Catching yesterdays fish?

[diver_sniper]

Tomorrow morning a buddy and myself will be fishing in a little 10-15 boat tournament. Here's the twist. Today there is a fairly large pro-am tournament on the same lake. Today there is 50 boats out there keeping 6 fish each. This lake isn't huge, so after the beating these guys are giving it today I'm not sure what to really expect.

So here's what I'm wondering, do you think it would be worth fishing the area immediately around where all these fish will be released this afternoon? Do you think that between 4pm today and 6am tomorrow they will move quite a distance from the release point? Or do you think those fish will be too stressed to eat for a few days and trying to catch them would be a waste of time?

Thanks for any tips guys. 

[fishincop640]

I watched an episode of "A day on the lake" that was on ESPN 2.  Bill Lowen said that he always finds out where there are tournaments held and finds out if the fish are released from there or boated back out into the lake and released.  He called them "retread" areas.  He didn't really give a time frame as to when the bass were caught.  I would definetely put it on my list of spots to fish.  I know Ive caught the same bass twice in the same day.  Must have had something "special" going on in it's pinky sized brain!    Good luck

[brushhoggin]

i think it'd be an ok idea to see if they are biting there, but don't spend too much time there. more than likely those fish will still be stressin out, if anything you'd catch fish that were released there in more previous tournaments. i'd get out and do some finesse fishing in other parts of the lake. sorry to stray, but tournament fishing is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. taking bass from all different parts of a lake and releasing them all in one spot just seems like it's raping the balance of a lake. And taking a bunch of females out of an area that would have otherwise givin birth to more bass improving the population in a certain area is shady to me. bass get to know the area they live in, best route to deeper water and all the prime ambush spots, etc. just seems like we're disturbing the balance

[mi_basser]

I would absolutely fish the landing area for "retreads".  Especially if there are docks in the area, I have caught a lot of fish that swim to the first holding area(docks, weeds, whatever it may be) and lay low until they relax and are ready to eat again.  A lot of fish won't eat again for a couple days, but it is definitely worth hitting real quick.  I always skip the first 3 or 4 docks on each side of a landing and let that tell me whether or not to keep going with that pattern or to move elsewhere.

[Nice_Bass]

I believe in this months In Fisherman there is a study concerning this using imbedded tracking.   

If I can remember correctly, most fish do disperse across the lake at different times.  Not sure if it is online, but if you or someone you know subscribes, check it out.

[boneil]

I wish I could remember where I saw the study. but several years ago DNR did a study on this subject on the chesapeake bay.  Bass were released several miles away from where they were caught.  The majority of bass went back to their original location.

[Locked]

I saw a video on this site with the Pond Boss, and he said that the next day after releasing fish they would be in the same spot or area they were caught in.  Some of the fish in his studies would travel miles to return to where they were caught.

[BulletDon]

Yes, but what percentage would bite and at what time after the release was it the greatest?   :-?

[Catt]

Yes, but what percentage would bite and at what time after the release was it the greatest? :-?

Enough to win several tournament 

[WRB]

Most lakes don't allow tournament anglers to fish in marinas. If you are allowed to fish the marina area, go for it, you know the bass are there.

WRB

[Catt]

Most lakes don't allow tournament anglers to fish in marinas. If you are allowed to fish the marina area, go for it, you know the bass are there.

WRB

Define most lakes? 

[WRB]

Most lakes don't allow tournament anglers to fish in marinas. If you are allowed to fish the marina area, go for it, you know the bass are there.

WRB

Define most lakes?

In California and apparently Florida; Mike Iaconnelli was DQ'd at Toho (Tohopekaliga) in 2004, for example. Marina's are often off limits due to conflicts with the boating public and tournament bass fisherman.

WRB 

[Catt]

Not all tournaments are Pro level events and down south the rules state "No fishing within 50 yards of an operating gas pump".

[WRB]

Not all tournaments are Pro level events and down south the rules state "No fishing within 50 yards of an operating gas pump".

You mean you can't run the big motor or fish at a BP gas station? Most tourneys out west are weekend club level events. 

Texas (most other states) has the advantage of  fewer lawyers. We are not allowed to smoke within 50 yards of a gas pump!!