Highly pressured lakes

[Captain Phil]

4 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Sounds familiar. Our handful of local reservoirs are 1k-2k acres, with a few tournaments a week on 'em. If you're fishing on a weekend from April - October you're fishing used water all day. I spend more time with a flippin stick in my hand than anything else.

 

During KOVIN it seems everyone in Florida bought a boat.  That coupled with 1,000 people a day moving to Florida, plus TV coverage and tournaments, means the Harris Chain is getting pounded.  The only way to get away from the crowds is to fish where they don't or how they won't.   

[GoneFishingLTN]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

Most bass anglers don’t use the dictionary to define finesse fishing.

Finesse meaning light line and rod with smaller lures, then apply the dictionary definition.

Agree precise presention catches more bass.

Fishing a club derby should be fun so don’t over think this outing and enjoy your time on the water.

Finesse; Roboworm 6” black grape nose hooked #1 Mosqiuto hook with 1/8 oz weight on 6# mono or FC, for cold off color water.

Tom

I have my finesse baits ready just don't know if it's the right move. I was thinking of mainly fishing the spinnerbait and jig type stuff but read a lot about our lakes and this is something that was said (downsized bait presentations produce the best results, like shakey heads)

I said club tournament but it's actually one of our more serious tournaments here and yeah I'm going to have fun no matter what just want to try my best also.

[Pat Brown]

I am learning right now that the Jerkbait is a good bait to learn if your fish get fished for a lot.  Maybe add that to your tackle box on the day you hit the water again.

 

I have had good success this spring with floaters, suspenders and sinkers fishing them fast.

 

I really like the Rapala Rip Stop and the Berkeley Stunna.

[Bankc]

Pretty much all I fish are highly pressured lakes.  Pretty much all I fish are power fishing techniques.  

 

Now, truth be told, the waters here are pretty stained.  And I think that has a lot to do with it.  And sometimes finesse fishing does work better, regardless.  But I wasted a lot of time throwing finesse baits due to the idea that the lakes were pressured.  I started catching a lot more bass when I stopped listening to the online fishing experts and started listening to the fish.  

 

I'm not saying the experts are wrong.  I'm just saying that there are about a million factors that go into what, when, where, and why a fish bites.  So trying to parse one factor as if it were the only factor will likely ruin your day.  

[scaleface]

  Sometimes I   resort to smaller lures , quieter , less bright , less action.  A lot depends on how good is the the competition. Catching fish around  skilled anglers is a lot more difficult than the not-so-skilled.  

[BigAngus752]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:33 PM, Jar11591 said:

I go sort of against the grain on highly pressured lakes

 

On 4/6/2023 at 4:02 PM, Bankbeater said:

Most of the time for me it’s not only about smaller, but it’s about fishing with a different bait than everyone else. 

 

On 4/6/2023 at 4:03 PM, WIGuide said:

go against the grain and throw the stuff they aren't

Don't just gloss over this!!!  You are getting some good advice about the finesse stuff, but pay attention to these guys.  My closest body of water is a small, electric-only preserve with some big bass (and everyone knows it).  Lots of pressure.  I have watched and talked with the other fishermen at that lake.  I can tell you what 90% of the boats are throwing during what time of year because they all sit and talk about "what works" in this lake.  Today is Sunday.  There will be a ton of bass fishermen throwing white spinnerbaits and red cranks (because it's "spring").  I have been there fishing and had 5 boats come up to me to ask how I'm catching bass after bass and no one else can boat anything.  It's because of what I'm NOT throwing.  I have actually seen two guys in the same boat make a full turn around the entire shore of the lake BOTH throwing white spinnerbaits and never catching a bass.  Really?  But dragging a green pumpkin jig caught me several bass that day.

[Reel]

48 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

 

 

Don't just gloss over this!!!  You are getting some good advice about the finesse stuff, but pay attention to these guys.  My closest body of water is a small, electric-only preserve with some big bass (and everyone knows it).  Lots of pressure.  I have watched and talked with the other fishermen at that lake.  I can tell you what 90% of the boats are throwing during what time of year because they all sit and talk about "what works" in this lake.  Today is Sunday.  There will be a ton of bass fishermen throwing white spinnerbaits and red cranks (because it's "spring").  I have been there fishing and had 5 boats come up to me to ask how I'm catching bass after bass and no one else can boat anything.  It's because of what I'm NOT throwing.  I have actually seen two guys in the same boat make a full turn around the entire shore of the lake BOTH throwing white spinnerbaits and never catching a bass.  Really?  But dragging a green pumpkin jig caught me several bass that day.

 

Finesse is not FINESSE if everybody is using the same small thing ! If you can fish the same shoreline behind a couple of other boats and still catch fish, you are using the right lure.. If not, try other stuff until you find it  ... and after that don't tell anybody.  

[Cbump]

How’d It go?

[GoneFishingLTN]

1 hour ago, Cbump said:

How’d It go?

Tournament is next Saturday going to stick to my strengths and just slow down.  I’ll post on how it went on a thread probably. First tournament of the year it was 32 air temp with gust of wind up to 50 and only 7 fish where caught out of 20 boats