Monster bass+pressured lake=HELP

[Evan Pease]

One of the lakes I fish is full of bass, most close to if not bigger than 10lbs due to a catch and release only rule that is strictly enforced. There is also a large amount of trout stocked 4 times every year and that brings in people from everywhere. There are 30+ people every day for several months and when they are done the bass are spooked and the lake gets stocked again. The lake is just 92 acres so its pretty bad. I was wondering what I could do to catch these great bass. :-?

[Guest avid]

The cali guys will be along any time now.

good luck and have fun.

avid.

[craigaria]

trout swimbaits, BIG trout swimbaits, and HUGE trout swimbaits!

[Evan Pease]

Thanks.

[Mattlures]

I wish our little 100 acre lakes had only 30 guys on it a day. It might be alot more easy.  Get a good quality trout swimbait and fish it slow. in your mind you should be thinking I am a stupid trout. Make your bait swim like a stupid stocked trout that doesnt know it shouldnt swim by that ambush point.

[Clayton]

Yeah get those huge trout swim baits with the big trebble hooks on em.

[justfishin]

Try a big 12" or 15" worm in Green Pumpkin, Red Shad , Watermelon/Red Flake, on a 1/8 oz bullet sinker, unpegged unless you are around wood. I have had a lot of luck over the years on these big worms. We have a few high pressure lakes near me especially the one up the street that is only 250 acres. Instead of switching to something smaller I went larger and have increased my bag significantly by doing so. You won't have the 15-20 fish days like some of the other guys but, it certainly ups the quality. I will stay with the 3 or 4 bites from good bass over the numbers. I will take two or three 4-6lb fish over twenty 12-14 inchers anyday.

[earthworm77]

Here's something to think about. While the trout swimbait is an obvious option, how many other guys who hit that lake each day are also throwing it? You are beating them up with only one genre of bait, often a switch toi something else will trigger the action.

[Chris]

I would throw something that was different so that the bass can single it out. If the lake is stocked with rainbow trout throw a brook trout imitation. Your doing the same thing if you make the rainbow trout bait look injured or dumb it is just another way to approach the same idea.  Also sometimes a albino color works along the same line of thought.

[New 2 Bass]

Livebait.

[ww2farmer]

Livebait.

AGREE 100%, a big live craw will get bit.

[TravisLovett]

Live bait? Blasphemy!  Lol I'd get a big ole jig and pork in a craw color and fish it slow around ambush point.  I doubt that is used nearly as much as the big swimbaits and probably a pleasent treat for the big ole bass your looking for.

[Nick B]

Well what ever you use, you will probably need to make long casts so they dont see you

[BASS fisherman]

I fish a very similar lake that is about 1/3 that size, maybe 25 acres max. I have heard that the lake, more of a big pond actually, has been home to a 13# LM bass, and I actually saw a news paper article with the guy who caught and RELEASED the 13 pounder.

When you get a lake that is rather small and gets alot of pressure, the bigger bass tend to relate to offshore structure most often. If the lake rents boats, rent one, and get yourself a portable fish finder so you can find some good structure next to some deep water, and also fish weed edges next to deeper water. Fish the area with baits that have a natural look to them like swimbaits, jigs, and big worms. Livebait works best at times also, such as shinners, worms, and craws. But try to mimick natural forage as well. I like the idea of giving them something that stands out like a brook trout, thats a good idea. Make long casts to the spot so you don't spook em. Work the area thoroughly, using slow retreives that could take several minutes to get in. Acorrding to Mr Hannon, the best time to catch the good ol' bigguns is in the middle of the day. You want to be as quiet as possible when it comes to moving around the boat. Loud thumps will transmit threw the hull of the boat and into the water spooking the fish, or alerting them to your presence. Make sure you take a camera and a scale and a net will help land the bass too.

According to Fish Chris and some other big bass hunters, the bites are few and far between. Sometimes you will get lucky and catch a big one out of the blue off of shallow structure and/or cover, but from what I understand the big ones usually stick to deeper structure when pressure is high.

Another thing to try is fishing where no one else does. If the lake has thick weeds that would discourage most anglers, tie on a big jig and flip it into the weeds. Makeing sure to have adaquete rod, reel, and line to horse the pigs out, or go to them. The key is finding spots where no one else fishes. Find the spots that receive the least pressure and you will most likely get some big ol' gooduns.

[mdangler]

I have two options for you that work for me.

1. try to fish it as early as possible in the year as you can. There aren't that many die hards out there in Febuary and March. You won't get a lot of bites, but they will be good ones.

2. a lot of people think big bait=big fish. i dont always think so. try downsizing and moving offshore. Some of my biggest fish come off of d-shots and sliders.

[Evan Pease]

Wow, thanks. I'll let ya know how I do next time im up there.

[burleytog]

Here's something to think about. While the trout swimbait is an obvious option, how many other guys who hit that lake each day are also throwing it? You are beating them up with only one genre of bait, often a switch toi something else will trigger the action.

If he is referring to the lake I think he is referring to, there are only 4 or 5 people total who throw swimbaits and I am one of them.  That number might be increasing a bit as the local tackle shop started stocking some big swimbaits.  Luckily everyone is cheap and refuse to pay $20-30 for a bait.

The fish in that lake see a steady diet of spinnerbaits from the bass fishermen.  They also see a constant flow of worms, corn, cheese, and salmon eggs.

Again, I'm assuming that Peasey is referring to a specific body of water that we both fish.

The main problem with this lake is that there isn't a lot of structure or cover.  It is a municipal reservoir and they do a good job of keeping the banks cleaned up.  I've been thinking of sneaking a few PVC attractors up there.