Location and theory

[dink]

This thought pops into my noggin a few times every year.  The question is directed at anyone who "knows" a body of water particularly well.

Why don't "prime spots" produce EVERY year?

To clarify, Spot A, that is a secondary point with a steep four foot drop and old stumps on top, holds fish predictably for four years in a row and then holds little to nothing for the next two, only to rebound the next three.  Why?

I have my own theories on this, most of which revolve around weather patterns and water levels.  I also try to take into account available food-fish and timing of the spawn.  Every year, I am fine tuning this skill more, yet this one point has always intrigued me.

So, what do you guys think?

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

The honey holes on our lake have never let us down. Of course, the world was turned upside down when they lowered the place by about 1/2 to fix the dam one yr, but other than that, once it stabilized, the old spots became productive again and the newly made ones were added to the list. We did alot of "manipulating while the water was down, building walls, piles,etc.

I think perhaps the pattern is changing moreso than the area for you. Like sometimes, there can be a flat associted w/ the point but it's out away from it,in the middle of the lake.

They could have gone from the spot you know to the deeper water, to the flat, or somewhere in the corridor they use to get to all 3. Finding out where they went from there is a great piece of the puzzle to find. When they disappear, search long, hard and slow in the immedite areas perimeter. Eyes on the graph constantly. Bouys help. Dropping one each time something on the graph catches your eye can point out patterns when you look back on the big picture. Sometimes you'll notice a pattern in the bouys (straight line-roadbed or fenceline, squares/rectangles-foundations,etc)

Just thinking out loud, sometimes a brainstorming effect can help.

PS- My opinion is based on steady or "normal" weather patterns and water condition/level

[RoLo]

Like Russ suggested, normally a honey hole will remain a honey hole, year-after-year.

Two things come to mind though, that can nullify a sweet spot and they both regard "depth".

1) Seasonal Depth Change

During a given season (temperature zone), bass might be relating to drop-offs that crest within a given depth range,

but during other seasonal periods they may be deeper or shallower. Differently put, not all sweet spots are year-round holding sites.

2) Water Level Change

Several factors such as forage, water temperature and water clarity tend to dictate the preferred depth range of bass.

If the water level rises or falls by just 2 feet, it's possible that even a year-round holding site may be abandoned

for another site with a more suitable depth (I hate when that happens).

Roger

[Guest the_muddy_man]

I have a spot on the lake I fish . I dont want to describe it b/c a lot of BR members fish it !!!!!!!!!!!

It is a weedy/rocky area and it holds bass all the time > What confuses me is that if the frist one I catch there is 1 lb then all will be 1 lb if they are beigger or smaller , on any given day, then you catch the same size bass that day / i have no idea why this happens!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

muddy, this happens in our back coves just after ice out. When the bass are running around in packs, the packs tend to all have the same size fish in them. The unique thing about our back cove is that they come in waves back there. The fist wave can be all 3-4 lbrs and the next wave could be all dinks.

Fish of similar size school together.

[RoLo]

  Quote

I have a spot on the lake I fish . I dont want to describe it b/c a lot of BR members fish it !!!!!!!!!!!

It is a weedy/rocky area and it holds bass all the time > What confuses me is that if the frist one I catch there is 1 lb then all will be 1 lb if they are beigger or smaller , on any given day, then you catch the same size bass that day / i have no idea why this happens!

Muddy, I think that's a pretty common occurence, because bass tend to school according to year-class...It's healthier that way

On the good spot that you described though, bass of all sizes may use that same spot, but not at the same time.

I remember one time I was fishing "at anchor" for smallmouth bass and catching runts that looked like they all came

from the same mold. Then there was a very brief period where I didn't catch anything, followed by nothing but smallies

between 3 and 4.5 lbs. That's a phenomenon they call "Timing and Territory". I just happened to be there during the shift change.

Roger

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Similar situation LBH but with us the first fish caught will be the same size. You can even comeoff the spot , fish a few hours and go back and chances are the same size fish will be there. Go back another day and another size class is holding on the same spot!

[CraigBaugher]

When I was guiding, a few us guides worked closely with each other, because we knew an area could be over fished, and thus cause the fish to move.  I learned this the hard way about eight years ago.  I had a very special thing going in the western end of a particular lake.  I found a huge school of smallmouth and for about two years fishing was really good for me.  Then I decided to stock a pond.  I went to my teasured spot and caught 50 nice size fish in one day.  Well the pond took off, but I killed my spot.  To this day, going on 9-years, that area of the lake has not recoved.  Too many fish pulled from one spot too fast!!!

I learned to rotate and when I find other people are on a spot too, I've learn to coordinate with them.  "Hey, I know you know this area is hot, and we want to keep it that way, so I will give you the locations of couple more areas that are hot too.  Here is my cell number, and let's coordinate so that we don't fish this area but once every four days or so."  On Lake St. Clair I have 30 areas that hold good fish, 6 areas that are pretty exclusive.  On Lake Erie, I have 25 areas that continously produce well, 2 that are pretty exclusive.  But if I find somebody in my exclusive areas, I will share with them some of my other spots and start coordinating the usage of that spot.  It is the only way, to ensure they don't get over fished.

[Matt Fly]

What state allows you to take 50 bass in a day?  

Matt.

[Raul]

Caught and ( harvested ) taken is not the same Matt........well, in my friend 's Moises dictionary it is.  :

Speaking of which, there 's a nice lake about 3 hours drive from my hometown, this lake has a nice cove where it has a standing mesquite right in the middle of it, this mesquite stands right next to an old stone wall that crosses the cove parallel to the shoreline, man one day I caught 30 fish between one and two pounds just from that mesquite, for years whenever I fished that lake one of the places I fished first hand was that mesquite, everytime the results were pretty much the same........until a couple of years ago when we had a serious drought, the lake level dropped leaving the mesquite high and dry and some =)/&%$# !!! moron cut it down and removed it  >, place has never been the same since.  :-/

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've fished a few lakes so many times year round that I pretty much know in specific water temp and conditions where the fish are hidding. I have cold water pts, warm water flats. Some places like drop offs that hold fish no matter what the condition is. There are reasons fish hold to a certain spot during the year. The goal is to find one and catch fish off it and then use your map and other skills to locate another spot identical to it. 99% of the time there will be fish there too.

BTW this is where alot of time on the water pays off.  Paying attention to all detail above and below the water.

Just for example, Craig and another fellow gave me a few locations up on Lake St Clair that were spectacular areas.  Catching 50 fish was nothing per boat actually after we fished these area's if we were less then 50 per person we felt that it was slow.  I got to the point that we got tired of catching 2lb smallies.  I wanted those beloved 4-5lbers that everyone else does.  We were averaging over 100 fish per day.  That was about 8-10 hrs fishing and then we would go catch a limit of walleye in about 1-2 hrs.  That is the truth no exaggeration.  Certain areas produce fish year after year.  

[CraigBaugher]

On St. Clair and Erie, there are spots you can work everyday and do well, but the hawgs are rarely in those spots.  Schools are huge!  I have found schools producing 3, 4, and 5 pound bass in the hundreds.

[bassnleo]

I have found that my honey holes are more like honey areas. The fish from year to year seem to move a but and it is my theory that they move based on weed growth and available forage (among other things). If they are not on the prime spot it seems that a quick search in the general area will ususally reveal that the fish are there, they are just positioned a little differently.

I have found this to hold true to both shallow weed oriented bass and deeper structure bass.

The shallow bass seem to be more affected by weather conditions like wind. The deeper bass seem to be more affected by forage.

Just my observations....

[dink]

Some very good replies.  I wasn't exactly looking for "seasonal" habits or the corelation between predator and prey.  I was looking more for an explanation why certain areas (not just spots) can be good for years at a time and then bad for years at a time, only to get hot once again.  That being said, the very detailed replies were all from those of you who fish weeds (vegetation).  The two lakes I fish most during the year have none.... only some algae.  The lake I am on the most, only has 2-3 feet of visibility on a good day.

Please continue with the insight.  Related or unrelated to my initial query, it is all very good information.  Thank you all.

dink  

[senile1]

Russ (LBH) and Roger (Rolo) covered it pretty well.  Assuming you are taking seasonal pattern into consideration, you didn't mention if there were any water level changes in the off years did you?  Even without vegetation a honey-hole is a honey-hole due to some combination of structure and cover.  As you stated in your first post you have stumps on a point with a dropoff so I think that what has been said by some would still apply here.

[dink]

Very good point, senile.  As a matter of fact, I felt LBH and Rolo did give enough pertinent info to finish the puzzle.  I realized (from your post) I was over-thinking the whole thing.  Thanks for the info everyone.

[senile1]

Hey, Dink, something else to consider is forage availability in this area, though, under most circumstances it would be affected by the items mentioned by LBH and Rolo.  

[dink]

I normally use weather (current and patterns), water condition (including levels), structure, cover, season and available food source to make any kind of determination on certain areas.  I really just wanted to pick some brains around here to make sure I was hitting all the bases and not leaving out any variables.

Although I posed a very particular question, the info shared here could be invaluable to any newbie perusing this thread.