Bass fishing is getting harder?

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

Bass fishing has never been easy.   Tournament fishing changes your outlook.  You see other people catch limits of fish and you don't understand why you don't.  It's been that way forever.  TV makes everyone believe they can be experts.  All they need is an $80K bass boat, a $50K truck to tow it with and $5,000 worth of tackle.  When that doesn't work, they blame it on fishing pressure.    Bass learn from experience.  If a spot gets pounded by anglers, they avoid that spot.  If they are caught 10 times by hitting lure XYZ, they quit hitting XYZ.  Stop fishing where and how everyone else does.  Forget about catching fish and take the time to find your own fish.  If you are not catching fish, you are probably fishing where they aren't.  Sounds easy doesn't it?  It's not and never has been.  

This is such a great post, thank you sir. I agree with everything in it. 
 

[Swamp Girl]

9 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

You're blessed to live in such a place. All the water here is posted private and sometimes fenced, or it is well known and managed but beat to death and has no boating signs. Can't launch in any of these ponds. You're in one of America's last frontiers.

 

I have to disagree. Many more developed places have fine fishing. Look at what T-Billy catches in Ohio and he doesn't even fish the mighty Erie. Pat Brown caught a nine-pounder and a "slew of eight-pounders" in North Carolina this spring. Alex had a more-than-fifty bass day this past winter in Alabama, as well as all his five, six, seven, and eight-pounders. When I lived in Wisconsin for 30 years, I had incredible fishing in Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. On the Mississippi alone, I caught 20-lb. pike, 4-lb. largemouth and smallmouth, seven-lb. walleyes, two-lb. crappies, big bluegills, and on and on...and millions of people live on that river. PhishLI catches monsters in Manhattan's backyard, but lawdy, it isn't easy with poachers, gangbangers, and midnight's chill. My point is that there's fine fishing in many places, but you might have to winter fish or night fish or fish-fish-fish until you crack the code. 

 

@ironbjorn, have you ever actually used Google Earth to see what water is in your area? I don't always go out to fish. Yesterday, and other days, I go out to scout. I scouted a pond yesterday. I walked the bank, saw two bass cruising, and added it to my list. I have spent hours looking at little lakes through the Internet and continue to do that. 

 

 

9 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

have difficulty finding fish. Some days I'll spend up to two hours searching out baitfish because even my honey holes are void of fish.  When I do locate the baitfish, I can put 5 or 6 quality fish in the boat over the last two hours I'm on the water.  I forgot to mention, I leave the stick worms and Flukes at home. 

My point is; The fish are there, but they've adapted to their environment and the fishing pressure.  If you can figure out how, you're ahead in the game.

 

I so agree with ^this." I had four outings this spring where I caught one bass, but I just kept looking. There's a bog I fished about six times this spring where my top quantity outing was three bass. I still don't know where the bass are, I'll return and keep looking. 

 

 

[ironbjorn]

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I have to disagree. Many more developed places have fine fishing. Look at what T-Billy catches in Ohio and he doesn't even fish the mighty Erie. Pat Brown caught a nine-pounder and a "slew of eight-pounders" in North Carolina this spring. Alex had a more-than-fifty bass day this past winter in Alabama, as well as all his five, six, seven, and eight-pounders. When I lived in Wisconsin for 30 years, I had incredible fishing in Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. On the Mississippi alone, I caught 20-lb. pike, 4-lb. largemouth and smallmouth, seven-lb. walleyes, two-lb. crappies, big bluegills, and on and on...and millions of people live on that river. PhishLI catches monsters in Manhattan's backyard, but lawdy, it isn't easy with poachers, gangbangers, and midnight's chill. My point is that there's fine fishing in many places, but you might have to winter fish or night fish or fish-fish-fish until you crack the code. 

 

@ironbjorn, have you ever actually used Google Earth to see what water is in your area? I don't always go out to fish. Yesterday, and other days, I go out to scout. I scouted a pond yesterday. I walked the bank, saw two bass cruising, and added it to my list. I have spent hours looking at little lakes through the Internet and continue to do that. 

 

 

 

I so agree with ^this." I had four outings this spring where I caught one bass, but I just kept looking. There's a bog I fished about six times this spring where my top quantity outing was three bass. I still don't know where the bass are, I'll return and keep looking. 

 

 

I'm specifically talking ponds and untouched water. There's really no pond gems left unless you have access to something private.

[LrgmouthShad]

I want to add something interesting to this conversation

 

What do we think about “community holes” on large lakes? 

[Bird]

24 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Does the lake level rise when that many boats launch?

The Chickihominy is actually a tidal river, very popular for it's largemouth bass fishing.

Many tournaments are held there and if you find yourself in the midst of one of those tournaments...... it's CHAOTIC.

24 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

 

 

24 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

30 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

I'm specifically talking ponds and untouched water. There's really no pond gems left unless you have access to something private.

 

Okay, staying within your parameters, I'd seek to cultivate relationships with the owners of private water. There was a thread recently about doing exactly this.

 

Also, there is a lake near me with a big parking lot that is frequently full of trucks and trailers. I'd never fish it for that reason. I've scouted it winter and summer and there are always trucks there.

 

However, the highway cuts across the tail of the lake, so there's 97% of the lake on one side, the side with the ramp and parking lot, and 3% of the lake on the other. Of course, there's no easy access to the orphaned 3%, but I could heft my canoe over the guardrail and lower it down the embankment, which is what I'm going to do. I've even scouted where I'll park my car, since I don't want to be looking for that at 4:30 in the morning. Most fishers don't want to work that hard and they don't want to leave their casting decks and electronics behind. 

 

Of course, I might catch nothing there if it's too shallow for bass to winter-over, but I'm still curious. 

[gim]

3 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

we used to average boat two musky a day. Used to get 10-15 follows a day for the boat. Just like that it died out around here.

I've never averaged that kind of numbers for muskies in 25 years of fishing for them.  I went many years without even catching one.  Consider yourself fortunate to have been on that kind of bite.

 

The most I have caught in one season is 8.  Last year I caught 7, and had 3 more get off before they could be landed.  I don't normally start fishing for them until July.  Right now the season isn't even open, it legally opens on June 3.

[Swamp Girl]

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've never averaged that kind of numbers for muskies in 25 years of fishing for them.  I went many years without even catching one.  Consider yourself fortunate to have been on that kind of bite.

 

The most I have caught in one season is 8.  Last year I caught 7, and had 3 more get off before they could be landed.  I don't normally start fishing for them until July.  Right now the season isn't even open, it legally opens on June 3.

 

As a former musky maniac, I can certify that seven in a season is solid.

[LrgmouthShad]

9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Okay, staying within your parameters, I'd seek to cultivate relationships with the owners of private water. There was a thread recently about doing exactly this.

 

Also, there is a lake near me with a big parking lot that is frequently full of trucks and trailers. I'd never fish it for that reason. I've scouted it winter and summer and there are always trucks there.

 

However, the highway cuts across the tail of the lake, so there's 97% of the lake on one side, the side with the ramp and parking lot, and 3% of the lake on the other. Of course, there's no easy access to the orphaned 3%, but I could heft my canoe over the guardrail and lower it down the embankment, which is what I'm going to do. I've even scouted where I'll park my car, since I don't want to be looking for that at 4:30 in the morning. Most fishers don't want to work that hard and they don't want to leave their casting decks and electronics behind. 

The lake I just checked out recently turns into a river called the Lampass on the lower end. Even though it is not blocked off at any point, the farther one goes down the river, the less boats one encounters. Now I’m not sure about the quality of fish deep in the river versus more towards the main lake, but if one was looking to avoid other anglers  and pleasure boaters, that’s a great option. 
 

There’s actually a few great options for someone looking to avoid other anglers

1. Get into super shallow water at the backs of coves that are not easy to access. Best done with smaller watercraft like a kayak. 
2. Use electronics and look for spots that may hold fish away from other anglers.

3. Find less pressured bodies of water

4. Get better at dock skipping or fishing the heaviest cover possible

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

1. Get into super shallow water at the backs of coves that are not easy to access. Best done with smaller watercraft like a kayak. 

 

I watched a video recently of a kayaker paddling and fishing a narrow river from one lake to the next. That little river was loaded with bass.  

[Susky River Rat]

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've never averaged that kind of numbers for muskies in 25 years of fishing for them.  I went many years without even catching one.  Consider yourself fortunate to have been on that kind of bite.

 

The most I have caught in one season is 8.  Last year I caught 7, and had 3 more get off before they could be landed.  I don't normally start fishing for them until July.  Right now the season isn't even open, it legally opens on June 3.

We have an open season. The most I did in a year was 23. We had crazy weekends we’d boat 7. All of a sudden it dried up. I couldn’t even buy a follow for about two years. So I started bass fishing more and more.

9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

As a former musky maniac, I can certify that seven in a season is solid.

My goal every year was 12. I wanted to average one a month. 

[scaleface]

13 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I watched a video recently of a kayaker paddling and fishing a narrow river from one lake to the next. That little river was loaded with bass.  

You and how many other people watched that video? Was it on Youtube? Sounds like a good way to ruin a good spot.

[Mobasser]

I'm lucky that I mostly fish a small 7acre lake from my canoe. There's not much angling pressure from other anglers here.                                      

[immortl]

13 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I'm finding that I have to go outside of my comfort zone and try things that are weird to get bit and oftentimes when I find the right thing I can get bit a lot.

 

Another really important thing is finding areas that are outside of my comfort zone/ the comfort zone of the general population on the lake.

 

Stick with it and get outside your comfort zone and try to learn some new stuff.

 

Specifically things that you don't see anybody else doing. If people say it's a good lake for XXX or YYY then avoid using that at all costs.

 

Find the thing that nobody throws.  Throw it in the places where the fish live that nobody is fishing for.

I think what @Pat Brown is suggesting is to try one of these 'fuzzy dice' deals.  Something different.

[Pat Brown]

54 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Okay, staying within your parameters, I'd seek to cultivate relationships with the owners of private water. There was a thread recently about doing exactly this.

 

Also, there is a lake near me with a big parking lot that is frequently full of trucks and trailers. I'd never fish it for that reason. I've scouted it winter and summer and there are always trucks there.

 

However, the highway cuts across the tail of the lake, so there's 97% of the lake on one side, the side with the ramp and parking lot, and 3% of the lake on the other. Of course, there's no easy access to the orphaned 3%, but I could heft my canoe over the guardrail and lower it down the embankment, which is what I'm going to do. I've even scouted where I'll park my car, since I don't want to be looking for that at 4:30 in the morning. Most fishers don't want to work that hard and they don't want to leave their casting decks and electronics behind. 

 

Of course, I might catch nothing there if it's too shallow for bass to winter-over, but I'm still curious. 

 

 

One of these days I'll figure out where all these farm ponds with double digit bass are hiding but I haven't ever seen one around here.

 

I fish a pond with very popular loud paddle boat rentals, a path/sidewalk that goes around the whole perimeter, a very popular Zipline that runs all day with screaming humans attached to it directly over the water and tons of people who fish it every day, every way imaginable. 

 

People who have lived in the area for 50+ years and remember 'back when it had fish' come up to me and try to kindly assure me that the fishing has been dead for decades on account of nobody managing it and too many people fishing.  Trying to save me the headache and heartbreak.

 

Young people come up to me all the time and ask if I've ever caught anything, frustrated with how difficult it is to even get a panfish to bite.

 

When I tell people there are shad, golden shiners, white Nile tilapia, perch, black crappie, shell crackers, bluegill, green sunfish, grass carp, channel catfish, brown bullhead catfish, 7 ft alligator gar, northern and Florida strain largemouth bass and more frogs, snakes, lizards, birds and aquatic critters than you can shake an ugly stick at in there, thriving abundantly....they look at me like I'm completely insane.

 

To be fair, until I figured out these fish, it felt like the pond was barren.  I get it.  I understand why these people all feel this way.  It took me a LONG time before I got a bite bass fishing and this was well after I had caught 7+ lbers on big lakes.  I wasn't no dummy.  These fish are special.  They learn.

 

I've seen people hanging live bluegill over tree limbs on double digit bass beds and watched the females just laugh.  I actually did let that guy have it verbally as I passed him on the bank.  Never saw him back after I explained how smart the bass in the pond are and how weak his tactics were.

 

But yeah the fish are scared and the fish are hard to catch.....but I figured out how to catch them and I catch lots of REALLY big bass and all the other fish species listed there I have hooked (less the gar, just seen them) while bass fishing with artificial lures.

 

You gotta know when and where and how to dangle it how they like it....that took me a LOT of work to figure out.

[Swamp Girl]

58 minutes ago, scaleface said:

You and how many other people watched that video? Was it on Youtube? Sounds like a good way to ruin a good spot.

 

Yes, YouTube. He didn't name the spot. 

 

@Pat Brown, you use the PhishLI approach. PhishLI has encouraged me to focus my attention on one body of water. I want to follow his advice, but dang it, I love casting where I've never cast before. I caught a 5.5 lber. on Saturday and I could and should return to that pond, but there's another pond, a new pond, that I want to fish on Thursday morning, so that's where I'm going. However, I do think that if one wants to catch the biggest bass, one should focus on one lake and learn those fish like you have, Pat. 

[king fisher]

The lake I fished a couple weeks ago, is loaded with gill nets, and there is a guy who dives, and spears DD bass, but after reading how tough other anglers have it, I will never complain about nets, or spear guns.  I am very luck to be able to fish where many of the bass live their whole life and the only spinnerbait they ever see is mine.

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

One of these days I'll figure out where all these farm ponds with double digit bass are hiding but I haven't ever seen one around here.

 

I fish a pond with very popular loud paddle boat rentals, a path/sidewalk that goes around the whole perimeter, a very popular Zipline that runs all day with screaming humans attached to it directly over the water and tons of people who fish it every day, every way imaginable. 

 

People who have lived in the area for 50+ years and remember 'back when it had fish' come up to me and try to kindly assure me that the fishing has been dead for decades on account of nobody managing it and too many people fishing.  Trying to save me the headache and heartbreak.

 

Young people come up to me all the time and ask if I've ever caught anything, frustrated with how difficult it is to even get a panfish to bite.

 

When I tell people there are shad, golden shiners, white Nile tilapia, perch, black crappie, shell crackers, bluegill, green sunfish, grass carp, channel catfish, brown bullhead catfish, 7 ft alligator gar, northern and Florida strain largemouth bass and more frogs, snakes, lizards, birds and aquatic critters than you can shake an ugly stick at in there, thriving abundantly....they look at me like I'm completely insane.

 

To be fair, until I figured out these fish, it felt like the pond was barren.  I get it.  I understand why these people all feel this way.  It took me a LONG time before I got a bite bass fishing and this was well after I had caught 7+ lbers on big lakes.  I wasn't no dummy.  These fish are special.  They learn.

 

I've seen people hanging live bluegill over tree limbs on double digit bass beds and watched the females just laugh.  I actually did let that guy have it verbally as I passed him on the bank.  Never saw him back after I explained how smart the bass in the pond are and how weak his tactics were.

 

But yeah the fish are scared and the fish are hard to catch.....but I figured out how to catch them and I catch lots of REALLY big bass and all the other fish species listed there I have hooked (less the gar, just seen them) while bass fishing with artificial lures.

 

You gotta know when and where and how to dangle it how they like it....that took me a LOT of work to figure out.

I don’t know how it is fishing currently and I struggled a lot on the lake in the winter, but if you are looking for a DD, Shearon Harris has a reputation as a lake for huge bass. You will have to deal with significant fishing pressure though 

[Pat Brown]

14 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I don’t know how it is fishing currently and I struggled a lot on the lake in the winter, but if you are looking for a DD, Shearon Harris has a reputation as a lake for huge bass. You will have to deal with significant fishing pressure though 

There are lots of double digit bass in the lakes and ponds around the area that I live and they're small and pressured and close by and I understand how to fish them so it's only a matter of time.  ??????

 

I would love to make it out to Shearon-Harris one of these days anyway just because!!!

 

Might be a fun day trip in the fall or the winter time.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

There are lots of double digit bass in the lakes and ponds around the area that I live and they're small and pressured and close by and I understand how to fish them so it's only a matter of time.  ??????

Okay, I got confused based on this

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

One of these days I'll figure out where all these farm ponds with double digit bass are hiding but I haven't ever seen one around here

 

[Pat Brown]

5 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Okay, I got confused based on this

 

 

 

Yeah my tongue was in my cheek a little on that one.  I am just commenting on that age old trope that seems to be a thing of the past somewhat or at least very isolated and private at this point, I'd rate, at least in this neck of the woods.

 

It would sure be a riot to cast a buzz bait in the pitch black at an old farm pond with mosquitoes biting like Pat Cullen and feel a giant thump n' reel in an angry 12 lber, make NO mistake!!!!  ???

[thediscochef]

So many things in this thread that I also think about a lot. Stocking fish in habitats we know they won't survive. Climate change. The 95% of Texas that is private property I wish I could fish. Fishing the way @king fisher does sounds like a dream - maybe someday. Right now I'm just happy to catch em at Ray Roberts about as good as anyone in the pressured areas. I've already caught more 6+ than I did in '22, hopefully that's a good omen

[PhishLI]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I fish a pond with very popular loud paddle boat rentals, a path/sidewalk that goes around the whole perimeter, a very popular Zipline that runs all day with screaming humans attached to it directly over the water and tons of people who fish it every day, every way imaginable. 

 

People who have lived in the area for 50+ years and remember 'back when it had fish' come up to me and try to kindly assure me that the fishing has been dead for decades on account of nobody managing it and too many people fishing.  Trying to save me the headache and heartbreak.

I could've written this post myself about a local 35 acre spot dubbed "The lake of tears" by replacing the water sports aspect with commercial poaching by our very clever "friends" from the east. The daytime regulars complain about not catching a fish for weeks at a time. What they don't get is that casting senkos and poppers to the same spots relentlessly only magnifies their misery. Talk about a self-inflicted wound.

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

To be fair, until I figured out these fish, it felt like the pond was barren.  I get it.  I understand why these people all feel this way.  It took me a LONG time before I got a bite bass fishing and this was well after I had caught 7+ lbers on big lakes.  I wasn't no dummy.  These fish are special.  They learn.

Same here. Same thought. A few of us figured it out eventually, but this took a lot of work and a long time. That's not to say it's easy now, but there are whoppers in there, so I'm continuously buzzed by the prospect even when the bite is tough. The regular lakeflys who struggle mightily are confounded when we show them pics, but no number of tips or advice given changes their luck. They simply can't dial in. They think it's about specific baits, but it's not. They think it's about specific locations, but it's not. In places this small with monolithic shore-to shore weeds and little structure, predators pound the baitfish from location to location continuously, and the bass can literally be anywhere. Other than the bluegill spawn, bait location is ever shifting. You either find the bait then learn how to trick the bass, or you fail endlessly aside from random dumb luck.

 

The good news is that fully outfitted new guys who look the part don't last long. It takes a certain level of grit to outlast the learning curve. I'm glad you found something special like I have where the locals and regulars are convinced that it's dead. That notion is entertaining in itself.

[Darth-Baiter]

the Pandemic made everyone a sourdough starter bread maker and bass fisherperson.

 

EVERYone is fishing.  our lakes are full of kayakers these days.    i dont mind, i like the challenge.  

[PABASS]

For me lots more pressure and not fishing pressure, but boating pressure, kayaks, paddle boarding, etc.  Because they don't fish they have no clue that they just spoked everything on  the spot that I just caught a fish, but hey lets just paddle right over it(deeper grass flat)  This weekend had 5 kayaks do this two of which were fishing which is sad(should know better), and they were older then me, what do you do(?), I caught 4 nice ones and just packed up and left.  In this sense I think the fish might be harder simply because of the amount of people on the water.