jj

 

P.S. - just to clarify: I do NOT like to fish at night. Poor vision, falling down, 'skeeters the size of Volkswagens ....... I think you get the picture. But the fish don't care. They "bite at nite".

[the reel ess]

Fish can get used to the same lure(s). I fish the same small lake most of the time. But when I can't buy a bite there, another location can be just what the doctor ordered. My cousin sold his property and it was the only private pond I had that I could completely walk. So I inquired about another pond and was granted permission. I can't wait to hit it up one evening.

[Catt]

The determining factor for me is access to the bank. Some ponds have well manicured banks giving one total access to the bank.

 

Some ponds, bayous, & marshes the banks are heavily vegetated or wooded.

 

In the second areas I have no choice but to fish the same areas, some I can only fish during winter/early spring when everything is dead.

 

Even with limited access & having to fish the same areas I still do quite well. 

[Team9nine]

I hit the local ponds I have access to year round. Used to be 6, but now down to 5. You definitely have to manage your fishing. Most days, only so many fish are susceptible to a given bait and presentation. The more they see it, the exact same thing, the less likely you are to do as well. Studies show this actually occurs to bass and fishing pressure in general. So I rotate and rest ponds, change presentations frequently, and try to take advantage of good bite windows when I can, or conditions that allow me to use baits I don’t normally throw. I think it all makes a big difference over the course of a year.

[DitchPanda]

4 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

Do you completely change it up to keep it fresh or stick to what works? 

Kinda both. All year I usually have a Ned rig and a jig or T rig tied on...the other rods I change up between different top waters and moving baits depending on water temps and forage preference.

[ATA]

I do only bank fish and I do 3 to 5 days a week. The way I am doing it is driving all over the places.

for example, I have group of friends going to certain lake for carp fishing, ill drive with them and set up one rod for carp and use my bass rod and start casting for bass. The same thing if they want to go catfishing or trout fishing, I am always half and half, one rod bait and wait and the other one casting for bass.

If you do it this way I found out you'll not be board, even you get skunked for bass, you will have few action on other fishes.

like last week I was in very nice lake with my friends for carp fishing, I tried everything and I couldn't catch a single bass, but I catch 9 carps, so at the end of the day I was happy.

I have lake/pond 7min drive from me and ill use it for bass fishing when I am somehow stock by home and cant make full day trip. In that case if I catch same bass over and over I would be happy with result and it doesn't matter really as long as I catch something.

Note: In general I am a player, I like to collect and play and cast and use my tackle and I found enjoyment in that and when I catch fish its like a bonus for me.

[Luke Barnes]

4 minutes ago, ATA said:

I do only bank fish and I do 3 to 5 days a week. The way I am doing it is driving all over the places.

for example, I have group of friends going to certain lake for carp fishing, ill drive with them and set up one rod for carp and use my bass rod and start casting for bass. The same thing if they want to go catfishing or trout fishing, I am always half and half, one rod bait and wait and the other one casting for bass.

If you do it this way I found out you'll not be board, even you get skunked for bass, you will have few action on other fishes.

like last week I was in very nice lake with my friends for carp fishing, I tried everything and I couldn't catch a single bass, but I catch 9 carps, so at the end of the day I was happy.

I have lake/pond 7min drive from me and ill use it for bass fishing when I am somehow stock by home and cant make full day trip. In that case if I catch same bass over and over I would be happy with result and it doesn't matter really as long as I catch something.

Note: In general I am a player, I like to collect and play and cast and use my tackle and I found enjoyment in that and when I catch fish its like a bonus for me.

You sound very much like me some of the times. Last year I always set a catfish setup or two on rod holders with bells and would walk and bass fish. Only did it once this year and it was for cats and casting my fly rod with some small poppers. I want to catch a carp for the first time but I dont know where to go and chum and make a batch of pack bait for carp that I know for sure has carp in it. I have no idea if the ponds I fish have any carp. 

[ATA]

1 minute ago, Luke Barnes said:

You sound very much like me some of the times. Last year I always set a catfish setup or two on rod holders with bells and would walk and bass fish. Only did it once this year and it was for cats and casting my fly rod with some small poppers. I want to catch a carp for the first time but I dont know where to go and chum and make a batch of pack bait for carp that I know for sure has carp in it. I have no idea if the ponds I fish have any carp. 

yeah thats fun way to keep you happy, I dont know about your lakes but here we have carp almost everywhere.

you guys have stripers that you can bait and wait for them with blood worm and chicken liver.

[Luke Barnes]

3 minutes ago, ATA said:

yeah thats fun way to keep you happy, I dont know about your lakes but here we have carp almost everywhere.

you guys have stripers that you can bait and wait for them with blood worm and chicken liver.

Stripers will take chicken livers??? I know a prime place for them and always heard bait with shad but i love learning new ways to fish. I have like 12 rod and reel setups and only 7 are dedicated to Bass so I have a wide variety to use. 

[Sphynx]

Pond fishing is very very different from the river I fish most of the time, and smallmouth are a different breed than largemouth too in a whole lot of key ways, with that said I fish a half dozen or so spots within a couple of miles of each other based on bank/property access, and I can catch 300-400 fish in 90ish days fishing about 90 minutes a day 4-5 days a week, the difference here is that a pond is not going to hold nearly as many fish as the Columbia does, and if your hunting bucketmouth they typically don't cruise as much as smallies do, so I doubt I'm catching the same ones for more than a day or two at a time, and occasionally you just have to accept the fact that there will be times that willing fish are not going to be within casting distance of where you can cast from the shore, thems the breaks sometimes, and you have to learn to have a short memory on those kinds of days and not let them bother you.

[ATA]

20 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

Stripers will take chicken livers??? I know a prime place for them and always heard bait with shad but i love learning new ways to fish. I have like 12 rod and reel setups and only 7 are dedicated to Bass so I have a wide variety to use. 

yes they do, if you going to bait and wait, you do like catfishing and you'll catch them.

[Luke Barnes]

30 minutes ago, ATA said:

yes they do, if you going to bait and wait, you do like catfishing and you'll catch them.

Ive never heard of that for striper. It makes me want to put on a heavy sinker and fish below the dam that holds tons of striper. 

[ATA]

5 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

Ive never heard of that for striper. It makes me want to put on a heavy sinker and fish below the dam that holds tons of striper. 

thats the way to do it specially when they are deep.

[Kenny Yi]

love me some bankfishing!  during the break periods, I'll definitely fish nearly every day of the week, during the busy months, I'll maybe go on the weekends. I go to different ponds or lakes to keep myself engaged.  I also switch locations if it's tough. 

 

Always bring as much tackle as you can carry, nothing worse than fishing rocks with a football jig, then switching locations and not having any lures for the grass, or seeing the perfect location for a lure and not having it.  I bring 3-4 rods with me, all able to cover a variety of lures and depths, and also a large tackle backpack

[rtwvumtneer6]

16 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

I think I go to them too much

I think there is a lot to be learned from pond fishing.  It allows the opportunity to observe fish behavior in regards to cover, structure, seasonal patterns, etc. on a smaller scale.  Often that means more feedback and more fun.  The only time I would say you fish a body of water too often is if you've just plain figured it out, and it's no longer presenting a challenge.  Personally, I have a couple of ponds that I've fished for years with great success and they still kick my butt once in a while.

 

Applying what you've learned from your familiar water is helpful when exploring new lakes or ponds.  You can identify high percentage areas, and select your lures with more confidence.  Then it becomes a new opportunity to learn and expand.

 

If I'm exploring a new spot and it requires a decent drive to get there, I'll scout a few places in the area.  Don't want to waste a trip if you find a pond is dried up, posted or has no bank access.  And, of course, ask permission of it is privately owned.  

 

Good topic.  I'm actually trying a new pond/small lake (35 acres) tomorrow and the only information I have is a Google satellite image and a weather report.  

[Fishlegs]

I get to pond fish more than I do in a boat. Some days I just want to go to the pond and catch fish. On those days I use the trusty lures that always seem to catch fish there. They work more often than not.

 

Other days I go to the pond to experiment with lures I’ve never used. Sometimes my experiments catch fish, and sometimes they don’t. I consider it successful if I learned something…even if I didn’t catch fish.

[TennesseeBASSALLDAY]

I basically only fish creeks because I have no bass boat, that's the dream. But until then, I'll make do 

[Bankbeater]

I fish ponds and small lakes about 95% of the time. I will keep going back to the same spot until the bass stop biting, or until I get tired of fishing it. Reason being is that all of the ponds within a given area may not be acting the same way. I may be fishing at the only pond within 5 miles where the bass are actually turned on and biting.