Fishing pressure

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, Pumpkinseed Lizard said:

Cool story (for me at least) from the weekend. Got a tip from my local tackle shop about a stretch of bank at a nearby Northwest Missouri lake.  This lake gets hammered by boat and bank anglers.  But one area gets neglected because by late spring nobody wants to beat the brush to get to one spot. Even the boats don't want to get into this spot. It poured early Sunday and I timed my arrival for the rain stopping. I managed to get into that spot on foot and found a couple hundred yards all to myself and the fish and the birds were going nuts on the shad. Within 30 minutes I had five 15 inch plus fish landed and then a solid 4 lb fish a bit later on. A bunch more after that. Making small talk on my out at the parking lot nobody really caught anything worth. Sometimes it's about finding the right place at the right time.

 

Sounds a lot like my morning's fishing. I too worked hard to reach a spot that few would work to reach and I also caught a bunch. 

[WRB]

Try a bass boat with skilled bass anglers per every 10 acres fished everyday… that is pressured!

Tom

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, WRB said:

Try a bass boat with skilled bass anglers per every 10 acres fished everyday… that is pressured!

Tom

 

I assume, Tom, that you experienced the greatest pressure of all time in bass fishing. 

[Bankc]

11 hours ago, Pumpkinseed Lizard said:

Cool story (for me at least) from the weekend. Got a tip from my local tackle shop about a stretch of bank at a nearby Northwest Missouri lake.  This lake gets hammered by boat and bank anglers.  But one area gets neglected because by late spring nobody wants to beat the brush to get to one spot. Even the boats don't want to get into this spot. It poured early Sunday and I timed my arrival for the rain stopping. I managed to get into that spot on foot and found a couple hundred yards all to myself and the fish and the birds were going nuts on the shad. Within 30 minutes I had five 15 inch plus fish landed and then a solid 4 lb fish a bit later on. A bunch more after that. Making small talk on my out at the parking lot nobody really caught anything worth. Sometimes it's about finding the right place at the right time.

Yeah, I've definitely had some good luck getting to areas that other people can't in heavily pressured waters.  There are several spots on a lake I frequent that have tons of timber you have to ride over in 1-3 feet of water.  It makes it pretty much impossible to get a regular boat through because the timber would chew up a prop.  And they're far enough away from the docks that most kayaks and canoes won't paddle that far to get to them.  Also, our forests are so dense with shrubs and brush that you can't really walk to them.  So even in these highly pressured lakes, there are spots that don't see hardly any other anglers, all year long.  I can fish them because I can switch between my trolling motor and paddle on my kayak.

 

That being said, they're not the greatest places to catch fish.  They're really far from any deep water, exposed to birds, and the water is generally pretty stagnant.  I can often catch one or two there, but there are usually better places in the lake, even with the fishing pressure.  And these fish are hyper-sensitive to sound, unlike the rest of the lake.  So there's a lot of pulling up to a spot, getting everything ready, and then sitting quietly for the next 10 minutes before casting. 

[Swamp Girl]

16 minutes ago, Bankc said:

So there's a lot of pulling up to a spot, getting everything ready, and then sitting quietly for the next 10 minutes before casting. 

 

Hmm. Interesting tactic. I wish I had the patience for it.

 

I am forever spooking bass and I'm a seriously quiet angler, but when my canoe is within a couple feet away from them and advancing, they swirl away. I appreciate the swirls because they're teaching me where they are and I'll cast to those spots on the return paddle. 

 

I was thinking about the pressure that Tom experienced and upon further reflection, I've experienced similar pressure while fishing for walleye, smallmouth, and white bass. With all three species, I'd locate a school and start to swing fish aboard and first one boat and then another and then ten to twenty to park beside me, BUT in all these cases, I continued catching the fish while the interlopers mostly didn't. You can't just be atop fish to catch them. My trick with all three species was four to six-pound test. 

[WRB]

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

I assume, Tom, that you experienced the greatest pressure of all time in bass fishing. 

During the circus million dollar award for a world record bass in the late 80’s to mid 90’s our local trophy bass lake were insane. Same time period the opposite was fishing with my in-laws in Lake of the Woods area fly in lakes rarely ran across another boat zero pressure.

Endured circus rat race and relaxed during the quite remote wilderness, Call of the loons is far better then bass boat noise.

Tom

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Call of the loons is far better then bass boat noise.

 

It will take zero persuasion to convince me of ^this.^

[DaubsNU1]

13 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

It will take zero persuasion to convince me of ^this.^

 

 

[Bazoo]

On 9/15/2024 at 6:41 PM, Woody B said:

IMHO there's a BUNCH of good comments in this thread.   Most of the time I only get to fish on weekends, and the lake is crowded.   I get a kick out of watching people fish.  Sometimes I learn stuff...sometimes I laugh.  I think at least in some cases the Bass know when the people fishing leave.   This Spring I was fishing a row of lay downs.   A couple tournament "anglers" came flying up in their 70mph boat to the lay down right above where I was fishing. (~50 yards away)  Both of them made 2 or 3 casts each, burning buzz baits around the lay down, then they sped off.  I eased up right after they left and caught a fat 6 pound Bass on my first cast on a spinnerbait, into the lay down.   It's my belief that they "woke" the Bass up, and it was aware when they left.   I ease up there, made a precise cast, and the Bass thought it was breakfast time.   I really hate they didn't see me catch it, since they cut right in front of me.  They're casts simply weren't accurate enough to catch a big Bass.   I made a super accurate cast into the cover, but I'll always wonder if the Bass hearing them leave helped me slip in and catch it.   

 

In pressured water I believe the strike zone is tiny.   I also believe the strike zone is usually bigger in non pressured water.   I believe stealth is important in both pressured and non pressured water.  Perhaps it's more important in un fished water, where humans usually aren't around.   

 

 

I catch Bass behind other "anglers" all the time.  What I see them doing helps me determine if I go in right behind them or come back later.   

 

I believe lure selection is way more important in pressured waters.   I also believe the latest greatest newest lure isn't always the ticket.   I like going back to lures and techniques that worked decades ago that everyone has move on from.   

 

 

What you describe is a technique in deer hunting where deer are pressured. You'll have a friend come and drop you off to your spot in a tractor, on a 4 wheeler, or in a truck.

 

The deer often know you're there if you walk in, but having a truck come through and leave is not of alarm to them.

 

On 9/14/2024 at 7:31 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

There are many controlled experiments that confirm bass do learn to avoid lures.  In his book Knowing Bass,  Dr Keith Jones shared some research he did at Berkeley.   Groups of six bass were allowed to freely strike at a minnow bait for five minutes.   During their first exposure to the lure they hit the bait on average a combined 24 times.   They were then separated into two groups.  The first group was retested 2 weeks later and they hit the lure on average a little over 2 times.  The second group was tested 3 months later and hit the lure more than the first group (about 4 times) but still far less than when originally tested.  These bass were not hooked but still learned and remembered that the minnow bait was not food.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

First, to give the bass a high exposure limit at the onset is just conditioning them to not bite later on. If they were only given 1 or 2 bites each, I bet the test results would have shown that after the rest periods, there was either significantly less change or NO change.

 

This brings up a point. A theory I'm working on.

 

I think bass, or at least some bass, do not associate being caught with a "non-food" item.

 

With a real shad, a large one... bass grab it, it tries to get away, maybe they have one occasionally slip out of the jaws on a bad strike.

 

So on a lure, they see a shad, they grab it... and instead of that shad getting away, that shad grabs them and pulls them sideways. The bass probably thinks "that's the feistiest shad I've ever ate" until until they are on the thumb.

[Bazoo]

On 9/16/2024 at 11:49 AM, Zcoker said:

Don't worry about it and just fish. Fish are fish, and it's up to you to figure out how to catch them no matter where you fish at. Fishing pressure is couple of words that mean nothing to the fish. Perhaps they see the same baits over and over pass them up. Perhaps a highly fished place may need re-evaluated, maybe fishing at night when no one is around. Minor adjustments. I will say to NEVER underestimate a place that may seem "highly pressured". I once caught an 8lb bass in a community lake jammed pack with people and ski boats, right in the middle of the narrow ski lane, never in a million years would I have thought to hook and land that one! 

The Ky LMB record came from a local community pond, 6 acres I think, where nobody expected it. It certainly opened my eyes to the possibly to trophy fish being in the spots least exected.

[Bazoo]

On my local public lake, there are 2 sections. The main lake, and the holding ponds. The ponds are connected to the main lake on its north via small channels. They were constructed to give them a place to store fish when they drain the lake for dam maintenance.

 

I fish both, but primarily the holding ponds, which see a huge amount of pressure. Several dozens of anglers starting about 4:00pm until dusk. Some are catfishing, some bobbers for whatever, some crappie, and some, like me, for bass.

 

You never catch bass on worms when you're fishing for bream. Those that fish with live minnows often keep the bass, so they only get to make that mistake once.

 

If you watch the normal bass fishermen, they are lazy, they can't cast accurately, and they often give up after about 30 minutes of not catching. They don't fan cast, they don't fish their lure all the way to shore.

 

I've caught several fish right at shore. They have realized that most people pull their lure 6' from the shore, and are living right under folk's noses!

 

The lures others use are a plethora of various things, but often it's whatever is hot and new. Whopper ploppers are quite popular.

 

I have had success in those holding ponds by being more stealthy than normal. Often I'll fish for a while then I'll take a break and give it 5 or 10 minutes rest. Or I'll switch to a soft plastic worm and fish it so slowly that I only make 1 or 2 casts in 5 minutes. I do get fish that way.

 

I've had limited success with squarebill crankbaits. I don't think those are as popular as other lures for some reason. I've had luck with them right out of the package, but I've had better luck with them when I tie the hooks on. This changes the sound.

The other day I caught a new PB in the holding ponds. 4lb7oz weighed, with the above hand-tied squarebill crankbait. That old fish was in a spot everyone fishes, myself included. No telling how many times it'd been caught, but It didn't have a mark on its face, so it hadn't been caught in long enough that it'd healed completely.

 

For me to trick that bass, I was proud, because I know the pressure it sees, including my pressure. I don't just do what everyone else does. I fish my own way, and like hand-tying hooks, I'm always looking for an edge and something to be a bit different.

 

I've had my best luck fishing soft plastics with weightless lizards, split shot finesse worms, and fat albert grubs rigged on a light texas rig. Three things that most people don't fish.

 

Most others that fish soft plastics fish a senko or clone, or some kind of texas rigged crawdad.

 

I've never seen anyone else fishing weightless or split shot.

I've noticed that when I catch a fish, I will rarely catch another in the same spot. Most of the time, the spot dies off. I have occasionally caught 2 right behind each other, but it's rare. The fish have learned that when one goes up to stop feeding.

 

I've had pretty good success in spots that are harder to access, or harder to cast from, such as the woods. But I've also had success in the regular spots because I do things differently than others.

 

I've had the best luck by starting out with a subtle soft plastic presentation, then switching to a crankbait. Whenever I've used a crankbait or other hard bait first, then switch to a soft plastic, I don't normally do well.

 

I've talked to many anglers that say they've never caught anything and have fished there for years. And have talked to people that have only caught a very limited amount and nothing large.

 

This lake is closed at night, so I speculate, that a majority of bass have gone nocturnal, though the one time I was granted permission to stay later (it was winter), I didn't have success.

 

I have noticed I do the best when I'm fishing alone. If a buddy is with me, if we are together, we rarely catch anything. Partly because we are talking and not focusing on a perfect cast or technique. Partly because the bass are seeing too much action.

 

When we have fished together, I've had success going behind my buddies using a curly tail grub on a texas rig.

[Swamp Girl]

6 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I have had success in those holding ponds by being more stealthy than normal. Often I'll fish for a while then I'll take a break and give it 5 or 10 minutes rest. Or I'll switch to a soft plastic worm and fish it so slowly that I only make 1 or 2 casts in 5 minutes. I do get fish that way.

 

Stealth rules!

 

6 hours ago, Bazoo said:

The other day I caught a new PB in the holding ponds. 4lb7oz weighed, with the above hand-tied squarebill crankbait.

 

Yee-haw! Congrats, Bazoo!

 

6 hours ago, Bazoo said:

For me to trick that bass, I was proud, because I know the pressure it sees, including my pressure.

 

And I'm proud of you too, pal.