Large Lakes vs Small Lakes

[JHoss]

The bulk of my bass fishing experience has come on lakes that range from 500-2000 acres while the bulk of the information I see online caters to traditionally larger lakes. It's common knowledge that different sections of the lake will behave differently. My question to y'all, is how much of a difference is there in conditions/seasonal patterns on a small lake (we'll say 1,000 acres for this argument) vs a large lake (20,000 acres for this argument). 

 

Bonus question: Do you think patterns hold up over the entirety of a small lake? Example being if you're catching fish on chunk rock in the first channel swing of creek arms in the top third of the lake, can you go to the middle third or lower third of that lake and expect to do the same? 

[king fisher]

All I know is I can get skunked on any lake any size.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 hours ago, JHoss said:

My question to y'all, is how much of a difference is there in conditions/seasonal patterns on a small lake (we'll say 1,000 acres for this argument) vs a large lake (20,000 acres for this argument). 

Beyond just the different sizes of lakes which affects how quickly they warm up and cool down, every lake offers different forage of different sizes which in turn affects how the bass set up. Beyond that, a lake’s unique cover and structure will affect how fish position, as well. 

2 hours ago, JHoss said:

Bonus question: Do you think patterns hold up over the entirety of a small lake? Example

I am cautious of ‘patterns’. I believe there might be some truth to a majority of fish behaving similarly in how far they push back into creek arms at different times of the year. That being said, there are many bass that I don’t think push back into creek arms at all. 

[Scott F]

A lot has to do with depth. I’ve fished large impoundments where there was little water under 5 feet deep. I’ve also fished big lakes where there was no water over 10 feet deep. Hard to compare. Just too many variables to consider.  Bottom content, current, water clarity, weed growth all have to be considered. 

[JHoss]

34 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I am cautious of ‘patterns’. I believe there might be some truth to a majority of fish behaving similarly in how far they push back into creek arms at different times of the year. That being said, there are many bass that I don’t think push back into creek arms at all. 

That's fair. There will always be fish doing different things. But let's consider the spawn. We know that the bulk of the population will push shallow at some point in the spring. So let's say it's prime spawn time and you find bedding fish in the back of the uppermost creek on a lake. If that's a 1,000 acre lake would you expect to find fish at the back of most creeks all over the lake or just certain sections of lake? Would you expect the same or different in a 20,000 acre lake?

 

5 minutes ago, Scott F said:

A lot has to do with depth. I’ve fished large impoundments where there was little water under 5 feet deep. I’ve also fished big lakes where there was no water over 10 feet deep. Hard to compare. Just too many variables to consider.  Bottom content, current, water clarity, weed growth all have to be considered. 

Let's say the two lakes are identical, one's just scaled to 5% size of the other. Do you think they behave the same or do things change because the distance between sections changes? A lake a mile long probably experiences less weather fluctuation than one 20 miles long?

[Scott F]

4 minutes ago, JHoss said:

 

Let's say the two lakes are identical, one's just scaled to 5% size of the other. Do you think they behave the same or do things change because the distance between sections changes? A lake a mile long probably experiences less weather fluctuation than one 20 miles long?

I think the opposite is true. Water takes a while to cool down or heat up. A lake one mile long has significantly less water, and is probably much shallower than a 20 mile long lake. Just like on the stove, a small pot of water will come to a boil much faster than a large pot with the same amount of heat. Where I fish in Wisconsin, large lakes are often a week or two behind the smaller lakes in terms of fish getting ready to spawn. Where water temps on the big lakes might be 50°, the lake across the road which is very similar in most respects except is much smaller, the water may already be in the 60s. When a cold front comes through, the smaller lakes are affected much more than the big lakes are. 

[OkobojiEagle]

I believe there is a difference between a natural lake and an impounded river and they will fish differently. 

 

Things can change more quickly in a small lake vs. a large lake... temp, turbidity, weed cover, fishing pressure, ect.

 

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, JHoss said:

My question to y'all, is how much of a difference is there in conditions/seasonal patterns on a small lake (we'll say 1,000 acres for this argument) vs a large lake (20,000 acres for this argument). 

 

I think it depends upon the lake bottom. The ponds and bogs I fish are shaped like shallow bowls. Two yards from shore, the water is 3' deep. Ten yards out, it's 5' deep. In the middle, it's 10' deep. So, there's not much structure. Accordingly, I fish cover rather than structure. So, I read articles and videos and comments where other anglers reference structure and I shrug. It doesn't apply.

 

You might ask how I know there's not much structure when I don't have electronics. Well, some days when the Sun is high, I can see 10' down. And other than boulders here and there, it's pretty flat.

[LrgmouthShad]

53 minutes ago, JHoss said:

bedding fish in the back of the uppermost creek on a lake. If that's a 1,000 acre lake would you expect to find fish at the back of most creeks all over the lake or just certain sections of lake?

Sure, I think there will be some bass at the back of most creeks if that's the case. 1,000 acres is not that large. A lake a lot larger like the gauge you use, 20,000, will have sections of the lake farther ahead or behind in the spawn depending on where you are. Even after the fish spawn, not all fish leave or head deeper. Some will stay shallow and in close proximity to where they spawned.

 

53 minutes ago, JHoss said:

Would you expect the same or different in a 20,000 acre lake?

Different, generally. As previously stated, some sections of a large lake will be farther ahead in the spawn than others. This is kind of narrowing in on the spawn but I think that's part of the conversation you want to have here.

 

I know this isn't an assumption you are making here @JHoss but I just want to reiterate that not all bass spawn at the back of creeks. I've spent the past couple of seasons learning how bass set up to spawn on mainlake structure including shallow points, humps, flats, islands, and more. That naturally leads into an exploration of how bass stage for these locations for the prespawn. It's cool stuff and fun to look at on a bathymetry map or a depth finder.

 

And by golly, @A-Jay, I am talking about green bass here. I have no earthly clue what smallmouth do 😄

[casts_by_fly]

The biggest lake in this state is 2400 acres. The bulk of what I’m fishing are lakes <1200 acres. So I hear the questions you’re asking. 
 

The classic ‘first dock up a creek arm off the main lake’ type of pattern may or may not hold up depending how many creek arms you have.  If your lake is a single winding lake with no or only one arm then that pattern will be a pattern of one. And that’s the limiting factor on smaller lakes. Finding areas that are ‘the same’ gets harder when there are just fewer areas in total. So instead of the first dock up a creek arm, you have to broaden the criteria a little if you want to try to fish pattern based like that. It might have to be docks on the shaded side of the lake with at least 6’ of water off the end. Or rocky bottoms in 8-15’. You might even have to just pick a water depth range to target.

[A-Jay]

59 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

And by golly, @A-Jay, I am talking about green bass here. I have no earthly clue what smallmouth do 😄

Not sure what makes you think I would know anything about that deal. 

I mostly use the Mike Long approach. 

#thebigsnag

A-Jay

 

[Pat Brown]

I think even on small ponds - sections fire first and then other sections fire at other times and it's all pretty closely related to prevailing conditions/fronts/protected areas/current /water clarity etc etc.

 

So many variables.

 

I don't believe anymore that there is a majority of fish that spawn at a certain time - I think that fish spawn in shallow water where they are visible to the naked eye each year during a window of water temp and clarity that is *generally* around 50-80° give or take and there are fish that will spawn up shallow when it's colder and hotter than that.

 

This spring I have launched with 44° surface temps and come back in with 55° surface temps.

 

I have found sections of the lake mid day that are 46° while other pockets are 56-59°.

 

Areas that are protected from prevailing colder fronts (could be from any direction!!!! - not just the North!) tend to be your friend.  Don't get too locked into 'protected from the north wind'.  Protected from the wind at all is more like it.  That can mean deep.  That can mean shallow.

 

In clearer parts of the lake fish may never spawn up shallow - they don't have to.

 

Dirty water - fish might be spawning up shallow all winter long if you don't get way below 50°

 

SO many variables and every individual fish behaves differently to compound things.

 

The best you can do is be out there often and pay close attention to water temps on your fish finder and if you start to consistently see 50° + on the surface there's almost always some fish trying to push into the shallow water.

 

I like targeting shallow fish in the spring in the muddy shallow creek arms which warm up WAY faster than the clear deep main lake water.

 

If you see fish spawning on the main lake - they're spawning everywhere usually.  I find it's the last place fish spawn most of the time.

 

If you're throwing baits up shallow and catching small males - look for deeper or colder or clearer sections of your lake for bigger pre-spawn females that may still be staging and big - the areas where males are already everywhere up shallow are pretty much done with the big female pre spawn thing sadly.

 

If you see low 50s and don't get bites and catch small fish up shallow on every cast.  Fish slow.  Fish smart.  There's giant females around you.

[geo g]

Regarding lake size.  The only factor that will change my decision on lake size is the wind.  The windier it is, the smaller the body of water I will choose.  They all have bass and other fish, but the wind can be a hazard especially on big waters like Okeechobee and Poga.  I would much rather be on a small lake with lots of vegetation because it helps keep waters cleaner and wave action down.  Our Florida bass like cleaner water.

[gim]

10 minutes ago, geo g said:

The only factor that will change my decision on lake size is the wind.  The windier it is, the smaller the body of water I will choose.

I often make my selections based on the wind too.

 

Two bodies of water I fish frequently in the spring can get quite treacherous with big wind so I need to choose wisely in these situations.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I have found sections of the lake mid day that are 46° while other pockets are 56-59°.

 

Whoa! 

 

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

If you're throwing baits up shallow and catching small males - look for deeper or colder or clearer sections of your lake for bigger pre-spawn females that may still be staging and big - the areas where males are already everywhere up shallow are pretty much done with the big female pre spawn thing sadly.

 

I have yet to see a single spawning bed in Maine. This could be because I have no interest in casting to a spawning bed. However, this spring, I will fish where I hooked big females in the springs of 2023 and 2024. I remember where I've caught big bass and when and will fish accordingly in 2025.

 

Caveat: I'm fishing small water. My pond is 169 acres. The pond where I caught my PB is 50 acres. The biggest pond I fish is 390 acres. So, I can fish the entire body of water each morning, which means sooner or later, I'll find the bass.

[Pat Brown]

@Swamp Girl Hard to say why you've never seen a bed but I guarantee you've caught a spawning fish.  There are guides who say on the podcast Bass After Dark that the only time you will EVER get a 12+ lb LMB to bite an artificial bait is around her nest.  These guys aren't idiots and I tend to think the same holds true in a relative sense for smaller big fish in smaller bodies of water.

 

I tend to think the big females get most angry and aggressive around their nests and most of the rest of the time are content to leave even a tasty or annoying looking thing completely alone.

 

Around their nests is a very relative thing and Paul Rogers on the nature of fishing has shown that one big bass can spawn in like 7 beds in a cove and be kinda angrily protecting them all?  But not be anywhere near one specific bed?

 

Like it's kinda more nuanced than the usual anti bed fishing propaganda would have you believe.

[Swamp Girl]

6 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Hard to say why you've never seen a bed but I guarantee you've caught a spawning fish. 

 

Oh, I agree. I'm sure I've caught hundreds of spawning bass because I'm fishing in the spawning season. I just don't cast to beds.

 

#Idon'tseebedsanddeadpeople

[Pat Brown]

I rarely see the beds either - most springs up the lake - it's like <6" of visibility where they spawn.  😉 

 

The tiny ponds I fish - totally different story - but yeah good luck sight fishing those girls 😂😂😂😂 you might get them to hit a bait one time and that will be the last time you see them til you're gone and that's a really good day and probably a fish that is under 6.  These fish have ivy league diplomas.

[Harold H]

4 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

I believe there is a difference between a natural lake and an impounded river and they will fish differently. 

 

Things can change more quickly in a small lake vs. a large lake... temp, turbidity, weed cover, fishing pressure, ect.

 

 

[WRB]

Most of the world famous SoCal trophy bass lake are 2,000 acres or less but very deep. The major spawn is obvious when it starts as these lakes have good water clarity.

As far as patterns there are usually several going concurrently based on tournament results. Bass being cold blooded the water temps control their body temps, egg development time and digestive length.

Water temps are not surface temps it the temperature at the depth the bass are in, they don’t live near the surface.

Tom

[Catt]

6 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That being said, there are many bass that I don’t think push back into creek arms at all. 

 

I firmly believe there are resedent bass in the creeks. These bass are the reason I believe pre-spawn starts long before most anglers believe. These bass are already in the creeks, therefore they don't have far to move up. 

[Columbia Craw]

The greatest teacher I’ve had regarding bass is the Columbia River.   It opened my eyes to the variations that occur in bass activity from month to month, week to week, day to day and hour by hour.   It can be overwhelming at times but it sure is fun and beautiful.

[Catt]

7 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

The greatest teacher I’ve had regarding bass is the Columbia River.   It opened my eyes to the variations that occur in bass activity from month to month, week to week, day to day and hour by hour.   It can be overwhelming at times but it sure is fun and beautiful.

 

Toledo Bend Reservoir 😉

[Columbia Craw]

TB has been a dream of mine to visit.  You’re blessed Catt.

[JHoss]

On 3/17/2025 at 4:41 PM, Scott F said:

I think the opposite is true. Water takes a while to cool down or heat up. A lake one mile long has significantly less water, and is probably much shallower than a 20 mile long lake. Just like on the stove, a small pot of water will come to a boil much faster than a large pot with the same amount of heat. Where I fish in Wisconsin, large lakes are often a week or two behind the smaller lakes in terms of fish getting ready to spawn. Where water temps on the big lakes might be 50°, the lake across the road which is very similar in most respects except is much smaller, the water may already be in the 60s. When a cold front comes through, the smaller lakes are affected much more than the big lakes are. 

I was more referring to variance from one of the lake to the other. Yes, a smaller body of water will warm or cool faster. But what I was getting at is the weather being much different on a large lake. I think its more likely one end of a 20 mile long lake receives heavy rain than having one end of a 1 mile long lake receive drastically different weather than the other end. 

 

On 3/17/2025 at 5:16 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

Sure, I think there will be some bass at the back of most creeks if that's the case. 1,000 acres is not that large. A lake a lot larger like the gauge you use, 20,000, will have sections of the lake farther ahead or behind in the spawn depending on where you are. Even after the fish spawn, not all fish leave or head deeper. Some will stay shallow and in close proximity to where they spawned.

 

Different, generally. As previously stated, some sections of a large lake will be farther ahead in the spawn than others. This is kind of narrowing in on the spawn but I think that's part of the conversation you want to have here.

I'm not looking at spawn specifically, just seemed like a seasonal pattern that would be the easiest example. But you did answer what I was getting at- a larger lake will have more variance than a smaller lake. This is what I would expect, but was curious about other's experiences.

 

On 3/17/2025 at 6:01 PM, casts_by_fly said:

The biggest lake in this state is 2400 acres. The bulk of what I’m fishing are lakes <1200 acres. So I hear the questions you’re asking. 
 

The classic ‘first dock up a creek arm off the main lake’ type of pattern may or may not hold up depending how many creek arms you have.  If your lake is a single winding lake with no or only one arm then that pattern will be a pattern of one. And that’s the limiting factor on smaller lakes. Finding areas that are ‘the same’ gets harder when there are just fewer areas in total. So instead of the first dock up a creek arm, you have to broaden the criteria a little if you want to try to fish pattern based like that. It might have to be docks on the shaded side of the lake with at least 6’ of water off the end. Or rocky bottoms in 8-15’. You might even have to just pick a water depth range to target.

This is very true. A lot of the smaller lakes we fish only have 20ish docks on the whole lake. Can't really make a pattern out of that like you could on a lake with 2000 docks. I try to approach the patterns generally like you mentioned- maybe I'm looking for any wood cover in the first third of a creek vs docks in the first third. It sounds like from your experience up there, "patterns" are more replicable across the entire lake on a small lake than a larger lake. 

 

On 3/17/2025 at 6:44 PM, Pat Brown said:

I think even on small ponds - sections fire first and then other sections fire at other times and it's all pretty closely related to prevailing conditions/fronts/protected areas/current /water clarity etc etc.

 

So many variables.

 

I don't believe anymore that there is a majority of fish that spawn at a certain time - I think that fish spawn in shallow water where they are visible to the naked eye each year during a window of water temp and clarity that is *generally* around 50-80° give or take and there are fish that will spawn up shallow when it's colder and hotter than that.

I didn't intend to make this about the spawn, but that seemed like an easy example to use. I've certainly noticed on even small lakes where certain sections are firing when others aren't. Do you think that conditions cause an area to fire, or it's more about that particular population of fish going off. 

 

On 3/17/2025 at 8:15 PM, Pat Brown said:

There are guides who say on the podcast Bass After Dark that the only time you will EVER get a 12+ lb LMB to bite an artificial bait is around her nest.  These guys aren't idiots and I tend to think the same holds true in a relative sense for smaller big fish in smaller bodies of water.

Not sure if you caught the part about the Coosa River study on the last episode. Essentially, tournaments bring in more "young, fast-growing" bass than electrofishing. So with delayed mortality we're accidentally selecting for slower growing bass to reproduce more. I think that goes into why you only catch big fish on a bed- they're old and they've seen every bait and trick out there. You need some crazy hormones going on to make them dumb enough to fall it- just like a big buck being easier to harvest during the rut when their hormones are going crazy and they're trying to sow their oats. 

 

On 3/17/2025 at 9:33 PM, WRB said:

Water temps are not surface temps it the temperature at the depth the bass are in, they don’t live near the surface.

This is something I have to remind myself of regularly. Get on the lake and see a major change in the temp reading on your graph, but in reality the water the fish are living in has likely barely fluctuated. 

 

On 3/17/2025 at 10:31 PM, Catt said:

I firmly believe there are resedent bass in the creeks. These bass are the reason I believe pre-spawn starts long before most anglers believe. These bass are already in the creeks, therefore they don't have far to move up. 

I absolutely agree with you on there being resident bass. And it makes sense they may go first- they're likely in warmer water and have a much shorter road trip to the nursery than a main lake bass. 

 

 

I think having a better grasp on this with the lakes in my area would help with planning a tournament strategy when I haven't been on that lake recently. I just fished my first derby of the year and hadn't been on the water since October. Going in, I had to make a plan to check a bunch of different stuff in different parts of the lake early and quickly. I found them in a certain section of creek all the way up lake. The challenge was then deciding if that pattern would hold up elsewhere and if it was worth the long run to check out.