About how long does it take for a spot to heat back up?

[Bass_Akwards]

Hi all.  Quick question for ya.

 

Let's say you get to your favorite pond or lake and drive the boat to your favorite honey hole, shoreline or point but when you get there you see someone is already fishing it and in fact catching a couple bass while fishing it.  How long after that person leaves that spot before you can feel confident that area will have heated back up again and you can catch multiple bass in that spot, maybe even including the bass you watched the other angler catch?   Thanks!

[Bankc]

Too many factors involved to say.  It could be immediate.  It could be weeks or months.  There's more to consider than just the presence of one guy.  I'd just go right over there immediately after he left, and maybe try something more finessey.  See what happens.  Sometimes you don't have to wait.  Sometimes just giving them a different presentation is enough.  If nothing works, maybe come back in a half hour to an hour.  Typically, I'll just go try another spot or two and eventually work my way back whenever it's convenient.  If still nothing after an hour, then try it again in two or three.  

[king fisher]

If KDV was fishing the spot, you may want to wait a day or two.  If I am the one you saw fishing your spot, go there the minuet I start to leave.  You have the best chance of catching your PB while I am still within sight.  Make sure you yell and hold your fish up high for me to see.  It wont offend me in the least, I am used to it, and I like to know the universal order is still normal.

[Bass_Akwards]

1 minute ago, king fisher said:

If KDV was fishing the spot, you may want to wait a day or two.  If I am the one you saw fishing your spot, go there the minuet I start to leave.  You have the best chance of catching your PB while I am still within sight.  Make sure you yell and hold your fish up high for me to see.  It wont offend me in the least, I am used to it, and I like to know the universal order is still normal.

Wahahahaahahaha!  Nice bro.

3 minutes ago, king fisher said:

If KDV was fishing the spot, you may want to wait a day or two.  If I am the one you saw fishing your spot, go there the minuet I start to leave.  You have the best chance of catching your PB while I am still within sight.  Make sure you yell and hold your fish up high for me to see.  It wont offend me in the least, I am used to it, and I like to know the universal order is still normal.

Seriously?  If KVD  was fishing and catching fish on my spot it might take a DAY or TWO for the site to heat up again?  That sucks if that's true.  I belong to a private  27 acre lake fishing club and every time I show up to the lake the same guy is already out there fishing.  He's usually already fished for an hour or two and I know he's already been to many of my favorite spots so I always wonder what to do in that situation.  He's a decent stick and I feel like I don't catch as many fish on the days he's been out there before me.  I'm just hoping I'm mistaken. 

[A-Jay]

Perhaps consider doing whatever it takes to be the first one on the water.  Then other anglers will be asking this question instead of you.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[Choporoz]

Good question that I often consider when I'm on the water.  The thing about a good spot is that unless/until environmental conditions change....it is still a good spot.  I may tend to revisit spots in or near moving water more frequently than those in still water.  A great laydown in a tidal river might reload constantly throughout the day even if it is getting fished continually.  Same in a river.  A lake without current is different.   But the fact is that fish move....I think we forget about this sometimes when fishing.  Some move only a little over the course of a season.  Some move all over...all the time.   So a good spot can still reload with different fish after just a bit of a cooldown.

[DaubsNU1]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Perhaps consider doing whatever it takes to be the first one on the water.  Then other anglers will be asking this question instead of you.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

I agree, 100%!

 

I like to be the first boat off the dock well before daylight. Early bird gets the...er, fish : )

[papajoe222]

This is actually not that uncommon.  
I don’t let it deter me from giving it a try immediately. Chances are, if the spot held fish, there are still some there and you’ll likely be throwing something different. 
I’ve followed other anglers that have caught fish ahead of me and still done well (slower boat). I’ve also left and returned later with nothing to show for it. 

[BassNJake]

4 hours ago, Bass_Akwards said:

  I belong to a private  27 acre lake fishing club and every time I show up to the lake the same guy is already out there fishing.  He's usually already fished for an hour or two and I know he's already been to many of my favorite spots so I always wonder what to do in that situation.  He's a decent stick and I feel like I don't catch as many fish on the days he's been out there before me.  I'm just hoping I'm mistaken. 

Some lakes it's an eternal merry-go-round at the good spots.

Sometimes you can hit them right, others you have to revisit again and again.

If an hour or two has passed I'd feel a lot more confident than if he just left a minute ago.

 

 

[WRB]

Watch how the angler is set up on the spot, then approach it from a different angle. Most boaters like to sit away from shore and cast towards it. Consider approaching a few feet next to shore and cast away from shore. Cover the spot from all angles and different depths. 

I have caught bass behind other boaters often, bass move back if they hear a boat leaving or sitting on top of where they want to be.

Tom

[Bird]

Just today my buddy and I were fishing a little 35 acre lake and caught every fish in one section.

We'd cycle through this section and when we got to the end, we started over.

We must have did this 5 - 6 times and caught fish each and every time.

 

 

 

[NoShoes]

I’d go right behind someone. I’m confident I’m going to put my lure where they can’t and get fish they didn’t

[scbassin]

It also depends on the cover & angle of the sun.

[BigAngus752]

Is it YOUR "spot"?  It's hit and miss if I'm just fishing "used" water behind someone.  However, I have several "spots" on two lakes that nearly no one else fishes with the success that I have.  If I pull up (under the right circumstances for that spot to be "hot") and someone is there I just wait.  The second they pull off I can usually troll up and start catching fish.  It's not magic, it's because I have that spot dialed in for depth, angle, and what lure to throw for those exact given circumstances.  They don't.  But like I said, if it's not a true "spot" of mine then I'm just working my way through a plan like any other guy.  

[Catt]

About how long does it take for a spot to heat back up?

 

Bout 5 minutes after I leave!

[dodgeguy]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:25 AM, king fisher said:

If KDV was fishing the spot, you may want to wait a day or two.  If I am the one you saw fishing your spot, go there the minuet I start to leave.  You have the best chance of catching your PB while I am still within sight.  Make sure you yell and hold your fish up high for me to see.  It wont offend me in the least, I am used to it, and I like to know the universal order is still normal.

This is so funny !!!!

[Alex from GA]

While fishing a canal last winter I broke off on a fish.  Fished the canal for about an hour came back and caught the same fish with my hook in it's face.  If a worm fisherman was ahead of me I'll go elsewhere but if a moving bait guy is there I'll go right in.

[GRiver]

1 hour ago, Alex from GA said:

While fishing a canal last winter I broke off on a fish.  Fished the canal for about an hour came back and caught the same fish with my hook in it's face.  If a worm fisherman was ahead of me I'll go elsewhere but if a moving bait guy is there I'll go right in.

Almost the same thing happened to my Dad and I. 
wade fishing for small mouth’s, Dad hooked one , got broke off. Walking back to the car he fished the area again, caught the same fish with his bait hanging out the side of its mouth.

 We laughed for years about that.

[Deleted account]

Yeah, a lot of different variables will dictate how long it will take, could be minutes, could be days. Depending on the spot and time of year, you may be waiting for the same fish to cooperate, or new fish may be moving in, or both. Only one sure way to find out. I've got a couple of spots that you almost can't fish out in the pre spawn, and a couple where after I catch them good in the summer, they seem to shut down for a day or two.

[gim]

On 5/17/2022 at 3:21 PM, Bird said:

Just today my buddy and I were fishing a little 35 acre lake and caught every fish in one section.

We'd cycle through this section and when we got to the end, we started over.

We must have did this 5 - 6 times and caught fish each and every time.

 

I had this happen multiple times last season too on a lake about an hour from my house.  One specific section of shoreline would produce a lot of fish, and some big ones mixed in too.  I am not really sure why the fish were there in such tremendous numbers, but that stretch of about 200 yards easily out produced the rest of the entire lake combined last season.

 

I did notice that there are some man-made rip rap rocks/boulders along the shoreline there that do not exist anywhere else in the lake, so maybe that is the reason.  I don't think the rocks extend very far into the water though.  This specific area produced my biggest largemouth of the season last year, and it was the biggest largie I have caught in three seasons at 20 3/4 inches.