How many, how big, and why?

[Swamp Girl]

How many bodies of water do you fish, how big are they, and why do you fish them? I'm not asking you to name them, but if wanna, feel free. I don't wanna name mine.

 

I fish seven, a mix of ponds and bogs/swamps, all local except for one and all 400 acres or less.

 

Body 1 is a big fish, but few fish swamp. I can only fish it in April and early May and then it's choked with weeds. It threatens me with skunks every time I go there, but it harbors big bass.

 

Body 2 is a many fish, but no big fish pond. The fish average 16" to 18" and it's just for fun. I love this pond for the action and the fights. Two to three-pound bass acquit themselves well and it has nearly no small fish. Yeah, it's a weird, wonderful pond.

 

Body 3 is the only one that isn't local. It's an hour away. I make the drive because it's typically good for a couple four to six-plus-pounders. I've hooked and lost even bigger bass there. I fish it because it's beautiful and for the thrill of bigger fish

 

Body 4 is a bog/swamp with a short river flowing into it. The river is full of bass and the bog holds some big bass. I caught three of my six-pounders there in 2023. This is my main pond. I love that I can fish a stream, a small river, a bog, and clear water all in the same trip.

 

Body 5 is right beside the highway, but it holds big fish too. I caught another three six-plus-pounders there in 2023. It's easy to launch there.

 

Body 6 is the smallest at 50 acres, but I caught back-to-back four pounders there one morning and three others later that morning. It has a long river that flows into it and abuts miles of impenetrable swamp. This is rapidly becoming my favorite pond. I look forward to catching a five or six-plus pounder there. The four-to-five-pounders are well fed, so there have to be bigger bass there.

 

Body 7 is a pond with houses on two shores. I'm rarely alone there, but it's still good fishing, with the chance of a four-pounder pretty high every trip. I like it because it has far fewer weeds than the others, which makes landing bass MUCH easier. It's also a quantity pond with smallmouth too.

 

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

I fish several bodies of water.

Strangely, they all have the same name.

I am willing to travel some distance to do so.

This is why.

A-Jay

[gim]

I keep an annual electronic log of where I fish each season.

 

This past season, 2023 has this in it:

 

33 fishing trips between mid April and mid October

Each trip varies in length from 2.5 to 5.5 hours long

I fished 6 different lakes and one river in 2023

They are all within 90 minutes of my house in the western Twin Cities suburbs

 

The size of these bodies of water vary greatly from about 200 acres all the way up to 133,000 acres.

[Catt]

I fish everywhere from 1 acre ponds to a 185-190,000 acre reservoir.

 

Rivers, creeks, bayous

Marshes & swamps 

Brackish tidal waters 

 

Why do I fish them?

 

I'm a Cajun, we hunt & fish a lot!

[RipzLipz]

Mainly 2 small bodies of water.

 

1 is a ~10 acre privately owned former coal strip mine that was reclaimed decades ago. I fish it for a few reasons.

• it’s private & I do not have to contend with other anglers.
• I grew up fishing it & know it quite intimately 
• the fish are very healthy & panfish are quite abundant
• water is very clean & clear which makes it easy to see what’s in there
• there are large bass present - where I caught my #1 & #2 along with many over 5.
• area is surrounded by other strip pits & on occasion I may run into someone who grants me access to their pit

One of the few negatives is it’s ~150 mile round trip from my house.

 

Second place is a public lake I refer to as Lake Shantbenamed which is less than 700 acres. I fish it because there are large bass in it & closer to my house than the strip pits & there are large bass in it. Did I mention there are large bass in it? That’s all I’m sayin’ about that lake due to it being a hidden gem. Recently caught a fish that tied for #2 all time for me.

 

I also take out of state trips to larger lakes with my dad & some family friends 2-3 times a year. We usually go north for smallmouth in June & south later in the year. TX, AL, GA & FL are the usual suspects for the fall or winter trips.

[Mobasser]

I fish three. Clear quarry lake, 7 acres, large lake( not too often) and, farm pond. Hoping to fish the farm pond more this next season.

[gim]

26 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I fish several bodies of water.

 

I found them.  If I had about 200 years, I could cover some of it. 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

I fish Erie a very large body of water because it flat out produces quality smallmouth. I also fish the big water Florida lakes & the St John river system for largemouth & Lake Baccarac in Mexico a large river dammed system.

[MIbassyaker]

I fish about 40 small bodies of water within an hour of my house.  All are public. Most are small natural lakes between 30 and 500 acres. The smallest is about 16 acres, the largest is a bit over 2500. a few man-made lakes/ponds as well, and several free-flowing sections of 4 rivers. A few of these I may visit 2 or 3 times a year, but most only once a year.  I try to add a new place or three every year.

 

I have to stay close because my time to get out is limited, and I can usually spare a morning or afternoon at a time.  I rotate between so many places because I have a strong itch to fish the biggest variety possible that I can access reasonably.

 

But what I want most out of fishing is variety in solitude, which is extremely hard to achieve when you're fishing public waters in and near an urban area, and you can't go far.  I prioritize small, out of the way places, at times when I'm least likely to encounter a lot of other people.  There is no way to avoid crowds and fishing pressure completely, but some places certainly get more traffic than others.  And some were actually quite hard to find; I am very careful about not revealing those, even when they aren't loaded with giants.

 

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

24 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I found them.  If I had about 200 years, I could cover some of it. 

 

Man, you nailed it !

A-Jay 

[Jar11591]

I have 5 or so bodies of water that I fish with regularity, and they’re all very different. 
 

Water #1 is my favorite. It’s a small (<200 acres), quiet mountain lake that has lots of structure/contours, lots of lay downs and shoreline timber, beautiful milfoil flats, and Lily pad fields. It’s great for size and numbers, and only contains largemouth. It holds my domestic PB at 6lb 3oz. 
 

Water #2 is a lake about 600 acres, and it’s a round bowl with very gradual contours, maxes out at about 20’ and there is a crazy amount of submerged and emergent vegetation in the way of milfoil, hydrilla, grass, pads, water chestnut and more. A very typical largemouth lake. It’s known to hold some giants, and I have a feeling my new domestic PB could come from here. 
 

Water #3 is a lake a little less than 900 acres. It’s a very “developed” lake even though it’s nestled in the mountains. This lake has depths up to 100’, and tons of rocky structure, islands, channels, shoals, rock piles, timber, weed beds and drop offs. Structure and cover wise, you’d be hard pressed to find a better lake. This lake holds largemouth and smallmouth, but I usually target smallies when I fish here. Early and late in the season and/or the day is better for this lake because it gets downright insane during summer days. So much boat traffic makes it downright dangerous. 
 

Water #4 is a small swampy bog. No real depth changes, about 5’ deep the entire way through it’s 100 or so acres. Tons of vegetation, some mid lake brush piles but that’s about it. Punching and frogging is the way here. The lake holds some real giants. Only Larry and pickerel inhabit this bog, plus some dinner plate sized panfish. 
 

Water #5 is a small river in the mountains. Shallow and narrow, with slow meandering current defines this river. Lots of rocks and timber. This river doesn’t hold giants, but it’s a blast to float and catch smallies up to a couple pounds all day. You could easily catch a hundred or so smallies in a day here. They readily eat anything you throw. The river also holds brown, brook, rainbow and tiger trout and you can easily catch these in between the smallmouth. I’ve never seen another boat on this river either. 

[Pat Brown]

I fish two small lakes -

 

One has tannic clear water with a mix of grass and rock and wood cover and the typical sort of bowl shape with a dam.  It's 20 feet deep in the deepest spots with an average depth more like 10 feet.  220 acre.

 

One is clear shallow and has some rocky offshore structure and some isolated vegetation and lots of shoreline wood.  It's closer to 800 acre where a fairly significant portion of the lake is 0-2 feet deep.  Average depth 6-8 feet with some 12-17 foot holes and some neat offshore spots that get as shallow as 1 foot.

 

Both receive a lot of pressure from great fisherman with far more sophisticated technology than I have and it's very difficult to catch anything at these lakes.

 

I fish 4 small ponds. 5 acres.  Average depth 2 feet deep.  Super clear water.  No vegetation or major structure.  Some random holes where it's 5-6 feet deep near where the original creek channels hug the bank...but mostly silted in.  People swear they're dead and fishless but I've caught numbers and giants out of all three during all seasons.

 

Not really much in the way of river systems around here or creeks but I fish them when the opportunity presents itself.

 

From year to year, water conditions change a lot.  Last year we had very dirty water.  This year the water has been very clear.  Hard to say exactly why because both years had very similar weather patterns.

 

I'm not sure if there is any one or two or three ways to say what makes some one good at fishing from far away but I struggle sometimes and sometimes it seems to rain big fish but I can usually catch a fish if that's my intention.  One thing I do know is around here people fishing for bass say it's very very tough and I find that it definitely was until I started to understand the way they relate to the bodies of water and food sources seasonally.

[Swamp Girl]

11 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Water #4 is a small swampy bog. No real depth changes, about 5’ deep the entire way through it’s 100 or so acres. Tons of vegetation

 

I KNOW the Maine version of ^this.^ The depth of a couple of my bogs is five feet pretty much everywhere with tons of vegetation. 

 

And I'd love to fish your #5.

 

7 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

One thing I do know is around here people fishing for bass say it's very very tough and I find that it definitely was until I started to understand the way they relate to the bodies of water and food sources seasonally.

 

I'm not surprised you catch them when others can't. You're a creative, adaptive angler. 

[Jar11591]

@ol'crickety yep, water #4 is a very ol’crickety style bog. You’d be right at home on those waters. 

[Alex from GA]

I fish a 38,000 acre lake but only a small portion along with several rivers/streams a year when I'm in GA.  If FL I usually fish 2 rivers and 5 lakes plus the Gulf of Mexico.

[FishTax]

I generally fish 1 public lake that's about 1100 acres. High fishing pressure, but it has big fish in it. I occasionally fish some smaller public lakes (the ones Pat fishes) but they're a little further from home and pretty similar to my home lake, so I generally opt for convenience. I also occasionally go meet a friend to fish other lakes like Norman, Wylie, high Rock, or hyco. But only if they bring a boat 😎

[Tennessee Boy]

I fish the reservoirs of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and their tributaries.  I’ve fished 10 of them in recent years and I fish 4 of them regularly.  They range from about 12,000 acres to 160,000 acres.  These lakes are great fisheries and offer a lot of variety.
 

Some might be offended by this but I own two ponds about half an acre each that I never fish.

[padlin]

For the most part I fish 3 ponds between 100 and 200 ac., all about a hours drive. None go over 11 ish feet deep, and 2 of them end up near unfishable when the weeds fill in. Why? Cause they are undeveloped, well one has 1 home on it, they do not allow motors, and until plastic kayaks became a thing, they were loaded with bass. I fish cause I love the quiet solitude of canoeing, fishing gives me an excuse to be there by myself.

 

There is a 477 ac lake about a mile from the house but it’s full of every kind of watercraft and completely filled in with vacation homes. I’ve been canoeing for about 30 years and have yet to put one in the lake.

[Mike L]

I don’t mind naming them…

The be all, end all for me is Okeechobee, has been and always will be.

Other lakes that I’ve done the best are Stick Marsh (PB), Toho, Istopoka and lately Lake Placid. 
I’ve been fortunate enough to pull 8-10 lb’ers out of each. 

Many others…St Johns River, Rodman, Kissimmee Lake and River are all world class fisheries but obviously the ones I know the most about (especially Big O) are the ones I’d rather fish. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[looking45]

99% of my fishing is on Lake Shasta. It has 375 miles of shoreline and 4 major arms. Spotted bass is the predominate Species but there are 16 varieties of fish in the lake. Fishing is year round and 100 fish days are possible. Average days are 30-50 fish. Fish can be caught on a variety of methods. No need for me to go anywhere else. Almost

forgot, the lake is 15 minutes from the house 

[casts_by_fly]

I do not live in the most productive hotbed of bass fishing for the most part. NJ has decent fishing, and a 5lb fish is a good target as they are here, but you aren’t going to catch one every year. That said, what it lacks in size it makes up for in variety for me. Within 30 minutes I’ve got a dozen places ranging from 30 acre tiny lakes up to the biggest in NJ at 2700 acres. I don’t really fish them, but there are also some smaller ponds and bogs that can be fished from shore.  If I expand to an hour that would put me in over 2 dozen lakes in the same size range and I couldn’t even tell you how many small lakes and ponds. That also includes the Delaware river for most of its length with NJ and a couple smaller rivers that are worth fishing. For a person who gets bored fishing the same place over and over again, I do certainly like the variety.

 

that said, I have a small handful that I fish all the time. In an electric kayak, I tend to fish ‘small’.  The sub-300 acre lakes are perfect in size for me. I fished the 2700 acres lake a lot the first year we were here. It’s a great lake but it gets so much pleasure boat pressure from may to September that it’s almost unsafe and there are tournaments Thursday through Sunday from mid June to October. Lots of fish are on offshore weedlines but actually fishing it from a kayak is next to impossible and certainly in pleasurable. 
 

My favorite 3 that I rotate between from June on are lakes where I have either caught big fish, lots of fish, or lots of big fish. Which one I fish just depends on my mood and what I want to fish. I’ll throw in 3 more lakes as opportunistic places. In the early season I’ll fish one of them because it has smallmouth.  It’s a largemouth lake and gets really weedy beyond may but march and April you can catch the smallies. One lake is an early season lake that is hidden in the mountains so on the windiest day you’re protected. It chokes with weeds later on but in April the bass congregate. The third is really close and has a great launch. I’ve caught good fish from it, but it’s inconsistent for me. I’ve not truly patterned it. It’s a nice change up. That leaves a dozen and a half lakes that I’ve fished 0-2 times that all hold fish. I try to pick at least one or two new places each year and I try to pick on place to learn in depth or learn something new on. This most recent year I took my favorite lake and learned some new things on it. The year before I explored a couple new places. I’ll go back to some and skip the others. 
 

next year I’m going to get to the big D. I keep saying I will and then don’t. Next year it is. 

[12poundbass]

This year I fished four. They’re all less than 200 acres. One of them I had never fished before, another one had been forever since I had fished. The other two I fish yearly.
 

One of them is special to me. To launch your boat you need to back down a two track probably 300’ or so which weeds out most anglers. There are maybe five houses and I’ve seen 2-3 people on the lake at one time. My wife and I both caught our PB’s on that lake.

 

 

[TheSwearingAngler]

I’m a canoeist and bank angler, I fish small water exclusively.. I tried a large lake once and the pontoon boats and I water skiers scared the hell out of me. Everything I fish is local and I have some favorites that rotate throughout the season.

 

Pond 1 is 38 acres… five minutes from my house, it’s in a public park with tons of bank pressure, no real boat pressure but me. Dropping the canoe in is a struggle, there is no way to get a real boat in. My 2 best bass and best pickerel all came out of here, from the bank. I’ve put up a lot of big number days from the canoe targeting the plentiful laydowns with T-rigs, and spinnerbaits.. there’s an awesome frog bite June-August working the lily pads. I fish the bank before and after work all week but take the canoe out early weekend mornings with the aim of being off the water before too many lookie loos see how much difference the canoe makes.

#2 and #3 are a 120 acre pond and the river attached to it ten minutes from work or home. I hit these 2 from the bank a lot at lunch.. like everyday. Sometimes before or after work too. Ned rig smashes on both sides of the road… big numbers with occasional size. Size almost exclusively coming from the pond side of the road. Spinnerbaits work very well on the river side but not as well in the pond. I’ve hit the river with the canoe once, there are a lot of log jams that are hard to traverse, I got a simpler canoe for next season to try dragging around the jams. There are very large fish in the pond side I take the canoe a few times a season and do okay but sometimes struggle to find the fish or the pattern. There is zero frog bite here.
 

#4 is 121 acres, 15 minutes from home, hard to find if you’ve never been but a lot of people in the know fish it.. it’s kind of a local legend. I finally fished it this year, and wound up fishing it quite a bit.. had a great frog bite over the summer all sizable fish. It’s very easy to drop the canoe in which is the only way I fish it. 
 

#5  is 64 acres, 5 minutes closer to the house than #4 sometimes I set out to hit 4 or 5 and it seems busy so I hit the other because they’re right there. This one is also easy to drop the canoe in.. and the frog bite is wild… over the summer I dropped the canoe in at 4:30-5am a bunch of times before work at 8. It’s impossible to have a bad day at work after catching 8 2lb+ frog fish before punching in. What initially caught my interest was the only online “fishing report” for this pond essentially said good numbers no size.. I’ll admit that kept me away for awhile, but one day I set out just looking for numbers and found that fishing report was either total BS or outdated because I get numbers and size every time.

 

There are definitely more spots I fish but these 5 makeup 95% of my efforts and catches.

[greentrout]

1. Flint Creek Reservoir -- Campgrounds & Outdoor Retreat

Some of the most expensive motor homes money can buy from all over the country have stayed there. Cliff Pace, Petal MS, former Classic Champion, once called it his home lake. Bass and Crappie fishing. 

 

2, Paul B. Johnson State Park. Located in the MS. Pine Belt near Hattiesburg, MS. It's beautiful. Bass and Crappie fishing.

 

3. Lake Bill Waller -- Trophy Bass Lake. NO OUTBOARDS ALLOWED. Old school fishing. Once a year in the Spring. 

 

4. Diamondhead Mississippi -- Jourdan River -- Brackish Water. Smallish bass but a blast to catch -- numbers. 

 

5. De Soto National Forest -- lakes and small creeks with light tackle. Anything that bites. 

 

6. 1 acre pond I can walk to. Survived the drought. Recent gusher has replenished the pond. Caught a bass there today.

 

Good Fishing

 

[king fisher]

1-My first lake is about 1.5 miles long and .5 miles wide.  It is a 3-4 hour drive from my house.  It is a reservoir created by a dam, is very similar to larger reservoir only smaller.  One end is shallow and from August to March is basically a flooded cow pasture with lots of grass, and small trees.  The other end is 35 feet deep with rocky points, humps, and ledges.  There are large trees with huge branches all throughout the deep end.  The trees are visible above the surface from Mid April until Mid July when the rainy season begins.  Visibility is 6 inches during the peak of rainy season, and about 2 feet during the lowest water.

        During much of the high season I fish surface lures especially buzz baits.  My favorite time to fish this lake is during the low water season.  I catch the bass suspended in the trees, or on off shore structure.  The in-between water levels are the most difficult, and many times the bass are located on submerged barbed wire fences leading from shore to deeper water.  The Bait Monkey loves the time of year the bass on on the fences, but it is my least favorite time of year.

      When I first started fishing this lake, I hooked a 10 pound bass almost every time I fished the lake.  This past year I only landed one bass over 10 pound's, but did manage a bass over 7 pounds each time I fished.  Many days I only get a few bites, but it is my favorite lake, because the bites are often big bass.  Sport fishing pressure is very light, but commercial netting is heavy.

2.-  My next lake is only a 2 hour drive from my house.  It is about 3 miles by 3 miles, and is a shallow bowl.  I have found no structure, or irregularities on this natural lake.  The deepest part is in the very middle and is about 15 feet deep.  There is abundant vegetation, and flooded willow trees.  The lake level and clarity does not seem to change at all from dry to rainy season.  Visibility is about one foot.  There is no river going in or out.  The willow trees are always flooded, so I don't know when they grow, or how many years since they have been out of the water.  I have been told the lake is an old volcano crater.  I have yet to catch a big bass here, but I do know that the lake has bass up to 15 pounds.  There is virtually no sport fishing pressure and commercial fishing is limited.  I have had limited success on catching bass here, but keep going back because it is close, and I hope to one day find a pattern.  So far the best bait by far has been T rigged worms.

3-  My next lake is also 2 hours away, and is a classic high land reservoir.  It is about 4 miles long, and 3 miles wide with many long fingers going into the numerous mountain valleys.  During the rainy season it is flooded, and low visibility, and drops over 30 feet during the driest time of year.  Visibility ranges from 6 inches to 3 feet depending on time of year.  There is some sport fishing, and a small amount of commercial netting.  My biggest bass so far has been 7 pounds, and I do have to bring a spinning rod and use a drop shot to catch fish on slow days.  The water in this lake is colder than the other lakes I fish, and I have heard that the bass top out at 9 pounds.

4- My next lake is 4.5 hours away, and is becoming my favorite lake.  It is the largest lake I fish, and the only one that I can catch numbers and good size bass.  It is a classic high land reservoir with many bays, and feeder creeks.  During the rainy season the water is dirty, and the bass are far back in the bays.  During the dry season main lake points are productive as well as other offshore structure.  The visibility in this lake is excellent with 4-6 foot vis. most of the year.  The water level  fluctuates more than 30 feet, and I prefer the low water time of year.  It also has the most abundant forage in any of the lakes I fish.  Besides the normal tilapia that are in most Mexican lakes, there is an abundance of Crayfish.  I was only able to fish this lake two weekends this year, but landed two over 10 pounds, and caught a one day 5 fish 42 pound bag.  This lake has great potential, and I hope to be able to fish it more next year.

5- I also fish Lake Chapala that is 5 hours away.  Chapala has a large population of mid size bass.  It is a shallow lake with year round low visibility.  There are guides on the lake, but still considering its 50 mile long size very little sport fishing pressure.  The abandoned nets make it impossible to fish treble hooked lures, but good number of bass are common.  The water gets rough when the wind blows, and I flipped my kayak there a few years ago trying to get a lure unsnagged from a net in high winds.  I only fished there one day last year, and doubt I will be back this year.  My biggest bass there is 8.3 pounds.

6- I have found two more off the radar lakes I hope to try in 2024.  Both have rumor's of bass in the teens.  Both are 4 hours away, but if the rumors are true, I might find my new favorite bass lake this next year.