Fishing high pressured areas

[bass109]

Any advice on fishing high pressured areas? I know competing with other fisherman in lake,reservior,river,ect. Can be a big challenge,

advice on how to get an edge on the competition, when the fish have seen most of it all?

[justfishin]

If you ever notice on those public lakes a lot of the fisherman are die hard bank beaters. They follow each other in single file all the way up the shore pitching and winding. I use my depth finder and have a ton of spots marked where I never see anybody or at least not many fisherman go to. Sunken islands, sunken logs and brush piles, creek channels, rock piles, small changes in depth along a contour can be a money spot as well, etc,etc,etc. Look outside the box for your fishing spots. Its a lot more comfortable there.

[WhiteMike1018]

Try throwing different baits than the norm. Often creature baits will do the trick, while other fisherman are ptiching worms and lizards etc. The key word is different. Bass do not like change but when it comes to lures they absolutely love it!

[bass109]

I have noticed that some lures work when other great lures like rapala shad dont at times. thanks Jim Blair and WhiteMike1018

[Guest the_muddy_man]

To paraphrase the great CASEY STENGEL  Fish where they ain't

Go to ther fish holding areas that most don't If you have a boat a weedline on a break, a part of the shore that is clogged with weeds and trees anything like that It works for us on our home lake

[Rebbasser]

Jim and Mike covered it real well.  One thing I would add is try a dropshot, but don't just fish it vertically-cast it and work it back in.

[b8r]

Fishing high pressured waters varies depending on what is causing that pressure and whom. Most lakes today are pressured on the weekends by boaters, skiers, and the onslaught of weekend warriors. If this is the pressure you are speaking of, then, it is easy. Bass will be simply be holding tighter to cover, so you will need to slow down, and pitch or flip lures into the weeds -- instead of working the edges. Back under docks, instead of working the posts.

However, if a lake is a tournament lake -- one that holds tournaments on a weekly basis -- that is a totally different type of pressure. Bass that typically hold on shallow cover and structure, will stage a little further off shore, or move out to the first major break in deeper water.

Let me give you an example: During the week you have found some bass holding along the weedbeds in 3-6 feet of water in a cove. But you go there on the weekend and they are gone. There is a good chance they are not gone, they just moved to the cover and structure towards the cove channel (center of the cove in the deepest water, depend on depth: focus on the 18 to 25 foot if the cove is deeper than 25 feet, unless there is a thermocline, then you just need to fish the thermocline edge and where it meets cover or structure, i.e., outcroping, boulders, rock, standing timber, etc.). If you found them on a flat, then move out to the first major break and work it.

Finesse lures and presentations are always best in high pressure situations. weightless/weedless Senkos, dragging tubebaits, small Texas rigged Craws, and 1/8-1/4-oz finesse jigs and a big pork chunk or trailer (ultra slow fall) are all good choices.

b8r

[Guest avid]

Any advice on fishing high pressured areas

Xanex

[dink]

Know your water.  Commit yourself to learning as much as possible about the subtle features near and away from the shoreline.  Dissect those areas and over time you will have TRUE honeyholes.

[T-rig]

Try some bigger swimbaits (Real California etc.) instead of throwing a worm or lizzard all day.

[roadwarrior]

b8r,

Welcome aboard!

Move away from the bank. Target structure in deeper water where most fisherman rarely fish.

[Craw]

Fishing at night is another option for high pressured water. I know it's winter time now, but here in Va. the summer months is when the fish are really being pressured, and that's the time to clock in for the night shift.

[FIN-S-R]

Offshore Stuff

Finnesse Lures

Bigger Lures

All that stuff is spot on, But...

Find a spot be it an offshore hump, or a submerged row of stumps the bank beaters pummel regularly. Get to know it intimately. Get to know every rock on the rock pile out in 30ft or get to know which stump has a big wash out under the root ball, or which stump is closer to deep water, or whatever detail you can figure out. I have no qualms fishing behind someone beating the bank, I will catch fish they miss because of details.

[ga_hawghauler]

If you ever notice on those public lakes a lot of the fisherman are die hard bank beaters. They follow each other in single file all the way up the shore pitching and winding. I use my depth finder and have a ton of spots marked where I never see anybody or at least not many fisherman go to. Sunken islands, sunken logs and brush piles, creek channels, rock piles, small changes in depth along a contour can be a money spot as well, etc,etc,etc. Look outside the box for your fishing spots. Its a lot more comfortable there.

ditto i agree with jim most recreational fisherman are bank pounders so you must look for not so obvoius spots as he mentioned. Most lakes has underwater structure with the use of some good electronics and topo map you should be to locate some fishing that is overlooked by most.

[Rattlinrogue]

My first move is to downsize my bait.Moving offshore is also great advice because most fishermen are bankbeaters.I also love the dropshot.It can put fish in the boat when things are really tough.And the advice to not only fish it vertically...how true!

[SPEEDBEAD.]

If you ever notice on those public lakes a lot of the fisherman are die hard bank beaters. They follow each other in single file all the way up the shore pitching and winding. I use my depth finder and have a ton of spots marked where I never see anybody or at least not many fisherman go to. Sunken islands, sunken logs and brush piles, creek channels, rock piles, small changes in depth along a contour can be a money spot as well, etc,etc,etc. Look outside the box for your fishing spots. Its a lot more comfortable there.

You seem to use your depth finder rather well, care to show a new (1 year)boater how to graph that type of structure?

Watch the big names.....rarely, depending on time of year, will you see them hugged up on the shore. Many, if not most, seem to be fishing offshore structure and will list that as a winning strategy for them.

Wayne

[justfishin]

Hey Speedbead,

      I am a far cry from a expert but, I have taught myself over the years to use it pretty well. I recieved your mail and will get back to you. Send me some of your questions and tell me what kind of depth finder you have. I have a old X 52 and a hand held GPS. I want to step up but, I am not going to until the old girl goes to fish finder heaven,lol. It took me a while to realize how much they can lie to you on manual. Things like using it in dirty water, separating the structure and deciphering between soft and hard bottom took a lot of trial and error and fine tuning. I came of age mostly because one lake I fish close to home is gin clear and if I went over a rocky or muddy bottom, saw a tree or rock pile or drop off I would spend time going back over that area where I could see this stuff with my naked eye or through a swim mask and learning how to decipher what I was seeing on the graph. It may have been a primitive way to learn but, it worked. I will certainly share   some of the things I have learned and about the idiosyncrasies of reading one. First step is to turn off the auto mode and the fish symbol mode and we can go from there.--------Jim

[Munkin]

Hey Speedbead,

      I am a far cry from a expert but, I have taught myself over the years to use it pretty well. I recieved your mail and will get back to you. Send me some of your questions and tell me what kind of depth finder you have. I have a old X 52 and a hand held GPS. I want to step up but, I am not going to until the old girl goes to fish finder heaven,lol. It took me a while to realize how much they can lie to you on manual. Things like using it in dirty water, separating the structure and deciphering between soft and hard bottom took a lot of trial and error and fine tuning. I came of age mostly because one lake I fish close to home is gin clear and if I went over a rocky or muddy bottom, saw a tree or rock pile or drop off I would spend time going back over that area where I could see this stuff with my naked eye or through a swim mask and learning how to decipher what I was seeing on the graph. It may have been a primitive way to learn but, it worked. I will certainly share some of the things I have learned and about the idiosyncrasies of reading one. First step is to turn off the auto mode and the fish symbol mode and we can go from there.--------Jim

Can you go ahead and PM me the GPS coordinates of those spots

Allen

[justfishin]

Ha, Ha, Ha ;D, good try Allen. I have had most of those spots for a long time. Deep Creek Lake, Rocky Gap Lake and the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna are where most of them are. Heck, I'd give em to ya but, you would have to promise to share them with Uncle Larry,LOL. Are you going to the Timonium Bass Expo in Baltimore? I was going to but, I  have a guy coming to the house on that day to give me a estimate on new field drains for my septic tank. Good timing huh? Oh well, I have more fishing junk than a man needs plus half of it is stacked up in the closet. Check out those Warrior Rods while you are there. They are pretty sweet. I think Jeff said that him and Zack are going.

[Chris]

Good stuff b8r welcome to the forum. I catch a lot of fish in pressured waters from slowing way down and making perfect pitches and casts to objects. Most guys fly through an area and fish fast to pick off the active fish. They also flog the water without much thought about lure and boat positioning. They don't put the lure where it needs to be and present it correctly to produce the fish that are less active. If you slow down and pay attention to what your doing and pick apart the area you can catch a ton right behind these guys. If your fishing behind good fishermen then you either need to go deeper into cover and fish real tight to it or find fish that have moved out and are staging out in deeper water. If your fishing vertical cover a lot of times the fish will move up on the cover and suspend when they get a lot of pressure. Just change the depth your fishing and they will still bite.

[Catt]

I think a decision on fishing off shore structure is in order, so Jim and RW why not start one.

I've played around with writing one but end up to detailed and delete the whole thing. We've all talked about what kind of structures to look for but let's talk about how to go about finding them?

[justfishin]

Good article b8r.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Hey Speedbead,

      I am a far cry from a expert but, I have taught myself over the years to use it pretty well. I recieved your mail and will get back to you. Send me some of your questions and tell me what kind of depth finder you have. I have a old X 52 and a hand held GPS. I want to step up but, I am not going to until the old girl goes to fish finder heaven,lol. It took me a while to realize how much they can lie to you on manual. Things like using it in dirty water, separating the structure and deciphering between soft and hard bottom took a lot of trial and error and fine tuning. I came of age mostly because one lake I fish close to home is gin clear and if I went over a rocky or muddy bottom, saw a tree or rock pile or drop off I would spend time going back over that area where I could see this stuff with my naked eye or through a swim mask and learning how to decipher what I was seeing on the graph. It may have been a primitive way to learn but, it worked. I will certainly share some of the things I have learned and about the idiosyncrasies of reading one. First step is to turn off the auto mode and the fish symbol mode and we can go from there.--------Jim

Thanks, will be in touch.

Wayne